Per other reviews here, we booked a waterfront view room in Palace building...a great choice. The room was a little dated, but otherwise excellent, comfortable and large. Service staff was very attentive and restaurants were great. Breakfast by the pool is not to be missed.

Within a couple of easy walking blocks is Indigo restaurant, recommended by the concierge. Try the roof top seating...outstanding food and ambience.

Boats to Elephanta Island depart across the street from the hotel and going there is worth the one hour trip...just choose one of the bigger boats if you want to stay dry.

Having only a short time in Mumbai before moving on to other travels, it was important to us to grab what we could of "the real India". We really didn't want to spend our 36 hours in a bland International environment by staying in an airport hotel.

As soon as we arrived, we were taken right back to our previous visit some years ago and appreciated the calm, quiet service, the fact that the concierge and bellhops knew us by name almost instantly and the unmistakably Indian atmosphere. It took us 2 hours to get here from the airport, during which time we were able to "acclimatise" and the cool lobby was peaceful - not always the case when a large tour group is passing through, or at particularly busy times of the day when it's hard to find a seat.

We ate at the Indian restaurant - selected Bombay Tiffin from the menu and had a lovely evening having browsed the shops situated in the hotel for an hour or so beforehand.

In the short time available to us the following morning, we took an easy walk up to the station to observe "real life" and managed to make a couple of purchases of things we'd forgotten en route. The hotel is very well situated for this - within walking distance of the museum and other interesting places, making an independent stroll in the city a relatively easy option.

Breakfast was great - though it's self service, the service is so good it's hard to serve oneself, so eager are the wait staff to assist. A wide choice of dishes, continually freshened made a good start to our day.

We very much enjoyed our stay and would return.

Having just had my 30th birthday and to kick start my first trip to India I decided to splash out on a a night at the Taj. The entrance blew me away and I did feel slightly under-dressed as I arrived in my flip flops, shorts and backpack - especially as my taxi was just about held together by rust! The staff were very polite and lucky enouh to get an upgrade to a suite in the more impressive palace end of the hotel.

The room was slightly dissapointing and the view not as good as the Lonely Planet suggested, even though I was over looking the Gatway to India.

All in all it felt way over-priced to me so having spent best part of £200 on one night I retreated to the clean and simple bentley guest house @ £8 per night.

If you have silly amount of money stay there, if you don't then don't!

It's interesting reading the previous reviews here, since they pretty much sum up how I feel about this hotel. On the positive side, it's a beautiful building with a great history. Our room was large and clean with nice view of the sea, a steam facility in the shower and a big plasma tv. The public rooms are immaculate and I liked that there was a reserved bar and seating area for hotel guests. We also tried out a couple of the bars and restaurants, and whilst not amazing, the food was very enjoyable. The staff are also worth mentioning since they were very friendly and professional.

On the negative side I thought the pool furniture was rubbish (cloth sunbeds and seats?!?) and there wasn't enough space. This is also a seriously expensive hotel, which considering you're in India, is only justifiable if everything is perfect. The mini bar particularly was outrageous.

I don't know if I'll ever return to Mumbai, but if I do, I couldn't see myself rushing back. As nice as it was to stay in an historic building, I feel you'd get better value for money elsewhere.