Style with substance at the new Taj in Mumbai

The newly opened Taj Santacruz in Mumbai is a mix of tradition and modernity

Nothing in the Taj Santacruz was “made in China”, general manager Pankaj Sampat says with a laugh, showing off the brand new luxury hotel. A lot of money was spent, he adds, and no compromises were made when it came to quality.

Less advertised is the fact, however, that the making of the hotel also required a lot of patience. Located about 20 steps away from the arrival point of Mumbai’s domestic airport, the hotel had been under development since 2010, waiting for several security nods to come through before it opened two weeks ago.

The hotel is a joint venture of the Taj and GVK groups. For Taj, it marks a return to the luxury hospitality space after a hiatus of several years. The pinkish beige building has influences of palatial and art deco styles of architecture, which bears a mix of long columns, jali (openwork) patterns and neat geometric lines. Although the structure is composed mainly of stone, there is ample use of glass — the darling of modern architecture. The effort, therefore, comes across as a subtle yet eager straddling of the past and the present.

The theme, the hotel’s publicists say, is “maximising Mumbai”. It acknowledges the city’s European and Indian legacies, while making an attempt to look contemporary too. For all practical purposes, though, it is a grand five-star hotel with opulent things that are tastefully laid out. Quite unlike in most of Mumbai, there is immense space here. The building includes a capacious atrium and room sizes begin at a healthy 580 square feet. The décor was envisioned by Canadian designer Jeffrey Wilkes.

  The pièce de résistance, a chandelier designed like a galaxy of stars, bathes the lobby in stark white light. More than 3,500 handblown glass ornaments went into making the behemoth, says Sampat. Italian firm Ahura created this and other chandeliers that are spread across the space. A few were also designed by Roberto Cavalli. The ones in the hotel’s ballroom are a flaming red, because Wilkins wanted an auspicious colour in India to feature prominently. The Chinese dragon, another symbol of good luck, finds place in the form of a chandelier in one of the restaurants.

The other striking feature is the tikri work inside a restaurant that was eventually also named Tiqri. The Rajasthani art form involves making mosaics from broken bits of glass. As many as 140 artists were flown in to build the piece, which is shaped like a “tree of life”, says Sampat. During the day, the silver and pale golden work seems impressive mainly for its size — it is 60 feet high and 40 feet wide. Sampat recommends an evening trip to see the installation illuminated by 150 lights, which mimic the effect of sundown and moonrise.

More elements from Rajasthan are visible elsewhere in the hotel. The decorative pieces in the rooms and lobby — which include marble ducks and stone elephants — were reportedly sourced from Jaipur. A tribute to old Bombay is seen in the waiting areas where sets of vintage city photos have been mounted. There are several paintings in the hotel’s collection too, which are not introduced during our visit, but they include works by Rini Dhumal and Manu Parekh, among others.

The hotel is not fully functional yet. Around 141 of the 279 rooms have opened for service, while the runway-facing ones are still being readied. These rooms, a spa and a gymnasium are expected to open by March.

A stone’s throw from the airport and the Western Express highway, the hotel will find takers among fly-in, fly-out businesspersons, reckons Sampat. He also expects a full house during the upcoming Make in India week in February. As cricketers Sanath Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vaas step into the lobby to check out of the hotel, Sampat remembers to add, “The IPL will be a busy time too.”