Five-star favourite

Mumbai:
04 December 2003

Recently voted the best business hotel in Asia, Taj Lands End epitomises the class and quality that is intrinsic to every Taj group property

Mumbai: "Great hotels," said the American essayist Joan Didion, "have always been social ideas, flawless mirrors to the particular societies they service." That logic applies to the latest winner from the Taj group stable, Taj Lands End, an apposite reflection of Mumbai's vibrancy, sophistication and cosmopolitanism.

It isn't surprising, then, that the discerning traveller has taken the hotel to heart. Taj Lands End has just been voted the 'best business hotel in Asia from India' in the 2003 Best Business Hotels in Asia competition, organised by Business Asia magazine in conjunction with CNBC Asia Pacific.

The competition, which involved 95 hotels from 14 Asia-Pacific countries, was decided by some 17,000 voters from across the world. Taj Lands End was the only Indian winner at this year's awards, joining blue-blooded names such as the Ritz-Carlton, the Grand Hyatt and the Mandarin Oriental on the honours roll.

What's remarkable about the Taj Land Ends triumph is that just over a year back it was off the hospitality industry's radar. That was when the Taj group purchased the property from Regent International for Rs 425 crore and set about reinventing the hotel in its own image. Bringing the renowned Taj touch to what has been an inspiring acquisition resulted in the hotel quickly finding a niche.

Taj Lands End has been positioned as a luxury hotel, a category defined by extravagance and sumptuousness. But this property's focus is on business travellers, who constitute 75 per cent of its clientele. "This is a business hotel with a resort feel," says general manager Farhat Jamal, a 25-year Taj veteran who moved from the group's London arm to take over operations here. "We compare favourably with any hotel in India, and not just in the Taj group."