The Kin Featured
There’s nowhere like Mumbai for experiencing the jostling madness of all the sides to India all at once. Indeed, this city of skyscrapers and slums, Bollywood glamour and entrepreneurial gusto can sometimes feel a little like time travel. In one hip-width backstreet you’re inhabiting an ancient India of medieval spice markets and chai-wallahs, the next you’re clinking flutes in a rooftop bar that gives anything in Manhattan a run for its money (though it’s a gin, vermouth and orange liqueur Bombay rather than a martini).
Mumbai is a city of neighbourhoods. Touristy Colaba is home to heritage buildings (such as the august Taj Mahal Palace hotel) and the classic touristy strips; Marine Drive and Chowpatty beach offer sunsets, sea-view bars and street food; Kala Ghoda is the galleries and design hub; and the western suburbs Juhu and Bandra go big on boutiques and Bollywood glam. Upscale hotels are to be found in the western suburbs and along Marine Drive. Meanwhile, the Fort neighbourhood, Bandra West and Khar West have a littering of character hotel launches alongside the landmark Kin Hotel, in residential Dadar.
Whatever you do, try more than one version of the city (made possible by its rapidly expanding, hi-tech metro). As the Bollywood billboards have it, there’s nowhere quite like this city for going “from zero to hero”, so here are the best places to stay in Mumbai.
All recommendations within this article are informed by independent expert editorial opinion. This article contains affiliate links and links to our in-house travel agency, Times Holidays, all of which will earn us revenue.
Editors’ choice
- Best for design The Kin Hotel
- Best for luxury The Oberoi Mumbai
- Best for solo travellers Abode Bombay
- Best for couples Taj Lands End
- Best for families JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu
- Best for the vibe Soho House Mumbai
- Best for value Trident Bandra Kurla
- Best for the airport ITC Maratha
1. The Kin Hotel, Dadar
This new boutique hotel brings a dash of European hipster to the Indian commercial capital. And while vinyl-listening stations, yoga and HIIT at sunrise and salt baths in terrazzo tubs are not everyone’s cup of chai, few of us sniff at sunset cocktails soundtracked by Ibiza beats. The interiors, naturally, are mid-century modern but with an Indian twist to the teak woods and detailing. The small-double Boutique Cozy rooms have all you need and are a snip.
2. Bandra House, Bandra West
Having swung open its blue-panelled doors in July 2026, Bandra House is themed for the Portuguese colonial history in the suburb: think high ceilings, verandas and shaded balconies (though it occupies a modern, mixed-use block). Its 39 spacious rooms sell out quickly, so book in advance, and leave time to linger over a Bandra Colada sundowner (a punchy take on the piña colada) in the laid-back restaurant bar Bandra House Living Room.
3. The Oberoi Mumbai, Nariman Point
The family-run Oberoi group has long been considered the gold standard for Indian hospitality; 24-hour service at each of its properties is warm, discreet and flawlessly efficient. The Mumbai outpost, in the heart of the business district of Nariman Point amid the art deco buildings of glittering Marine Drive, is no different. It manages to marry the inimitable style of the city with dazzling views of the sea with ease. The 287 rooms are comfortable and understatedly elegant; our suite had monogrammed pillowcases and pistachio silk kimonos so exquisite we had to fight the urge to take them home.
4. Abode Bombay, Colaba
Describing itself as “the ultimate anti-chain hotel”, this photogenic Colaba guesthouse is the antithesis of the often-hierarchical brand of Indian luxury hospitality. Staff and guests, in a democratic gesture, call one another by their first names; and there’s a collegiate feel among residents. Who better to help you understand the real Mumbai than a hotel with a heart? Abode regularly works with local NGOs — for example, drivers employed by the hotel come via an organisation that helps women impacted by domestic violence into long-term employment — and it offers great value, to boot.
5. Soho House Mumbai, Juhu
Want a snapshot of modern Mumbai? Soho House’s Juhu outpost — the first in Asia — is the place to be. The interiors riff on the members’ club’s identifiable bohemian aesthetic with a mix of plush Indian textiles and Mumbai-based contemporary artists. Hotel residents have access to the member facilities: music, fashion and wellbeing events; the onsite cinema; three restaurants, a juice bar and Bombay’s coolest rooftop bar, where you can recline poolside under a striped linen cabana and watch Bollywood actors and models sip spicy tequila cocktails.
6. JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu
This shiny luxury hotel leads the way when it comes to big-brand hospitality in Mumbai. Each of the 358 rooms and suites are chic and spacious; think enormous cloud-like beds, woven leather ottomans, bathrooms with heather-grey marble and polished wooden accents. There’s plenty to keep families occupied on site: three pools, five restaurants and bars, and an excellent spa — but with the shops, bars and shores of trendy Juhu beach just a few minutes’ walk away, you’ll be hard-pressed to stay put.
