It’s now officially known as Mumbai, but you’ll often hear Mumbaikars referring to this slick city by its former name, “Bombay” — after all, as the saying goes, “Mumbai is the city, Bombay is the emotion”. This place has an inimitable blend of soul, style and swagger. Between activist-led art galleries, historic former palaces, cutting-edge fashion designers and some of the best-rated restaurants on the planet, there’s plenty to do and see — whether you’re in the car-honking thrum of the action or whiling away the day on the beach with your toes in the cerulean Arabian Sea. So, let us help you get situated to discover all that the city has to offer with our pick of Mumbai’s best hotels.
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1. Abode Bombay, Colaba
Best for solo travellers
Describing itself as “the ultimate anti-chain hotel”, this photogenic Colaba guesthouse is the antithesis of the often-hierarchical brand of Indian luxury hospitality. Everyone under this roof is humanised and placed on equal footing: staff and guests call one another by their first names; and there’s a convivial feel among residents who want to understand the soul of “Bombay”. Who better to help than a hotel with a heart? Abode regularly works with local NGOs — for example, drivers employed by the hotel come via an organisation that helps women impacted by domestic violence into long-term employment.
Spa N
Pool N
Price £
2. Soho House Mumbai, Juhu
Best for celeb-spotting
Want a snapshot of modern Mumbai? Soho House’s Juhu outpost — the first in Asia and the only one of the group’s clubs currently bookable for non-members — is the place to be. The interiors riff on the group’s identifiable bohemian aesthetic with a mix of plush Indian textiles and Mumbai-based contemporary artists. Hotel residents have access to the member facilities: music, fashion and wellbeing events; the onsite cinema; three restaurants and Bombay’s coolest rooftop bar, where you can recline poolside under a striped linen cabana and watch Bollywood actors and models sip spicy tequila cocktails.
Spa N
Pool Y
Price ££
3. The Orchid, Vile Parle
Best for an eco experience
If you don’t want to let environmental standards slip while you travel, look no further than the Orchid hotel in Vile Parle. This place was Asia’s first Ecotel-certified property; it was consciously designed to be energy efficient and was constructed with recycled materials. The resort makes a continuous effort to keep its footprint to a minimum; everything from hangers made of sawdust and reed slippers to an onsite sewage treatment plant. It plays hard too; the in-house karaoke bar is a real hit.
Spa N
Pool N
Price £
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4. Oberoi Mumbai, Nariman Point
Best for understated luxury
The family-run Oberoi group has long been considered the gold standard for Indian hospitality; 24-hour service at each of their properties is warm, discreet and flawlessly efficient. The Mumbai outpost, in business district Nariman Point amid the art deco buildings of glittering Marine Drive, is no different, and it manages to marry the inimitable style of the city with dazzling views of the Arabian Sea. The 287 rooms are comfortable and understatedly elegant; our suite had monogrammed pillowcases and pistachio silk kimonos so exquisite we had to fight the urge to take them home.
Spa Y
Pool Y
Price ££
5. JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu
Best for location
This relative newcomer to the city is already leading the way when it comes to new-age corporate hospitality in Mumbai. Each of the 345 rooms and suites are chic and spacious; think enormous cloud-like beds, woven leather ottomans, bathrooms with heather-grey marble and polished wooden accents. There’s plenty to keep families occupied on site: three pools, four restaurants (Asian-inspired Dashanzi is one of the best in town for celeb-spotting) and the lovely Quan spa — but with the shops, bars and shores of trendy Juhu Beach just a few minutes’ walk away, you’ll be hard-pressed to stay put.
Spa Y
Pool Y
Price ££
6. St Regis Mumbai, Lower Parel
Best for wellness
This swanky spot, located nearly 40 storeys high in the Palladium Mall near chi-chi Lower Parel, straddles the polarity of the city. From one side of the skyscraper, you can see the love-it-or-hate-it Ambani “house” — the 27-storey residence of one of India’s richest men — and on the flip, inside one of Mumbai’s industralised slums, Dhobi Ghat. Forget opulent former palaces; this contemporary joint is where Mumbaikars go for glitz and glamour. But while the hotel’s sleek restaurants and bars may be a mainstay of the elite, the Iridium Spa (which has its own floor) is really where it’s at; we rate the rose quartz massage.
Spa Y
Pool Y
Price £££
7. The Leela Mumbai, Andheri
Best for city respite
Just ten minutes’ drive from Chhatrapati Shivaji International, the Leela could well be Mumbai’s chicest airport hotel. But that would be doing a disservice to this serene, palm-fringed pad; it’s where many stressed-out Mumbaikars come to escape the city chaos. Find them robed-up in the decent spa, reading books by the pool or sipping cocktails at the Six Senses bar, which opens out onto the hotel’s lush gardens. The real draw, though? As any former patron of the Leela group might attest to, this is where you come for some of the most reliably brilliant food in the city; its flagship Jamavar restaurant is winning similar plaudits in London’s Mayfair.
