Benazeer Hotel, Mumbai

jarman_ah

Having sent off several emails to hotels that didn't reply, I finally have two quotes from hotels in the area I am looking for (around CST in Mumbai). One is the City Palace, which is well-written-up in the guide books; their double rooms are just over 1000 rupees. The second is the Benazeer, which is not writte about much at all. They want 936 rupees for a "deluxe" air-conditioned double. Does anyone know anything about the Benazeer? I'd appreciate an evaluation!

AvidTrekker

I don't know much abt the Benazeer.... but people were hotly discussing hotel Outram in some previous threads.... I know its in the same area, maybe same priced, just look up the thread. There are two threads it seems:

Hotel Outram, Mumbai: email address?

Mumbai Hotels: Residency, City Palace, Outram, Gemini

__________________
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jarman_ah

That was me, Avidtrekker! I certainly hope the Benazeer is, as you say, in the same area (it's in Gunbow Street) and price bracket, as I was seeking budget hotels within a km of CST. The Outram, which was rather well-regarded by the posters you mentioned, can only be contacted by phone (which is a bit of a disadvantage from Sydney, Australia) so the Bezaneer and the City Palace emerged as the front runners of the four (the fourth one, the Gemini, no one has been able to tell me about).

Thanks for replying!

AvidTrekker

In the next Building to Benazeer, is the Residency, on the Main D.N. Rd. and Gunbow St. Junction. Its a very nice hotel. Maybe you could google for it?

Benazeer was (and is) basically a restaurant for middle class meat eaters in the area. Now I really don't know when they bought up the rest of the bldg and graduated.... so to say. You might have a pleasant surprise.... but I never heard of ppl staying at Benazeer.... maybe becuz its new(?)..... by which logic would it offer better service (?)... one cannot really guess.

jarman_ah

That's VERY interesting, AvidTrekker! I know where the Residency is, actually, as they have a website, and I thought it looked quite lovely, though it was quite a bit out of my price range (that's probably because they chase the rats and the cockroaches into the building next door!)

You have really intrigued me about the Benazeer... I am on the verge of replying to their email in the affirmative. But you've never run up against the Gemini? Man, that one is cheap! But they don't have a website, an email address, or (possibly) a telephone, so they're not the easiest people in town to track down. As far as I can tell from indiamike, no one who has ever stayed there has lived to tell about it.

Thanks so much for your reply -- and so quick, too! You must be on-line right now!

mahascribe

Hi Jarman,
Me a Mumbai-ite. I also know Benazeer as a RESTAURANT. The hotel near Benazeer is Residency, and these 2 do not have any connection.

ONE suggestion is that :
Its 3.30 AM in Mumbai now. Can you wait for 15-16 hours? if yes, I can check Benazeer, and get back to you.

If you are confused whaeather to trust a local guy, know more about me on mypersonal web-page.

-- abhijeet.

jarman_ah

Hi, mahascribe!

Why shouldn't I trust a local? That's a WONDERFUL suggestion! Yes, I can very gladly wait 15-16 hours for your report... and if you actually go in there and say "I have a FRIEND from Australia who's thinking of coming to stay with you on October 17, they will remember my email earlier this week, and I'll bet we wind up with the best room in the house! If you go down there again on October 18, I'll buy you a lassi at their restaurant!

That's such a nice offer, I hardly know what to say.... except, when you decide to holiday in Sydney, I'll check out a few places for you as well!

jarman_ah

P.S. What on earth are you doing on indiamike at 3:30 a.m.!!! Don't you people in Mumbai ever get to sleep?

mahascribe

Hi
,
YES. I checked with Banazeer HOTEL (not the benazeer cafe which is a restaurant... it is in some adjoining building!) and a decent DOUBLE, WITH AC, ATTACHED BATH (shower and toilet) starts from INR (INDIAN RUPEES) 832/-
however,
a room which has a roadside view is at INR 936/- (with a/c, attached bath and TV ), and rooms with more beds cost INR 1040/-
What's interesting about the Hotel is that, notwithstanding its Islamic name, this hotel DOES NOT entertain ARABs!
I asked why,
and the attendants there said :
"coz arabs want girls. we discourage any objectionable businesses in this hotel"
!!!
Then to RESIDENCY : yes, this moderately EXPENSIVE hotel has recieved your email (your reference number is (375 -- 6/9/04 ) and THEY SAY THEY HAVE REPLIED YOU.
the rates, at Residency Hotel, start from INR 1590/- .
---
OUTRAM : was something that you imagined when you emailed the Residency. AMONG THE THREE HOTELS SURVEYED,
ONLY OUTRAM HAS " budget rooms : so no a/c and attached bath"
these rooms cost you INR 468/- (with two beds, very basic).
IF you want an A/C & ATTACHED double at INR 884/- and only a "deluxe" would cost thousand plus.
-----------------

HOTEL BENAZEER NUMBER : (+91-22-) 2261 7798 contact person: C. ABERO or Mr. NOOR.

