Taj Palace Hotel

This hotel needs to catch up to modern standards. A day before arrival I called from Paris just to make sure we were going to be picked up at the airport. I was told there was no record of my reservation! I was advised to contact the hotel directly and they (800 number) could not transfer me to the hotel desk, so I had to find a phone card and call the hotel.They finally found I did have a reservation. The room was without any view, there was no ventillation in the toilet and the washbasin kept getting blocked. No wired internet, there was no wire connection in the room! The WiFi cost $3 for an hour and didn't work, someone came to my room to check my computer and finally apologized that the bad connection was due to outside interference. The waiters are always dancing presence to get tips to the point that you feel like shouting 'leave me alone'. I was attending a conference and the meals were included. I asked for diet soda and was told only simple water was available and soda was not included in the price! I called the event manager and on seeing that i was sitting with the ex president of the conference, he apologized and I finally got a warm diet pepsi! On my last day I was told at the 11th hour that transport was not included, I really burst and told them if they thought I couldn't afford a taxi they were mistaken. In this hotel they specialize in offering deluge of apologies and hastily they arranged for a hotel car. In short: I will NEVER stay there again.

Stayed there on a business trip in December 2007. Two nights in a small room on the club floor ended up costing about $1,000 US by the time you add in fees. The hotel is beautiful, well located and the staff cannot be friendlier.\n\nMy main issue-while working on the computer at 1:30 in the morning, a great big rat wondered around my room, and then scurried off into the bathroom. Despite the recent Disney film, I don?t think this rat understood humans and was a great cook. This was on the 7th floor where there is food service, and if there is one rat, there are more.\n\nThe hotel staff was very good about changing rooms, but no explanation or apology. It apparently did not surprise them that in their 5 star hotel that rats were wondering around. I can understand that even in the best hotels something can go wrong. Even at that price, I am not expecting perfection. The problem I have is that I e-mailed the hotel the day I left as well as two people in the central Taj offices in India and received absolutely no response or acknowledgment of my concern. Just from a health perspective, it was disturbing knowing there are rats on the 7th floor and that I ate in the Club room. I would think that a hotel that cares about their reputation would at least respond to a concern about rats in their hotel rooms. Being stonewalled about a health issues like this suggests that travels may want consider other hotels and other chains. I can't imagine any other major hotel chain not at least responding. \n