Long Layover Hotel at BOM (Mumbai)
 

I'm laying over for about 10.5 hrs at BOM in the overnight time 11.14.08. Flying in from EWR to arrive about 22:00, heading out to BLR (Bangalore) next day at 08:00.

Based on things I've read, I'm guessing that I come in at the International Terminal, and actually switch airports to Juhu Aerodrome for a connection to the CO partner IT (Kingfisher Red).

I'm trying to decide whether to head out of airport to get some decent sleep, would probably choose the Holiday Inn near Juhu Beach. Any wise guidance or advice would be appreciated.

Are you 100% certain your flight leaves from the Juhu Aerodrome and not from Terminal 1B of BOM?

In the latter case you aren't switching airports, per se. You are moving from a terminal on one side of the runways to a terminal on the other side of the runways.

Never been to the HI in Juhu but I'd just stay at one of the fine hotels right outside the Int'l terminal. You have Intercontinental The Grand Hotel, Hyatt Regency, Le Meridien and the ITC Luxury Collection properties right there.

Dude you dont go anywhere near Juhu.

Santa Cruz is the domestic airport - connected airside by a courtesy coach or 6..7 kilometers landside from Sahar (the international airport for BOM)

Near the airport you have Hyatt, Sheraton etc .. or cheaper (but still pretty decent - cheaper = $200 odd, the Hyatt etc are $350++) you have the Mirador (www.themirador.com) - that's about 15 minutes from either airport.

I would suggest that you rebook to a kingfisher flight that's later in the day - around 10:30 or 11 - so that you dont arrive dog tired and then have to wake up at 5 in the morning to check in.

Ill-fated trip - you might have problems finding your flight at any Juhu aerodrome, and a Holiday Inn at Juhu.

The domesic terminal of BOM is confusingly referred to as a separate airport: but it isn't, it's simply a separate terminal.

Juhu's HI was handy for the airport, and I always enjoyed staying there. Sadly it left the chain some five years' back.

You choice of hotel will probably be dictated by your budget. The near-airport chain hotels can be eye-wateringly expensive for private purses: if you go to one of those you should certainly consider sleeping in late, wallowing in luxury, and resting fully before taking a later connection to Bangalore. If you are constrained to one of the cheaper hotels you might be happy to leave as as early as possible.

Thanks, Gang. ^It looks like I was misreading the terminal change as an airport change. I'd love to book an earlier Kingfisher Flight.... Have an itinerary built by CO that has me arriving perhaps too late into BOM to grab a flight to BLR till morning. No real desire to spend $hard earned but don't see myself hanging in the terminal for 10 hrs. Yuck. Needed to grab the itinerary to keep out of the time toilet of indecision and procrastination.
Open to any and all advice, as always.

SPG, Hyatt or IHG, pick your poision.

At poisonous rates.. none of those are under $400. Try the three or four star hotels .. in fact pick any hotel you see on (say) www.travelocity.co.in or www.cleartrip.com that's priced upwards of $200, and you will start from "barely acceptable" all the way to "super luxurious" at about 2 to 2.5 times that cost.

Dude, its almost an airport change. The int and dom terminals - though connected airside, are a fairish drive (about half an hour or so, given mild traffic) from each other. A bit faster when you use the airside courtesy coach rather than going out and getting a cab.

The CO people will have staff at the domestic terminal to assist you in your transfer, based on what I saw the last time I flew CO out of BOM rather than AF out of MAA.

Another option to consider is The Leela Kempinski Mumbai which is also close to the airport. For the date you indicated, they're showing availability at INR11,000 - around USD220 at today's rates. If you get one of their newer rooms / a club upgrade (a surprisingly frequent occurence), it's well worth the money. Good luck!

Thanks, Gang.

I ended up taking Lightspeeds advice and hit a rate of US$208. ^It looks like they have some sort of transfer service that I have not figured out yet. We'll see if I can sleuth that.

Don't forget to let us know how it works out in the end. Good luck!

Trip report
 

So I ended up staying at the Lela, as posted previously. Nice place. They have one of their people meet you if it's an international flight, and then have one of their cars take you to the hotel about 5-10 minutes away. Property was nice, top end. Security seemed impressive on way in, (this just before the Mumbai Attacks) mirror under car, opening trunk and hood, etc... but although there were about 7-10 security people by the entrance, some armed, there was no security seeen the next morning by the exit. A circular drive, with the exit 20 meters from the entrance. No spike strip or anything that I saw, which led me to see the "security" measures simply as emotional reassurance for incoming guests, but not security in actuality. It would be a simple thing to arrive via the exit.

Domestic terminal is indeed on the same airport but on the exact oppositte side, figure 30 minutes for the transfer minimum.

Glad it worked out well. ^
I was in BOM earlier this week - the hotels that usually run at capacity are posting significantly lower occupancy these days.