agra hotel : taj view, or howard plaza?

advice from anyone?...i am staying in agra for 1 night (2 adults and 2 kids) and had booked the taj view hotel...the one night deposit showed up on my credit card bill tday as £102 (170 usd) which in hindsight seems extremely expensive because we do not arrive in agra until 10/11pm, and hope to be out to see the taj mahal at dawn (if we wake up!)...so its only to sleep.
i tried to book the trident hilton instead, but they can only offer 2 rooms and not accomodate all 4 of us in one room. the only other choice is the howard park plaza, (which is about half the price of the taj view hotel), but i have read some bad reviews on it and not sure wether to risk booking it or stay put...
has anyone stayed at the howard park plaza? as long as its clean and comfy i will cancel the taj booking and go for this instead. also is it located near the taj mahal as i cannot find it on any map of agra?!
thanks in advance

HI

I stayed there a few years back. Nothing fancy from what I can remember and breakfast was the pits. I remember walking around there and do'nt believe that the Taj is nearby. You certainly wont have a view of the Taj from this place.

We stayed there for New Years eve. If you can get it for half the price of the Taj View it might be tempting. Not near the Taj. Relatively clean and comfy as far as Agra goes. Just don't eat there. The food is the worst.

Don't count on seeing the Taj from any hotel that says it has rooms with views of the Taj. There is no guarantee. The smoke/smog/fog is often too bad to see it no matter how close your hotel is. If you are lucky, you'll be thrilled. But if not, you'll be kicking yourself for spending the extra money.
That said, always go for the highest standard hotel you can afford in Agra; most of the mid-range and budget hotels are a bit dodgy.

Totaly agree with Namaste, we did the same last year room with a view my backside, aslo the revolving retaurant, I dont think it had turned in the last thirty years/// go for the taj

I totally agree, go for the Taj View, we stayed there last year.
It's nice, clean, the food is great...it's pricey, but hell, how many times are you going to see the taj? We did have a view of the monument from our room.
The fortune teller there is pretty accurate. We spent a night hanging at the bar, drinking expensie wine and having our fortunes read...it was totally worth it.