Kalyan West Holidays from £945

The room was disappointing: booked a twin runway view but half the view was obscured due to the building design itself. The furniture was stained and it seems only the visible areas cleaned, e.g., I dropped a pen which rolled under the bed, when I reached to retrieve there was dust, hair etc. Bath plug got jammed, had to call maintenance to open it. The rooms aren't well soundproofed, easy to hear neighbouring rooms and corridor noise. Food was okay, breakfast the usual buffet spread plus some made to order items. Staff were hit and miss, pleasant and consistent at Tikri, elsewhere not so much: ignored by the concierge; when my sibling checked in a day after me rather than checking their ID asked to see mine again, when I asked why, as mine should already be on the system he started shouting at me. The hotel is very busy with high turnover of guests, there seemed to be some people sneaking in: over my 2 night stay I noticed women hanging around by the lifts waiting for others to get in and swipe their key cards. Due to our terrible stay at taj palace, the GM treated us to dinner, nice gesture but unfortunately ruined by chief nitin: he claimed that taj helped guests during the 2008 attacks due to their branding, "guest is God". I couldn't believe he used that incident in an attempt to protect the taj brand. Hugely disrespectful to all that lost and sacrificed and highlights how unscrupulous taj brand is.

We had a fun stay at the distinctive Taj Palace! My elderly parents and I appreciated the Taj tour given by a dedicated historian, as also the courtesy of all the staff including housekeeping who went all out to make us comfortable. My teenager enjoyed the pool service, with towels and water bottles being delivered to her without asking:) And a shout out to the wonderful bookseller who gave us excellent recommendations.

Best hotel for consulate access