Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Independence Day Special

I had my cousins comes down from Norway last weekend and since India was celebrating its 61st Independence day over the weekend, my sister and I took em to the Gateway of India. The last of the British ships that set sail for England left from the Gateway. One of my all time favourite structures from the British days is the Taj Palace hotel. I have always been a great fan of the architecture, interiors, restaurants shopping arcade of Taj. there is nothing about this place that I dont like. Have been there a few times but this time was special. For those of you who dont now in the picture above the high rise is the Taj Tower which is the new Taj thus ofcourse if very modern where as the structure on the left is the Taj Palace, the original Taj built to welcome King George V & Queen Mary.
For the first time, we got to actually see the most expensive rooms / suites at Taj Palace / Tower. The Taj Palace is very very classic and traditional and still has the butler service for each of the rooms n suites. The room have high ceilings and the spiral staircase. Each room has some Indian antique articraft (I hope not from Chor Bazaar). The second best suite in the Taj Palace is what we saw which costs USD 2500 per night. Unfortunately we couldnt take pictures as we were so over whelmed admiring the rooms that it just didnt strike us. Also come to think of it it would be very embarrassing to actually take pictures inside as the staff was taking us around. The best suite in the Taj Palace is the Presidential suite which was occupied and I cannot even imagine how beautiful it would be.

The Tower is very modern compared to the Palace. The most expensive room in the tower is approx USD 700 per night on the 15th floor. The hotel has 11 restaurants all restaurants have a dress code from either semi formal to formal attire. Most of the times I always went to the coffee shop Shamiana or La Patisserie the pastry shop but this time we went to Masala Kraft the Indian restaurant and the food was just yummilicious. Will cover more about the food and the restaurants another time on Ambrosia but for now am still high on the suite I saw at the Palace.

18 comments:

Ankur said...

i once stayed there, and the experience was amazing...

The rooms are pretty small, but the ambiance is just wow!!

The lift took some 4 secs to reach to 14th floor...

and when u view the sea from the room... the experience is just wow!! :)

and the best part is that when u order meal for one person from the room, u can order anything and everything! !:D

and also to mention the fact, i met Amitabh Bachchan there, saw a Mercedes Brabus there, which is my dream car... :D

bas bas.. bahut hua!! :D
i wanna go back!! :D

ceedy said...

did you know the architect who build the old taj commited suicide when he saw the building as the plans were read wrong and the building is built reverse.

It had to be a u- shaped building w/smimming pool facing the sea....

Unknown said...

Hey Mia
aha, you actually got to go inside the Taj and check out the rooms. that is cool. I had seen the interiors of the Taj in a TV show once. n i was speechless!
I love the B/W tone that you have used, makes the mood very nostalgic. i love roamin around that entire district:D Have heard a lot about the pastries @ La Pattisserie. i'll have to chk it out someday:d
take care
ciao

Mysterious Mia said...

@ankur

wow mate u've had a chance to stay there nice.....lucky u. n yeah i remember i made a comment on the lift speed too ;)

Mysterious Mia said...

@CD

yeah i know abt it....but yet i think he did a pretty good job ....

♥ÐÅyÐяєÅмє®♥ said...

ceedy bhai:P

kya great info tha...

liked ur description of the room but wud had loved it if it was photografed and displayed

Hiren said...

Undoubtedly the experience of satying in this vintage and heritage rich construction is unparalled. The Hyatts, Marriots etc cannot match it in terms of its epoch aura ...

this reminds me that it has been close to a few years that I have been to Gateway ... hmmm...

KP said...

cool:) its been long since I have been to bombay! in my next trip to india Taj Palace is defenately in my checklist for places to visit:).

I wonder what do they have that they charge USD 2500:).

Most expensive place I have been to is Hilton in NY city $275. It was worth it:).

Mysterious Mia said...

@DD

yeah i wish too i cud have done that but it would be so embarrassing.....haha

Mysterious Mia said...

@hiren

ah totally agree with u...just a few days before going to Taj I was at Sahara stay visiting some relative n damn....thought is modern n bla bla....but Taj leaves an impression on ya inne?

Mysterious Mia said...

@kp

mate, well if u do land up at one of the taj suites, pls do invie me as yur guest haha. atlest then i wud be able to take pics...haha

the suite is a duplex kinda thingie....really really spacious n excellent interiors.....unfortunately i am not an arhhitect or an interior designer or else wud have described it better.... but am sure teh stay wud be worth it...

Anonymous said...

Hey.. Nice blog!

Did you know that the Taj hotel has actually been built the wrong way. What is now the front was originally intended to be the side, and vice versa. But somehow, things got a little messed up and they made the collosal mistake of rotating the entire structure by 90 degrees. Apparently the person in charge of the whole operation was so depresssed because of this he comminted suicide..

My dad told me this story, and later I confirmed it with the staff at Taj.. Amazing, innit?

awesomeadam said...

i gave you a 5 star, very awesome stuff you should consider being a tourist journalist

Satish Bolla said...

sad to see this today

Anonymous said...

a nice description..i was admiring the photos..lovely :)

Americanising Desi said...

oooh the vintage construction :)

lovely share Mia

Ekta said...

:-))
its indeed a beautiful construction and i hope it remains that way.....for a long long time!

rainboy said...

I want to visit TAj :P

Just read your comment on my blog.I can't access your blog so I came here.

Take care Princess and be safe

 
Clicky Web Analytics