I haven't seen any reviews of InterContinental the Grand Mumbai so when an FTer saw it on my Itineraries and asked me to tell him about my stay there last weekend, I thought I might as well park it here.

I fly to BOM several times a year, although I rarely stay for more than a day or two, and so far after my stays in the hotels in the Airport area (The Leela, Le Meridien and Hyatt Regency), I had settled on the Hyatt Regency for my regular stays. Seeing as how I won't make Diamond at Hyatt anyway, and with all the points bonuses at IC, I thought I'd give the IC a shot this time.

They have 3 types of rooms - Deluxe (290 rooms), Club InterContinental(48 rooms on the 6th floor) and Suites (31 on the 7th floor). I sent off an email to the hotel a couple of weeks before my stay, asking them to confirm that they would upgrade Ambassadors to the Club floor. After no reply for a week, I sent them another email, which also went unanswered for 3 days. Not good! So I called up the hotel, spoke to the Duty Manager who apologized profusely for not replying to the email and confirmed that Ambassadors get upgrades from Deluxe to Club and from Club to Suites. Incidently, RAs get upgrades from Deluxe to Suites. Club Lounge access included for both.

The Club rooms have the following benefits included:
At the Club Lounge:The pickup at the airport was efficient - a very prominent sign carried by a uniformed chauffeur who helped me with my bags to a silver Hyundai Sonata with the hotel name and logo on the side. Not surprisingly, the car and driver actually came from Avis, who also provide the pickup service for the Hyatt. Its less than a minute to the hotel, and its kind of a ripoff to charge US$10 each way for non-Ambassadors or people not staying in Club rooms. Security at the gate of the hotel was a bit sad - the guard just runs a mirror under the front of the car and then waves you through.

The first thing that strikes you as you enter the lobby is the magnificient atrium. Its seven stories high and all the rooms circle around it. I just can't describe it in words, so you'll have to look at the pictures yourself at http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=2255330093

Checkin was smooth - efficient, but not as warm and hospitable as that at the Hyatt Regency. I was walked up to the Club floor and as I had asked for an early checkin at 1030 am, they were just finishing up with getting my room ready with the welcome fruit and cookies. Shortly after I checked in, I called the lounge to ask about drinks and breakfast times and the lady who runs the Club lounge came by the room to give me the welcome letter which hadn't been placed in the room yet.

I had a couple of chats with her during evening drinks and breakfast in the morning, and though her name is Niyanta (which she told me means "dictator" - I don't know what language), she is really sweet and friendly - IMO, the only staff member who matches the feeling you get from the staff at the Hyatt. She takes the trouble to get to know all the Club floor guests, but I was really surprised that she remembered a couple of my friends back from when she was working at the JW Marriott a couple of years ago! She also had some great tips when I asked her about clubs where mid-twenties folks hang out. The welcome gift was a candle with a decorative candle stand in celebration of Diwali the day before my stay and it came with a handwritten note from Niyanta as well.

The club lounge is adequate, with two sections - one with tables for breakfast and the other with couches and a 29-inch (or thereabouts) flat screen TV. I had drinks there with the moderator of our trip reports forum, B747-437B, until about 9.30pm (they close at 11pm). All the drinks are bottled locally, but there is a good mix of local and well known brands; I saw Kingfisher and Fosters beers, Smirnoff, Bacardi, Old Monk, Contrieau, etc. and I tried a local red wine from Grover's Wineyard which was surprisingly good. For the hungry ones, there are canapes and a couple of chicken and vegetarian fusion snacks.

The room itself was very comfortable, but there's nothing really spectacular about them, not like the classy two-level bathroom with a rain shower at the Hyatt. The bed was similar to the ones at the IC Singapore, which have to be the most comfy beds I have ever slept in. Considering that it was a smoking room, I found the jar of potpourri on the work desk a nice touch. The one thing I didn't like was that the room had a connecting door to the next room, but I forgot to ask if this was the case with all rooms.

Incidentally, they are running a promotion this quarter where all Priority Club members (not just Ambassadors) can get an upgrade to the Club InterContinental floors based on availability at the time of checkin.

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/pc/...rs/swasia.html
InterContinental The Grand Mumbai
Upgrade to Club InterContinental
Your free upgrade will include 2-way airport transfer, breakfast, lounge access, cocktail hour, RS 500 voucher for the hotel’s health club, free in-room Internet access and complimentary local call-in.

Would I stay here again? Well, I'll be back for another 2 nights in December more for the bonus points to make Platinum. But the fact that I get a better corporate rate at the Hyatt ($70 flexible vs $101 prepaid non-refundable at the IC) is likely to have me going to the Hyatt more often than the IC.