OUTRAM numbers : 2209 4937, 2200 4322, 2207 2502 , 2207 2503

bye for now,
-- abhijeet
PS : all the costs are "taxes inclusive"

jarman_ah

Thanks, thanks, and more thanks.... you have given me much valuable information, which I will act on tinight and let you know what happens.

bongdongs

mahascribe opp VT station. That would mean you work for the old lady of Bori Bunder, eh

mahascribe

Yup- bongdongs, I work with the Times of India group of Newspapers. I am a Sub-editor with their Marathi daily : the Maharashtra Times.

It was my hunch to enquire about Hotel Benazeer, coz I really was ashamed of myself NOT knowing the facts : now I know them : thanks to Jaraman.

if you want to know about me or read my blogs, here are the links :
http://www.geocities.com/abhitamhane
my first blog of visual art-related writing
my Second blog- art related
a blog about Mumbai, (under construction.


Jarman,
my personal email is abhitamhane@gmail.com
why don't you email me once, so that I have your e- address ?

bye for now, but let us all hear from Jarman which hotel he chose and why!

-- abhijeet.

jarman_ah

Mahascribe, first of all my aplogies for that briefest of replies this morning.... I was on my way out and decided to check my email just in case your reply had come in early.... but since I didn't expect it to have been posted at that time, I didn't allow any time for replying. So that abrupt reply was just to let you know that I had, at least, read the fruits of your labours.

I really couldn't be more grateful.... it's like having an ally in your corner in a strange situation, and it couldn't have occurred at a better time or in a better place, since Mumbai is our FIRST stop on our holiday, and I guess India will never seem quite as strange or as "alien" to us as it will at that first encounter (my son, who has preceded me to this, a destination I have relished since I was a teenager, tells me that India is like no other place on earth, a total assault on the five senses from the moment you step off the plane.... he rates it the greatest destination on earth.) But you have swept aside all feelings of alienation, and I am starting to feel "at home" already.

Yes, I will certainly send you an email so that we can correspond privately.

It's nice that the Residency held onto my inquiry.... yes, they replied very promptly, and I sort of tucked their reply aside while I followed up these other choices. The Residency looks great, but their website, at the time I emailed them, hadn't updated their rates, so that when their quote came back, it was time for a sharp intake of breath. I've found a couple of hotels in other cities where the same thing has happened.... rooms that were supposed to be around 500R suddenly costing 900R. In one case -- the Broadway in Delhi -- I have two offers sititing on my email, one from the hotel direct, and one from an agent, for the same room -- but there's a difference in the quote of several hundred rupees. After a while this all adds up to a pretty sum!

After re-reading your informative report, I have decided to go with the Benazeer. It was really between them and the Outram, as the City Palace wanted over 1000R for the room, and I was sort of trying to stay below that. The Outram still wins on price, but I think I'd rather have their better rooms than their cheaper ones (from your decription), and that brings them up around the same price as the Benazeer..... so, what the hell, the Benazeer with the street view it will be! Now I don't have to ring the Outram, and the manager at the Benazeer has already agreed to let me use his name for the forwarding of rail tickets to be picked up on our arrival, so it's all working out very conveniently. Thanks, in no small measure, to yourself.

Now, if you wouldn't mind just ducking down to Varanasi to check out a few possibilities there........

Only kidding! What I do hope is that I will be able to do you a favour sometime. Maybe on October 18, if the Times can spare you for an hour or two?

Regards, Alan.

AvidTrekker

In the entire Country, ONLY Mumbai is the City that "never sleeps"

emilii

G`day jarman_ah : )

So... did You stay at the Benazeer hotel in Mumbai? Just a bit curious to know, cause I´m going to Mumbai next Dec and I was wondering if that Benazeer would be any good.

Thanks for the reply to my question about the hotel`s e-address in the Thorn tree forum!

Best wishes, emilii