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A Photographic History of Bombay's Grand Hotels

Originally published as a thread on Twitter:


































The Grand Hotels in the bustling cosmopolis of Mumbai (Bombay) are architectural anachronisms with fascinating histories. Over 100+ years, they have accommodated manifold guests, globetrotters and the glitterati. This collection of photographs explores the era of Grand Hotels in Bombay.


Watson's Esplanade Hotel

pc. ebay.com

The oldest of the Grand Hotels, Watson's Esplanade Hotel opened in 1871. A 'haven' for Europeans in Bombay, it solely employed English waitresses and inspired a common joke at the time:

"If only Watson had imported the English weather as well"
pc. Francis Frith, 1900s

Mark Twain boarded here, writing in Following the Equator:

"Our rooms were high up, on the front. A white man ... went up with us, and brought three natives along to see to arranging things. About fourteen others followed in procession. One strong native carried my overcoat, another a parasol, another a box of cigars ... and the last man in the procession had no load but a fan. It was all done with earnestness and sincerity, there was not a smile in the procession from the head of it to the tail of it"
pc. Samuel Bourne, 1890s

Muhammad Ali Jinnah used to play pool at the Watson, and the hotel hosted the Marguerite de Bure in 1902. She wrote

"Several people had told me that Bombay is the most beautiful city of the Far East, I have no trouble in believing it"
pc. Francis Frith, 1900s

pc. de Bure, 1902

In July 1896 a private audience at the Watson was the first in India to screen the Lumière Brothers' iconic Cinematographe. Amongst the few Indians in the audience was Bhatavdekar, who would be inspired and would go on to become the 1st Indian to make a film.

pc. mumbaiheritage

The Watson, with its 120+ rooms and steam lift would continue to enamor voyagers until 1903, when it lost its premier status to the newly opened Taj Mahal Palace. Today, the dilapidating building is the world's oldest surviving multi-level fully cast- iron framed structure.


Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

No list of Bombay's Grand Hotels would be complete without the Taj Mahal Palace. While one can't do justice to its long, storied, and glamorous history in tweets - here are some wonderful vintage photographs of the icon:

'A man sleeps outside the Taj' pc. Three Lions, 1955

Opened by the industrialist Jamsetji Tata in 1903, the magnificent Saracenic Revival structure still stands tall, overlooking the Arabian Sea and the Gateway of India. Pictured, the Taj facade, its old grand lounge and early advertisements (pc. Old Indian Ads; Athul Prasad):


The Green's Hotel

The Green's Hotel was originally built as mansion flats by William Booth Green at Apollo Bunder in 1890. The L-Shaped building had a stellar view of the Gateway of India and the Arabian Sea and a large ground floor terrace. It is seen here to the right of the Taj Hotel

The Green’s Mansions was purchased by the Tata group in November 1904 and the Hotel was operating as a sister hotel to the Taj Mahal Palace. Walter Langhammer, Walter Kaufmann, the author Mulk Raj Anand and the physicist Homi Bhabha gave lectures at Green's Club Meetings


“You sat as you ate, overlooking the whole harbor with a fat, rich, hot moon overhead, and the food was good and around you the people were fantastic and the spectacle entertaining seafaring men who would have been embarrassed by the mid-Victorian imperial elegance of the Taj dining-room, English officers and civil servants and clerks who were there because Green’s was Bohemian and as wild a place as they dared frequent in a community where everything, every move one made, sooner or later became known and here and there a stray Russian tart or an ‘advanced’ Parsee or Khoja woman dining alone with a man"

pc. Ajay Goyal

Green’s was demolished to make way for the 21-storey Taj Tower, an extension to the Taj Palace, which opened in 1973.


Byculla Hotel

Little is known about the Byculla Hotel in Bombay. interesting, the pillar in the photo is still there - a statue popularly called "Khada (Standing) Parsi”, it depicts Seth Manockjee Cursetjee, father of social reformer Manockjee Cursetjee.

pc. Francis Frith c.1855-1870

Hotel Majestic

The Majestic Hotel was once one of the city's premier luxury hotels. Designed by W.A. Chambers in the Indo-Saracenic architectural style, it featured domed minarets. Its exotic architecture and central location led to its frequent photographing by early visitors to Bombay


While the heritage area near the Wellington Fountain Circle continues to attract tourists, the glory days of the Hotel Majestic are long gone - today the building is a hostel for members of the legislative assembly and has a department store (pc. 1920 - 1930; unknown)


Great Western Hotel

The Great Western Hotel opened its doors to guests in 1890 when it served as a hotel. Before its days as a hotel, the palatial building was once the residence of William Hornby, the Governor of Bombay from 1771 to 1784.

pc. 1890

The grandiose building also served as the Admiralty house, the residence of the Commander in Chief of the Indian Fleet, from 1770 to 1795. It was owned by the Rustomjee Jeejeebhoy Family and the Sassoon Family until it became a hotel. Today it houses commercial offices.

pc. 1869

Ambassador Hotel

Lastly, the Ambassador Hotel. Established in 1939, this iconic hotel on Marine Drive overlooks the stunning Queen’s necklace.

pc. oldindianphotos, 1950

pc. oldindianphotos, 1950

In its early days, the Ambassador established the city’s only revolving restaurant, called The Pearl of the Orient. The hotel would revolve as you ate, offering you a panoramic view of the Bombay coastline.

pc. oldindianphotos, 1950


I conclude this thread with my favourite photograph of the collection - the stern doorman at the Ambassador Hotel, with a Gandhi-hatted newspaper-wala (paper-boy) in the foreground.

pc. oldindianphotos, 1950


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