Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Hospitality |
Founded | 1902 |
Founder | Jamsetji Tata |
Headquarters | Express Towers, Nariman Point, , India |
Number of locations | 200+ hotels (according to their website) |
Key people |
|
Services | Hotels and resorts |
Parent | Indian Hotels Company Limited |
Website | www |
Taj Hotels is a chain of luxury hotels and a subsidiary of the Indian Hotels Company Limited, [1] headquartered in Mumbai, India. Incorporated by Jamsetji Tata in 1902, [2] the company is a part of the Tata Group. The company employed over 20,000 people in the year 2010. [3] [4]
Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, founder of the Tata Group, opened the Taj Mahal Palace, a hotel in Mumbai (formerly called Bombay) overlooking the Arabian Sea, on 16 December 1903. It was the first Taj property and the first Taj hotel. There are several anecdotal stories about why Tata opened the Taj hotel. According to a story, he decided to open the hotel after an incident involving racial discrimination at the Watson's Hotel in Mumbai, where he was refused entry as the hotel permitted only Europeans. [5] Hotels that accepted only European guests were very common across British India then. According to another story, he opened the hotel when one of his friends expressed disgust over the hotels that were present in Bombay then. But a more plausible reason was advanced by Lovat Fraser, a close friend of the Tata and one of the early directors of the IHCL group, that the idea had long been in his mind and that he had made a study on the subject. He did not have any desire to own a hotel but he wanted to attract people to India and to improve Bombay. Jamsetji Tata had travelled to places like London, Paris, Berlin, and Düsseldorf to arrange for materials and pieces of art, furniture and other interior decor for his hotel. [6]
In 1974, the group opened India's first international five-star deluxe beach resort, the Fort Aguada Beach Resort in Goa. In 1970s, the Taj Group also began its business in metropolitan hotels, opening the five-star deluxe hotel, Taj Coromandel in Chennai, in 1974, acquiring an equity interest and operating contract for the Taj President (now Vivanta by Taj – President), a business hotel in Mumbai, in 1977, and also opening the Taj Mahal Hotel in Delhi in 1978.
The group has been converting royal palaces in India into luxury hotels since the 1970s. The first palace to be converted into a Taj luxury hotel was the Lake Palace in Udaipur, in 1971. [7] Other examples include the Rambagh Palace in Jaipur, Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur, Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad and Nadesar Palace in Varanasi.
In 1984, the Taj Group acquired, under a licence agreement, each of the Taj West End in Bangalore, Taj Connemara, in Chennai and Savoy Hotel in Ooty. The five-star deluxe hotel, Taj Bengal in Kolkata, was opened in the year 1989, and with this, the Taj Group became the only hotel chain in India with a presence in the six major metropolitan cities of India, namely Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Chennai.
Concurrently with the expansion of its luxury hotel chain in the major metropolitan cities, the Taj Group also expanded its business hotels division in the major metropolitan and large secondary cities in India. During the 1990s, the Taj Group continued to expand its geographic and market coverage in India. It developed specialised operations (such as wildlife lodges) and consolidated its position in established markets through the upgrading of existing properties and development of new properties. Taj also set up the Taj Kerala Hotels and Resorts Limited in the early 1990s along with the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation. [8]
In 1980, the Taj Group opened its first hotel outside India, the Taj Sheba Hotel in Sana'a, in Yemen and in the late 1980s, acquired interests in the St. James' Court Hotel (now comprising Taj 51 Buckingham Gate Suites and Residences and St. James' Court, A Taj Hotel) in London. In 2005, The Pierre in New York City was acquired. [9]
On 9 March 2022, Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, The Palm, Dubai, was opened. The hotel is the recent addition to The Taj Hotel group. Other properties of the group include Taj Jumeirah Lakes Towers Dubai and Taj Dubai. [10] [11] [12]
Ten hotels of the Taj Group are members of the Leading Hotels of the World. [13] Two hotels of the Taj Group, namely Rambagh Palace in Jaipur and the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai, were ranked in 2013 by Condé Nast Traveller among its "Top 100 Hotels and Resorts in the World". [14] Condé Nast Traveller also ranked the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai as number 13 on its list of "Gold Standard Hotels" in 2014. [15]
The Taj Mahal Palace is a heritage, five-star, luxury hotel in the Colaba area of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, situated next to the Gateway of India. Built in the Indo-Saracenic style, it opened in 1903 as the Taj Mahal Hotel and has historically often been known simply as "The Taj". The hotel is named after the Taj Mahal, which is located in the city of Agra approximately 1,050 kilometres (650 mi) from Mumbai. It has been considered one of the finest hotels in the East since the time of the British Raj. The hotel was one of the main targets in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
The Deccan Odyssey is an Indian luxury train modeled on the Palace on Wheels luxury train and put into service to boost tourism on the Maharashtra route of the Indian Railways. The train, owned by travel company Cox & Kings since 2014, takes visitors on a variety of seven night, eight day trips across Maharashtra.
