Old-world charms in a high-tech city
Daily News & Analysis — August 26, 2006

Of all the cities in India, few have managed to convey a sense of living in the cutting edge future even as they sit gracefully in their past like Bangalore has. On one hand, known as the garden city and India's retirement capital even as it wears its global it success so lightly, Bangalore is today one of the coolest holiday and shopping destinations [and its] luxury hotel chain, on Bangalore's Racecourse Road, certainly does justice to the city of its location. Here is a hotel, of peerless lineage that traces its history to 1887 [and] that epitomises luxury at every turn.

Set amidst 22 acres of lush foliage, ancient trees and landscaped gardens, in the heart of one of Bangalore's busiest junctions, the West End can be all things to all people. Opt to take in its more heady attractions and on offer is Mynt the cutting edge 24-hour coffee shop serving, among other things, spiced Lebanese grilled prawns, an antipasti of clams oysters and mushrooms, and minced lamb kebabs from international cuisines such as Lebanese, Italian and Mediterranean along with standard Indian fare and burgers and shakes and sandwiches.

At the Mynt, it is not hard to imagine that the world is flat and international billion dollar IT deals are being concluded over a caprese salad. Or drop in at the Blue Bar, the watering hole of Bangalore's smartest IT tycoons, and partake of some of the coolest cocktails this side of the Vindhyas. Next door, at India's only top-flight Vietnamese restaurant, the Blue Ginger, amidst the murmuring of waterfalls and lounge music, savour chef Jose Thachil's scallops in oyster sauce, crispy fried soft shell crab and tempura-dusted squid done to perfection.

But it is not for these alone that I seek out the West End as my favourite luxury hotel in India. With the recent renovation of most of its rooms in the last two years, it's been given a very classic contemporary feel. I check in for a retreat, a period of deep meditation and communion with nature, for its endless walks, its meandering pathways, and its flowering trees.

There are suites the size of small nations, at the West End, a restored Heritage Club wing of the hotel, with elegantly appointed club rooms, a lovely Club lounge for guests to come and relax and a state-of-the-art business center; there are walking tracks, a fitness center, flood-lit tennis courts, private verandahs and secret havens. There are high ceilings and polished teak floors and peerless pillars and four-poster beds and super luxurious bathrooms and colonial cottages and high-end villas with their own private pools.

There are butlers with the manners of a bygone era, there are housekeepers who smile and there are concierges who can mend and recommend and even get you a ticket for a play or two. I cannot think of another hotel in the country that is so diverse, luxurious and old world, set in such a high-voltage exciting city as the Taj's West End.

No wonder that heads of state such as His Excellency Yashiro Mori, PM Japan, Jens Stoltenberym, President of Norway, corporate czarinas such as Indira Nooyi, CEO of Pepsi International, and rockers such as Mark Knopffler, Sting and Bryan Adams have flocked to the Taj's West End! If you ask me - forget Bangkok and Bali and Beijing - for a world-class holiday, head to the Taj's West End in Bangalore instead!