Hi all,

Travelling for the first time to Mumbai (though not to India) in Feb 2015. Will be staying for 2 weeks total, as have some on/off business in Andheri West, which will only actually take about 15% of my total time in India, with the rest being free. I have read the individual hotel threads, and was thinking of splitting my stay over the ITC Maratha (when I arrive), ITC Grand Central (weekend) and Westin. Since I’ll be travelling with the wife – who’s travelling to India for the first time – we’ll be doing some side trips to Jaipur, maybe Agra.

Question is: should I avoid/minimize my time at any of the Starwood hotels in Mumbai? Are any/all of them in completely dead neighbourhoods from a leisure standpoint? We’d like to get to know the city, not into tours, private limos, happy to take cabs, uber (if reinstated by then), go look for the best curries known to man, and rub shoulders with the locals!

Price-wise (since I am funding this trip on my own buck) the Westin seems to be the more expensive one, and ITC Grand Central cheapest on weekends. Is that because Parel is some sort of corporate area which is dead during weekends? Also, any tips on BRGs, as so far haven’t seen any potential from mixing and matching. Also, not too bothered about switching hotels to up my stay count earlier in the year. Worth staying at the 4P in Navi?

Thanks for your help!