India (Frommer's, 4th Edition) (61 page)
Sahar Airport Rd., Mumbai 400 099.
022/5696-1234.
Fax 022/5696-1235.
www.hyatt.com
. 401 units. The hotel operates a rate of the day pricing policy; the following are indicative: Rs 7,500 Hyatt room double; Rs 10,500 Regency Club double; Rs 14,500 junior suite; Rs 17,500. Regency Club and suite rates include breakfast, airport transfers, and Internet access. AE, DC, MC, V.
Amenities:
3 restaurants, lounge, pastry shop, bar and wine cellar; airport transfers (free for Regency Club rooms and suites, otherwise Rs 1,000); health club and spa; large outdoor pool; room service; squash courts; lighted tennis courts. In room: A/C, TV, hair dryer, minibar, Wi-Fi (free for Regency Club rooms and suites, otherwise Rs 550/2 hr.; Rs 1,100/day).
The Leela Kempinski
After driving up a long, tree-lined driveway, you enter a vast incense-filled marble lobby—there’s flowing water, stone-carved dancing goddesses, and live musicians whipping up tunes on tabla and sitar. Despite being a very serious-minded business hotel (and a little old-fashioned), you’ll be very well looked after here, and take comfort in knowing it’s one of the most environmentally conscious places to stay. It’s also where the Dalai Lama stays when he’s in town. Built on reclaimed swampland, The Leela now brims with tropical greenery and the lushest gardens in town. Competition from newer, more innovative hotels has prompted an upgrade of all facilities, including the plush modern rooms—although we still think the large amoeboid pool, set next to cascading fountains and lotus ponds, is the best place to be (you’ll hardly believe you’re just 5 minutes from the airport in one of the world’s largest cities). To take full advantage, reserve a Royal Club room, which comes with excellent perks (and rooms offering the slickest, most cosseting luxury).
Sahar, Mumbai 400 059.022/6691-1234.
Fax 022/6691-1212.
www.theleela.com
. 390 units. Rs 18,000–Rs 19,000 premier double; Rs 22,500 Royal Club double; Rs 26,000 Royal Club parlor; Rs 26,000–Rs 150,000 suite. Royal club rates include breakfast; rates exclude 10% tax. AE, DC, MC, V.
Amenities:
4 restaurants, bar; airport transfers (free for Royal Club guests; Rs 800 international, Rs 1,200 domestic); health club and spa; pool; room service; Wi-Fi (Rs 562/hr.; Rs 899/day). In room A/C, TV, hair dryer, Jacuzzi (in suite), minibar,f Wi-Fi (free in suites; Rs 562/hr.; Rs 899/day).
Moderate
The best value in the vicinity of the airports is offered by the slick, no-nonsense
Hotel Suba Galaxy(N.S. Phadke Rd., off Western Express Highway, Andheri [E], Mumbai 400 069;022/2682-1188;
www.hotelsubagalaxy.com
; Rs 5,500 double including tax and breakfast), which offers a trouble-free stay in well-maintained rooms at a much better rate than you’ll find at the large luxury places (although if you score a very good deal at either of the Hyatts, definitely stay there). Rooms are modern and stripped back, but have everything you’ll need for a comfortable overnight stay—you’ll need to ask if you want a large bed, though, as most rooms are singles and twins.
Note:
If you only need a room for daytime use between flights, this hotel also has a special “Day” rate of Rs 3,500 for rooms used between 9am and 6pm only.
5 Where to Dine
Nowhere in India is dining more rewarding than in Mumbai. The city literally holds thousands of restaurants, and being a city of migrants, every kind of Indian cuisine is represented—though Konkan,
or coastal food, is considered the local specialty. You can mingle with the city’s crème de la crème at fine-dining or hip venues, or choose from a vast array of inexpensive eating places. And while traditional restaurant-type experiences are varied and plentiful, we urge you to get down with the locals from time to time and sample traditional street food—like
vada pav
and
pani puri
—from one or two of the recommended outlets (see “The Skinny on Street Food” box); we can’t guarantee hygiene at places we don’t mention, but your concierge should be able to tell you where you can try delicious local specialties without doing yourself an injury. Also on your must-do list should be a visit to an Udipi (or south Indian fast food) restaurant, and a meal at one of Mumbai’s classic Irani restaurants serving fresh inexpensive breads and
chai
. Not surprisingly, vegetarians are particularly well catered to in just about all Mumbai restaurants.
Note:
Bear in mind that Mumbaikars usually venture out to eat late, around 9pm, so if you’re intent on eating at a popular fine-dining restaurant and don’t have a reservation, you may be able to score a table if you show up by 7:30pm.
Old School Seafood Thrillers
Anyone with a penchant for seafood will love dining in Mumbai—whether it’s Coastal, Konkani, Mangalorean, or Malvani cuisine, you are in for a treat. Besides
Mahesh Lunch Home
,
Konkan Café
, and
Trishna
, there are plenty of old-fashioned places where you can find truly excellent fish and seafood, usually without denting your wallet much at all. Two hugely popular local favorites are right near the tourist hubs of South Mumbai: Do make an effort to check out
Apoorva
or 022/2288-1457; daily 11:30am–4pm and 6pm–midnight), which has not only wonderfully authentic Manglorean fare (including delicious prawn koliwada), but a massive range of crabs, oysters, lobster, pomfret, and other thrillingly fishy fare, some of which is especially tempered for foreign tastes (read: nonspicy). In a similar league is
Excellensea
) where the obvious choice is prawn gassi, rich with sauce that demands mopping up with some fresh Indian breads (like idlis, appams, and neer dosas). Note that if you are in any of these Konkan restaurants, you may want to try the sol kadi, a slightly pungent coconut milk drink—it takes some getting used to, but is a great appetizer. Farther north, in Bandra, you’ll get real value for money and atmosphere at the friendly
Soul Fry
), serving home-style Goan dishes. Try the flaky stuffed grilled rawas (a local fish). Monday is karaoke night, and even if you can’t sing to save your life, it’s a great experience to watch extremely talented locals unabashedly take the mic and have the whole place rocking well past midnight. If you’d rather not head all the way to the suburbs, there’s a newer branch, called
Soul Fry Casa(Currimjee Bldg., MG Rd.;
daily 7pm–midnight), opposite Mumbai University in Fort and promises the best of the original Soul Fry (and often even better food), plus lots of live music and action around the bar to accompany the delicious seafood.