Spa Y
Pool Y
Price ££
8. Taj Lands End, Bandra Kurla Complex
Best for couples
This gleaming property has the best of both worlds; mesmerising views of the water (the Arabian Sea and the Bandra-Worli Sea Link) and proximity to the hippest area in Mumbai — a combination you’d be otherwise hard-pressed to find in this city. It has all the polish you’d expect from the Taj group, but without the stuffiness of its famous older sister in Colaba. Here, in the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), you’re near the heart of Bandra’s action — home of Bollywood, countless upscale boutiques and some of the city’s coolest restaurants — and, though the interiors might be a little bland, the vibe at this contemporary hotel reflects the area pretty well. Keep an eye out, too, for movie legend Shah Rukh Khan — his house is just down the road.
Spa Y
Pool Y
Price ££
9. The Gordon House Hotel, Colaba
Best for a budget stay
Just 650 yards from the Gateway of India, in Colaba, a stroll into this small, affordable, guesthouse-style hotel feels like stumbling upon an insider secret. You may be tempted to breeze past its crumbling whitewashed façade without a second glance, but let us tell you: it belies interiors that are a little bit Wes Anderson, as well as a gentle and friendly team and a cluster of unique and comfortable rooms. Don’t miss the Havana Café & Bar on site, too; it puts on thoroughly fun retro-themed nights every Friday.
Spa N
Pool N
Price £
10. Grand Hyatt Mumbai, Bandra Kurla Complex
Best for business
This sprawling Bandra-based complex feels less like a hotel and more like a man-made hamlet; it’s so big, it’s often the property of choice for society weddings and visiting Indian cricket teams. There are four restaurants on site, as well as 548 rooms and 110 serviced apartments, set amid ten acres of lush gardens. This is a failsafe for corporate travellers: its location in the Bandra Kurla Complex (Mumbai’s business district) means minimal traffic; the hotel has top-of-the-range event and conference facilities; and the swanky restaurants of Bandra — some of the city’s most impressive places to bag a table — are a stone’s throw away.
Spa N
Pool Y
Price £
11. Trident BKC, Bandra Kurla Complex
Best for value for money
Granted, there wouldn’t usually be many reasons to base yourself in the business district when you’re on holiday, but this contemporary BKC-based spot might well be an exception to the rule. While the interiors feel pretty cut-and-paste for a corporate hotel, the detail here is what makes it a cut above: club-level rooms get their own butlers; the spa does great value-for-money massages; and the service is exceptional — staff are attentive without being intrusive and quickly learn dietary preferences. Plus, you’re nearby cool craft breweries and restaurants as well as the hip neighbourhoods of Bandra and Juhu.
Spa Y
Pool Y
Price £
Book a stay*
12. ITC Grand Central, Parel
Best for fancy food
The old-fashioned decor at this palatial-style hotel is modelled on the architecture constructed by the British. Interiors in each of the 242 rooms feel a little too fusty, but the public spaces of this grand Parel-based property are all marble, gilding and opulent textiles. This is the place to come for a traditional upscale meal; the renowned dal bukhara (from the namesake restaurant at sister property in Delhi) is on the menu at the excellent Kebabs & Kurries, and is arguably the best you’ll eat in town. Don’t forget to explore Parel, though; you’ll find a mix of glossy malls and a thriving independent creative scene on your doorstep.
Spa Y
Pool Y
Price ££
13. ITC Maratha, Andheri
Best for the airport
This might be one of the most glamorous airport hotels in the country. With its unique domed roof (said to have been created in homage to the architecture of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus), sumptuous interiors inspired by the Maratha dynasty of India and outposts of some of the top-rated restaurants in the country — including fine-dining Indian restaurant Dum Pukht — you’ll struggle to find another property quite like it. The opulent onsite spa, Kaya Kalp, is not to be sniffed at either. Just don’t blame us if you get a little too comfortable and miss your next flight.
Spa Y
Pool Y
Price £
Book a stay*
14. Taj Mahal Palace, Colaba
Best for glamour
There aren’t many instances where a hotel becomes synonymous with a city, but this Colaba-based grande dame is unquestionably woven into the tapestry of Mumbai. Its stance at the Gateway of India has held strong since its opening in 1903, throughout highs and lows alike — including India’s independence from the British (which was announced on its staircase in 1947) and the 2008 terror attacks that targeted the property. Over the years, its aspirational, old-fashioned glamour has attracted everyone from royals to sitting presidents — who say that “Tajness” is what keeps them coming back.
Spa Y
Pool Y
Price £££