Unless uou have a sustainable interest in laundry systems or a professional interest in social housing, dhobi ghat and slum visits are about as uncool as you can get.

Though if curiosity drives uou to witness the lives of slum-dwellers, try to engage with a tourism initiative run by an organisation aimed at developing the infrastructure and facilities of the place you visit.

Mumbai's high-end hotels can be painfully expensive - especially if you aim for anything above entry-level rooms. I buck this forum's trend by being a lower-end traveller, but as a treat (or when a client is paying👍 ) a particular favourite, bang on Marine Drive, is the Intercontinental - surprisingly small scale and comfortably intimate.

High-end won't give you absolute immunity from picking up some intestinal bug: avoid breakfast buffets. Eating out, go for populsr, high-volume, places.

Worrying about brushing your teeth or somehow ingesting water as you shower, is going to ruin your trip. Just don't !

Ya i have pulled those 2 spots from my itinerary. Gateway, Marine Dr., maybe some beach time plus hope to hit a ton of food spots.

I am an entry level room guy. I dont care at all about hotels, well at least compared to how much time & energy I spend on getting J & F flight deals. The biggest issue I always have is just location and choosing the best area. In this case, Four Seaons/St. Regis area, Taj/Oberoi or anything on Marine Dr.

Intercontinetal looks nice and being on the sea is cool. Surprised they dont have a spa. I love a steam & sauna but moreso just a jacuzzi, which I think they dont have either from what I can see. Good price though and great location.

Thx :)

If you want to try some relatively hygienic "street food" type food, you can visit some of the many fast casual spots (Elco's in Bandra or Swati Snacks are couple examples). For cafe's, I enjoyed Boogie and Mag St in Bandra on my last visit.

Those places all look awesome. Bandra seems really cool in particular.

I am going to put on so much weight in Mumbai, this isnt good :)

I'll throw my hat in the ring for the Intercontinental too. With the opening of the tunnel it's perfectly located, and the rooms facing the bay offer a great view. The rooftop bar is really nice for sundowners.

For restaurants, an absolute institution is Trishna for fantastic seafood. Depending how mobile you are it's a nice walk in the evenings from the Intercontinental too.

If you do stay down in old Mumbai, be sure to factor in a painfully long drive to the airport depending on time of day!

(I realise that this may not help the OP, but the next person looking for information may benefit)

I grew up in Mumbai. My personal recommendation would be to stay further south and commute northwards during the day when touring. South Mumbai is the old business district, BKC just south of the airport in Bandra East is the "newer" business district. Most people stay in the northern part of the city, because it's cheaper, and commute southwards. Going against the traffic is usually a better experience. The local train service is fantastic, but you definitely do not want to deal with the crowds of daily commuters going to work. Going north/south in Mumbai by road isn't usually a good idea.

South Mumbai is usually older classics, Bandra West is the slightly more hipster area.

Food wise, I would strongly suggest looking for places serving cuisines you may not be familiar with (in addition to the recommendations above). Jimmy Boy ( https://www.jimmyboy.in/ ), Britannia or SodaBottleOpenerWala for Parsi cuisine. The Tanjore Tiffin Room for Chettinaad. O Pedro in BKC for Goan. Shree Thaker Bhojanalay for a proper Gujarati thali. Maaslli Saraswat and GSB speciality for GSB cuisine.

For interesting sweet snacks, I like the offerings at Bombay Sweet Shop in Bandra (their bhel chikki is a lovely snack, and isn't available elsewhere). Chitale Bandhu Bakarwadi is a known classic. You already know of vada pav, there's also pav bhaji (a vegetarian sloppy joe).

If you arrive during the Ramzan/Ramadan season, Muhammad Ali road is a lovely place for a food walk after sunset.

And in lesser known attractions, the railway museum at CST is worth a visit https://shop.museumsofindia.org/node/287

Thank you for all that :)