The city of Mumbai is an extremely popular tourist destination in India. It is because of this popularity with tourists that, there are number of top class hotels available in the city. One such reputed 5 star hotel is the ‘The Taj Mahal Palace’. Now, the question to be asked is, what makes this hotel such a landmark in the ‘City that never sleeps’? So, here is presenting you a few relevant facts about this hotel, that shall hopefully give us the answer to the question asked above.
a. Who conceived The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel?
‘16th December 1903’ was when this magnificent hotel was for the first time made open to the public. It was Jamshedji Tata, the founder of the Tata Group of Companies who was responsible for constructing this beautiful luxury hotel. Apparently, he decided to build this hotel because he was once prohibited from entering the Watson’s Hotel because he was not ‘white’
b. Where is The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel located?
This magnificent hotel is located in the Apollo Bundar area in South Mumbai in close proximity to ‘The Gateway of India’, Mumbai’s iconic monument.
c. Who built The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel?
‘Sitaram Khanderao Vaidya and D. N. Mirza’ were the original architects of this luxurious hotel. While the actually construction was completed by English engineer W. A. Chambers. The hotel’s famous floating staircase was designed by Khansaheb Sorabji Ruttonji Contractor. The total money spent on the construction of this entire hotel in early 20th century was about £250,000.
d. The Taj Mahal Palace Attack in 2008:
‘26th November 2008’ was when the dreaded terrorist group Lashkar-E Taiba who (helped by a ‘Pakistani-American’ man named David Headley) attacked this landmark hotel of Mumbai. Approximately, about 167 people were killed in this devastating terror attacks which included foreign nationals. It was only after a three day struggle on November 29th that Indian army finally killed all the terrorists inside the hotel. The damage caused to this hotel included destruction of the roof. It was several months later that the heritage section of the hotel was finally repaired.
e. How to reach the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel:
The nearest railway station to this hotel is Churchgate. There are number of BEST services that connect to Colaba/Apollo Bundar area in which this luxury hotel is situated.
If you, intend to enjoy ‘Life King size’ in the city of Mumbai, then Taj Mahal Palace, is the hotel you want to visit.