page_title: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel is a five star hotel located in the Colaba region of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, next to the Gateway of India. Part of the Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces, this building is considered the flagship property of the group and contains 560 rooms and 44 suites. From a historical and architectural point of view, the two buildings that make up the hotel, The Taj Mahal Palace and the Tower are two distinct buildings, built at different times and in different architectural designs.
context_page_description: The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, is a heritage, five-star, luxury hotel built in the Saracenic Revival style in the Colaba region of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, situated next to the Gateway of India.
  Historically it was known as the "Taj Mahal Hotel" or simply "the Taj". The hotel is considered one of the finest hotels in the East since the time of the British Raj.
  It was one of the main sites targeted in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
  Part of the Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, this hotel with its 560 rooms and 44 suites is considered the flagship property of the group; it employs some 1,600 staff. The hotel is made up of two different buildings: the Taj Mahal Palace and the Tower, which are historically and architecturally distinct from each other. The hotel has a long and distinguished history, having received many notable guests, from presidents to captains of industry and stars of show business. Ratanbai Petit, the second wife of the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, lived in the hotel during her last days in 1929; her mother, Sylla Tata, had born into the Tata family, builders and owners of the hotel.
context_section_description: The original building of the hotel was commissioned by Tata.  Its doors opened to guests on 16 December 1903.
  It is widely believed that Jamsetji Tata decided to build the hotel after he was refused entry to one of the city's grand hotels of the time, Watson's Hotel, as it was restricted to "whites only". However, this story has been challenged by many commentators who suggest that Tata was most unlikely to have been concerned with 'revenge' against his British adversaries. Instead, the Taj was built at the urging of editor of The Times of India who felt a hotel "worthy of Bombay" was needed and as a "gift to the city he loved" by Tata.
  The original Indian architects were Sitaram Khanderao Vaidya and D. N. Mirza, and the project was completed by an English engineer, W. A. Chambers. The builder was Khansaheb Sorabji Ruttonji Contractor who also designed and built its famous central floating staircase. The cost of construction was £250,000 (£127 million in 2008 prices).
  Originally the main entrance was on the other side, where now the pool exists, and the ocean was at the back, although it is now always viewed and photographed from the ocean side.
  Between 1915 and 1919, work proceeded at Apollo Bundar to reclaim the land behind the hotel where the Gateway of India was built in 1924. the Gateway of India soon became a major focal point in Bombay.
  The original clientele were mainly the Europeans, the Maharajas and the social elites. Many world-renowned personalities from all fields have since stayed there, from Somerset Maugham and Duke Ellington to Lord Mountbatten and Bill Clinton.
  When it opened in 1903, the hotel was the first in India to have: electricity, American fans, German elevators, Turkish baths and English butlers. Later it  also had the city's first licensed bar, India's first all-day restaurant, and India's first discotheque, Blow Up. Initially in 1903, it charged Rs 13 for rooms with fans and attached bathrooms, and Rs 20 with full board.
  During World War I the hotel was converted into a military hospital with 600 beds.
  Muhammad Ali Jinnah's second wife Ratanbai Petit lived here during her last days in 1929.  By 1966 the building had become neglected and run-down, perhaps as a result of losing the British customers after 1948.
  The Taj Hotel was home to legendary Jazz musician Micky Correa, "The Sultan of Swing" from 1936–1960.
  The Taj Mahal Tower, an additional wing of the hotel, was opened in 1973.  It was designed jointly by Daraius Batliwala & Rustom Patell with the latter having a greater focus later on. Also in 1970s Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces was organized that built new properties and converted palaces into heritage hotels. In 1980, it expanded overseas.
  The hotel received extensive international exposure in 2008 during a terrorist attack and reopened after extensive repairs.
caption: The original entrance on the west side; now the site of the hotel pool
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