Livin' the luxury
Presidential Suite, Taj Palace and Towers, Mumbai
Mumbai too has its fair share of plush hotel rooms. They don't come with New Delhi price tags but one night at the Taj's Grand Presidential Suite close to the magnificent Gateway of India will set you back $3,500 (about Rs 157,500).
Located in one of India's oldest hotels, this palatial suite with Italian marble floors and old-time grandeur offers a patio overlooking the harbour, a balcony in the shadow of the Gateway, a master bedroom and a living-dining room.
The hotel, which was built in 1903 in a combination of Moorish, Oriental and Florentine styles, boasts alabaster ceilings, onyx pillars, exotic furnishings and 1920s Bombay-under-the-British-Raj charm.
In recent years the Presidential Suite or the adjoining and equally fancy Rajput Suite have hosted Prince Charles, Mohamed VI the king of Morocco, novelist Salman Rushdie, singer Tina Turner, Olympian legend Carl Lewis, actor Richard Gere, actress Jane Fonda, philanthropist David Rockefeller, mathematician Professor John (A Beautiful Mind) Nash, Rolling Stone Mick Jagger and plenty of princes, princesses and heads of State.
Mumbai has a couple of nearly as expensive rooms in other hotels like $2,500 (about Rs 112,500) Kohinoor Suite at The Oberoi on Marine Drive and $1,800 (about Rs 81,000) Presidential Suite at the ITC Hotel Grand Central Sheraton & Towers in central Mumbai.
Image: The sitting room at the Presidential Suite at the Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi.
Photograph courtesy: Taj Hotels
Also See: Budget hotels: On the Ginger trail