Taj hotels become fortresses for a week
Barricades block a road leading to The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower in Mumbai, amid warnings of a terror strike over Christmas and New Year. Local newspaper "The Mumbai Mirror" attempted to enter five luxury hotels this week, only to find heightened security, police barricades, 300-meter road blocks and advance reservations required, even for coffee shops.
Mumbai's three Taj properties are the focus of the fortressing and are being turned into, literally, the most un-fun places to be on New Year's eve in the city.
"The Mirror" reports that, "A senior police official, on condition of anonymity, revealed there were intelligence inputs that a vehicle laden with explosives was likely to explode outside one of the Taj properties on New Year’s eve."
At the moment you cannot park anywhere near The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower in Colaba, Vivanta By Taj President in Cuffe Parade and Taj Lands End at Bandra where even the approaching roads have been sealed off and you need to walk.
The Taj Lands End and Taj Mahal Palace are banning all walk-ins on December 31.
And if you'd like to book dinner at any Taj hotel, a perennial Mumbai favorite for celebratory dinners, on New Year's Eve, everyone in your party will need to bring photo ID.
How unnerving. What will happen to the mood when the fireworks go off at 10 p.m. due to noise laws?