Taj may refer to:
The Palm Jumeirah is an archipelago of artificial islands on the Persian Gulf in Jumeirah, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is part of a larger series of developments called the Palm Islands, including Palm Jebel Ali and the Dubai Islands, which, when completed, will together increase Dubai's shoreline by a total of 520 kilometres (320 mi). It has a population of over 25,000 as of 2022.
The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) is an Indian hospitality company that manages a portfolio of hotels, resorts, jungle safaris, palaces, spas and in-flight catering services. The company is part of India's Tata Group. IHCL was founded in 1902 by Jamsetji Tata and is headquartered in Mumbai where its flagship hotel Taj Mahal Palace Hotel is also located. The company's hotel chains include Taj, SeleQtions, Vivanta, and Ginger.
The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts is an Indian luxury hotel chain founded in 1986 by C. P. Krishnan Nair and currently owned by Brookfield Asset Management.
Falaknuma is a palace in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It originally belonged to the Paigah family, and was later owned by the Nizam of Hyderabad. It is on a hillock and covers a 13-hectare (32-acre) area in Falaknuma, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from Charminar.
The Rambagh Palace in Jaipur, Rajasthan is the former residence of the Maharaja of Jaipur located 5 miles (8.0 km) outside the walls of the city of Jaipur on Bhawani Singh Road.
Taj Fisherman's Cove Resort & Spa, commonly called Fisherman's Cove, is a luxury beach resort near the coast of the Bay of Bengal in Chennai, India. Categorized as a 5-star deluxe resort by Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, it is a part of the chain of Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces and is classified under the group's leisure/resort hotels section. Owned by the Covelong Beach Hotels Limited, an associate of the Taj Group, the hotel is built on the ramparts of a ruined 18th-century Belgian castle.
Devi Garh Palace is a heritage hotel and resort, housed in the 18th-century Devi Garh palace in the village of Delwara. It was the royal residence of the rulers of Delwara principality, from the mid-18th century till the mid-20th century. Situated in the Aravalli hills, 28 km northeast of Udaipur, Rajasthan, Devigarh forms one of the three main passes into the valley of Udaipur.
Rajasthan is one of the most popular tourist destinations in India, for both domestic and international tourists. Rajasthan attracts tourists for its historical forts, palaces, art and culture with its slogan "Padharo Mhare Desh " The capital city, Jaipur, also known as Pink City, is a very popular tourist destination and is a part of the Golden Triangle. The Walled City of Jaipur is only the second Indian city to be recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, after Ahmedabad.
Taj Coromandel is a five-star luxury hotel located in Chennai, India. Named after the Coromandel Coast, the HACCP- and ISO 14001-certified hotel was opened in 1974. Owned by Oriental Hotels Limited, an associate of the Taj Group of Hotels, it is classified under the group's luxury hotels section.
Shapoorji Pallonji & Company Private Limited, trading as Shapoorji Pallonji Group, is an Indian conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. It operates in construction, real estate, textiles, engineered goods, home appliances, shipping, publications, power, and biotechnology. The company was headed by a grandson of founder Pallonji Mistry, also named Pallonji Mistry, until 2012, when he announced his retirement and the succession of his son, Shapoor Mistry.
Jamshedji Nusserwanji Tata was an Indian industrialist and philanthropist who founded the Tata Group, India's biggest conglomerate company. He established the city of Jamshedpur.
Ram Bagh may refer to the following places:
Vibha Bakshi is an Indian filmmaker, journalist, and founder of Responsible Films. She is known for her films that highlight issues of gender inequality. Vibha's most notable films as both director and producer include Daughters of Mother India and Son Rise. Both films are winners of the National Film Awards from the President of India. She is the recipient of four National Film Awards from the President of India.
Iftikhar M. Kadri is an Indian architect, civil engineer, and founder of I.M.K Architects in the city of Mumbai, India. He has been a key figure in contributing to world renowned landmark buildings in several cities of India, United States, Russia, Middle East, Hong Kong & among others around the world.