Delhi and Mumbai in December

firstimeindia

We will be travelling to India for the first time in early-to-mid December this year.

We will be visiting Delhi first for 4 days then Mumbai for another 4 days. I need some advice on accomodations in Mumbai. We are attending wedding festivities in Juhu and Sion, so we don't want to stray too far away, but would also like to stay somewhere close to city attractions. So, hotels at a mid-point would be great.

Our budget is at most $100/nt. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks!

zakjac

Juhu is a better area to stay as some parts of Sion is really crowded.You would be able to find a good place in Juhu for your budget and its close to the beach as well. There is a hotel called Juhu Sea princess I think it should be within your budget as the rates I know of are a about 1-2 yrs old.It also depends on the season when you are here.
Take care and have fun

Aarti Sinha

hi..

there are plenty of nice hotels in juhu.. within your budget too.. check www.trip-bazaar.com - it gives you a wide range of hotels across the city. Juhu is a nice area to stay in..quite a city hub too. Sion will become a little out of the way, so its best to avoid staying there. Other areas close enough to juhu and sion are bandra, khar and santacruz. You'll find some nice places there as well.

some are:

Best western emerald hotel in juhu
Kings International hotel in juhu
ramee guestline in Khar
Executive Enclave in Bandra

hope this helps!


aarti

firstimeindia

Thanks for your replies. I will look into hotels in Juhu. How far is Juhu from main Mumbai attractions: Gateway of Inida, Banganga, Elephanta Caves?

zakjac

Juhu is a bit far of from these places you have mentioned .Its about 30-40 kms apart from each other.You can also go to Gateway of India by the newly opened Bandra worli sea link.There are some good places to visit eatries especially near gateway of India.
Have fun

CFPhotoGrafie

I've been in Mumbai for 5 days now, staying with a friend in Malabar Hill so sorry cannot give hotel advice but Juhu is indeed rather far from anything you might call touristy

Mumbai is really NOT a tourist city in my experience...
One thing at Gateway of India especially be prepared to be accosted by hawkers of all sorts including "holy men"

My host took me to Banganga and altho the temples themselves are scenic the neighborhood is not somewhere I'd have ventured alone. You simply have to see it for yourself to know what I mean.

Mumbai streets are terribly confusing even with the best of maps (and I am normally a map PRO).

Elephanta Caves is on an island, boats leave from Gateway of India, you'll be approached at Gateway by numerous hawkers offering tickets/tours to anywhere you might want to go...

I may be overly sensitive as I am a woman traveling alone on her first visit to India. As a pair you may not face some of the issues I have.

Just be prepared...it's truly a different world.

firstimeindia

Thank you very much for your advice. I will definitely keep it in mind.

zakjac

Interesting experience ..A lot of my friends had the same experience but overtime they learnt to ignore all this and started enjoying their experience here.Intially its a difficult I know but over time you kind of get used to it and yes Bombay/Mumbai isn't a very touristy place, its more commercial and what people call 'organized chaos'.I recently visited the Leopold cafe near Gateway of India and it was quite good.Only later did I realize I was sitting right next to where a bullet was shot at by the earlier terrorist attacks.It was a strange experience indeed.You can do a lot of shopping in Mumbai and at the right places you can get it really cheap.Let yourself free and maybe you'll have a better time in India.Wish you loads of fun in your journey through India.I must warn you though that there is a lot of cutlural/language difference between north India and south India even the north east.There are so many languages and cultures in India that it requires an all together separate session.

CFPhotoGrafie

hi zakjac interest I actually blogged about my same experience regarding Leopold Cafe! I really like it there but of course being there is not even like being in India, it's a westerners haven

zakjac

CFPhotoGrafie
Wow thats a coincidence..you are absolutely right about that place.I enjoyed it as I was pretty new to Mumbai as well.
Wish you luck for the rest of your journey.

firstimeindia

If we decide to stay closer to attractions, what hotel would you recommend? Also, what would be the best way to get to Juhu/Sion - cab?

Wombat

Hi firsttime india, I stayed at a few locations in Mumbai during my trip to India last month - Fort which is very close to attractions(Residency Hotel), Khar (Ramee Guestline) which is reasonably close to both attractions and Juhu, and Juhu (Plaza and Sea Side).

Being in Fort made it very easy to go and do the tourist things without needing to use taxis, and is a nice area to be for a few days.

Juhu is quite a nice area to be in location wise, and I found plenty to do around this area, although less of the 'sights' (I am more of one to enjoy the streetscene, people and general atmosphere of a place than too many monuments so it suited me). Negative is that it is a long way from attractions like Gateway and can take 1.5 or so to get there by cab. Is very manageable in an auto to get around to anywhere outside of 'town' (south of Bandra) though.

Khar was my favourite of the locations and also of the hotels (and would cost under $100 to stay at the Ramee Khar, booking through their own website, including breakfast and airport transfers). Very easy to get into an auto to go to Bandra, Juhu etc, and about a half hour trip up to Juhu I would always take an auto because of the cost and the enjoyment. To get to the attractions down in Colaba/Fort the best way would be to take a cab (although the train station is very close too).

And seems we all end up at Leopold's lol - I was there on my first night in Mumbai...looots of foreign tourists down that way...nice place though...