The Taj: An Indian-owned Hotel in Yankeeland?
I was there, January 11, 2007, when the venerable Ritz-Carlton in Boston's historic Back Bay was sold to the Taj Hotels and Palaces Of India, one of Asia's largest hotel company,
Bostonians, and much of the East Coast Establishment, cried "heresy."
A tradition and an emotional landmark was gone, sold to foreigners, for one hundred seventy million dollars.
The Ritz was not just a hotel. It was a Boston icon, a place for High Tea, Martinis, a watering hole for "Boston Brahmins," the city's ruling elite.
It was home to visiting dignitaries.
The dining room is still filled with photos of Winston Churchill, Shirley Temple, Rogers and Hammerstein.
In that sense the Taj is unchanged from the Ritz-Carlton: "The Fighter" star, Christian Bale stayed here while filming, and the president of Lithuania was due in days after we left.
Otherwise, four years later, on a return visit, how has the Taj (a Hindi Sanscrit word meaning “Crown”) changed the Ritz luxury hotel experience?
Not much.
The signature Ritz Blue Cobalt glasses are gone.
There are more Indian staffers, though the staff still come from around the world.
The welcoming TV screen features a scion of the Tata family, more or less in local dress, talking about the romance of India and the quality of the Taj hotels.
India's Tata group is one of the wealthiest and most powerful in India, noted especially for their philanthropy.
They have three luxury hotels in the United States: The Taj Boston; The Taj Pierre in New York and The Taj Campton in San Francisco .
Patrick Blangy, Director of Sales and Marketing of The Taj Boston, says that many people still come because they remember the hotel as the Ritz. But, he adds, "they are coming increasingly because of the Taj brand, and of course our great location across from the Boston Garden and on Newbury Street.”
There are plans, Blangy says, to integrate further the cultural and aesthetic characteristics of India into the US-based properties, but he says these plans are "in development," and reassures that the cultural additions with be tasteful and subtle.
Continued on the next page
Follow Technorati