Tata group's Taj Mahal Hotel on a par with Orient Express: Conde Nast

Mumbai: A `Gold List' of best hotels for having food, prepared by British magazine Conde Nast for 2008 has ranked Tata Group's Taj Mahal Palace and Tower in Mumbai and Orient's le Manoir Aux Quat'saisons at Oxfordshire, UK among the world's 17 best.
 
Besides Taj, three other Indian hotels found a place in the world's best hotels in other categories. Leela Palace Kempinski in Bangalore was included in the list of best hotels for rooms; while the Imperial in New Delhi is in the category of hotels with the best service. Oberoi group's Wildflower Hall near Shimla is ranked among the best hotels in terms of locations by the international travel magazine.

The ranking comes days after Orient Express rebuffed a proposal by Tata group firm Indian Hotels, which runs the Taj brand of hotels, to form a business alliance. The super-luxury US hotel chain had said tying up with the "predominantly Indian" hospitality firm will erode its brand image.

Taj Mahal Palace got complements for a wide range of cuisine, including eastern Mediterranean and contemporary Japanese.

While there is only one Taj hotel in the Gold List, Orient has properties in different categories also, including among the best hotels in terms of location and service.

Conde Nast described Leela's spacious, contemporary rooms as its X factor, and added that these rooms are decorated in creamy tones with outside terraces and marble bathrooms.

It also gave a thumps up to the imperial's employees, saying "the X factor of the hotel is the multilingual staff who speak English, Hindi, Thai and French.