5/5 Jerry J. 4 months ago on Google
The
view
is
just
majestic.
The
Taj
Mahal
Palace
is
a
heritage,
five-star,
luxury
hotel
in
the
Colaba
area
of
Mumbai,
Maharashtra,
India,
situated
next
to
the
Gateway
of
India.
Built
in
the
Indo-Saracenic
style,
it
opened
in
1903
as
the
Taj
Mahal
Hotel
and
has
historically
often
been
known
simply
as
"The
Taj".
The
hotel
is
named
after
the
Taj
Mahal,
which
is
located
in
the
city
of
Agra
approximately
1,050
kilometres
(650
mi)
from
Mumbai.
It
has
been
considered
one
of
the
finest
hotels
in
the
East
since
the
time
of
the
British
Raj.
The
hotel
was
one
of
the
main
targets
in
the
2008
Mumbai
attacks.
An
oft-repeated
story
concerning
the
reasoning
behind
the
construction
of
the
hotel
was
Tata
being
refused
admission
into
Watson's
Hotel,
as
it
was
reserved
for
Europeans.
The
validity
of
this
has
been
challenged
by
writer
Charles
Allen,
who
wrote
that
Tata
was
unlikely
to
care
about
such
a
slight
to
the
extent
that
he
would
construct
a
new
hotel.
Instead,
Allen
writes,
the
Taj
was
built
at
the
urging
of
editor
of
The
Times
of
India
who
felt
a
hotel
"worthy
of
Bombay"
was
needed
and
as
a
"gift
to
the
city
he
loved"
by
Tata.
The
original
Indian
architects
were
Sitaram
Khanderao
Vaidya
and
D.
N.
Mirza,
and
the
project
was
completed
by
an
English
engineer,
W.
A.
Chambers.
The
builder
was
Khansaheb
Sorabji
Ruttonji
Contractor,
who
also
designed
and
built
its
famous
central
floating
staircase.
The
cost
of
construction
was
£250,000.
Originally,
the
main
entrance
was
on
the
land-facing
side,
where
the
pool
now
sits.
When
it
opened
in
1903,
the
Taj
Mahal
Hotel
was
the
first
in
India
to
have
electricity,
American
fans,
German
elevators,
Turkish
baths
and
English
butlers.
Later,
it
also
had
the
city's
first
licensed
bar,
India's
first
all-day
restaurant,
and
India's
first
discotheque,
Blow
Up.
Initially
in
1903,
it
charged
₹13
for
rooms
with
fans
and
attached
bathrooms,
and
₹20
with
full
board.
During
World
War
I,
the
hotel
was
converted
into
a
military
hospital
with
600
beds.