7. St Regis Mumbai, Lower Parel
This swanky pad — nearly 40 storeys high inside Palladium Mall in the well-heeled Lower Parel area — straddles the two sides of the city. From one side of the skyscraper, you can see the love-it-or-hate-it Ambani “house” — the 27-storey residence of one of India’s richest men — and on the other, clear views of Dhobi Ghat, one of Mumbai’s industrialised slums. Forget opulent former palaces; this contemporary joint is where Mumbaikars go for glitz and glamour. But while the hotel’s sleek restaurants and bars may be a mainstay of the elite, the Iridium Spa (which has its own floor) is really where it’s at; go for the rose quartz massage.
8. The Leela Mumbai, Andheri East
Twenty minutes’ drive from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, the Leela could well be Mumbai’s chicest airport hotel. But that would be doing a disservice to this serene, palm-fringed pad; this is where many stressed-out Mumbaikars come to escape the city chaos. Find them robed-up in the spa, reading books by the pool or sipping cocktails at the Six Degrees bar, which opens out onto the hotel’s lush gardens. The real draw, though? As any former patron of the Leela group might attest to, this is where you come for some of the most reliably brilliant food in the city; its flagship Jamavar restaurant has a sister version that’s winning similar plaudits in London’s Mayfair.
9. Taj Lands End, Bandra West
This gleaming property has the best of both worlds; mesmerising views of the water and proximity to Bandra West, one of the hippest areas in Mumbai. It has all the polish you’d expect from the Taj group but without the stuffiness of its famous older sister in Colaba. Here in Bandra you’re right in the heart of the action: the suburb is known as the home of Bollywood (a number of actors live in the area and you’re down the road from Mehboob Studios) with countless upscale boutiques and some of the city’s coolest restaurants dotted around. Keep an eye out for silver fox movie legend Shah Rukh Khan — his house is just down the road and is usually surrounded by adoring crowds.
10. Grand Hyatt Mumbai, Santacruz East
This sprawling complex on the edge of the Bandra Kurla Complex feels less like a hotel and more like a hamlet. It’s so big, it’s often the property of choice for society weddings and visiting Indian cricket teams. There are four main restaurants on site, as well as 548 rooms and 112 serviced apartments in 12 acres of royal palm-fringed gardens. This is a failsafe for corporate travellers: its location next to Mumbai’s business district means minimal traffic; the hotel has top-of-the-range event and conference facilities; and a selection of swanky restaurants — some of the city’s most impressive places to bag a table — are a stone’s throw away.
11. Trident Bandra Kurla, Bandra Kurla Complex
Granted, there wouldn’t usually be many reasons to base yourself in the business district when you’re on holiday, but this contemporary BKC-based spot might well be an exception to the rule. While the interiors feel pretty cut-and-paste for a corporate hotel, the detail here is what makes it a cut above: Club-level rooms get their own butlers; the spa does great value-for-money massages; and the service is exceptional — staff are attentive without being intrusive and quickly learn dietary preferences. Plus, you’re close to cool craft breweries and restaurants as well as the hip neighbourhoods of Bandra and Juhu.
12. ITC Grand Central, Parel
The old-fashioned decor at this palatial-style hotel is modelled on the architecture constructed by the British colonialists. Interiors in each of the 242 rooms feel a little too stuffy but the public spaces of this grand, Parel-based property are all marble, gilding and opulent textiles. This is the place to come for a traditional upscale meal; the renowned dal bukhara (from the namesake restaurant at sister property in Delhi) is on the menu at the excellent Kebabs & Kurries and is arguably the best you’ll eat in town. Don’t forget to explore Parel, though; you’ll find a mix of glossy malls and a thriving independent creative scene on your doorstep.
13. ITC Maratha, Andheri East
This is one glamorous hotel. With its unique domed roof (said to have been created in homage to the architecture of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, formerly Victoria, Terminus), sumptuous interiors inspired by the Maratha dynasty of India and outposts of some of the top-rated restaurants in the country — including fine-dining Indian restaurant Dum Pukht — you’ll struggle to find another property quite like it. The opulent onsite spa, Kaya Kalp, is not to be sniffed at either. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport is a five-minute drive away. Just don’t blame us if you get a little too comfortable and miss your flight.
14. The Taj Mahal Palace, Colaba
This Colaba-based grande dame is woven into the history of Mumbai. Its stance at the Gateway of India has held strong since its opening in 1903, through highs and lows alike — including India’s independence from the British (which was announced on its staircase in 1947) and the 2008 terror attacks that targeted the property. Over the years, its aspirational old-fashioned glamour has attracted everyone from royals to sitting presidents, who say that “Tajness” is what keeps them coming back.
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