HOTELS OF INDIA

The Four Seasons, Mumbai


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The first Four Seasons hotel opened on the first day of spring in 1961 on an unlikely downtown site in Toronto, Canada. It had taken over five years for Issy Sharp, still in his 20s, to convince backers of his vision. Yet, from the start, the 125-room motor hotel showed the hallmark of Four Seasons – a more personal style of service. “We opened our first hotel with a simple principle: treating every customer as a special guest.” Issy Sharp was both the developer and the builder of the hotel, with his original partners, Murray Koffler, Max Sharp, Eddie Creed and Fred Eisen.

Driving conditions in India can be a little daunting. At the Four Seasons, the newest entrant to the country's luxury-hotel market, a fleet of 20 BMW Series 7s is available for guests--not that they'll need to go far: The glass tower hotel (whose 202 rooms look straight at the Arabian sea) is conveniently located in Worli, the city's financial center, obviously targeted to the increasing number of business travelers flocking to Mumbai.

MORE ABOUT THE FOUR SEASONS