First trip to India and Mumbai and wanted to play safe by booking a 'chain' hotel but at a reasonable price.

Heritage was just great - clean comfortable and the staff were very helpful - pointing out what taxi drivers should charge etc etc.

Only problem with the Hotel was the location - it's a bit out of the city/tourist area and the surroundings are a bit overwhelming for first timers. However once inside the hotel there are no problems at all.

I stayed here for 2 nights in December 2004.

This hotel is located in Byculla -- far from the typical tourist/business destinations of Mumbai. It is across the street from a huge church. There are also several mosques and synagogues nearby. It is also quite close to the very busy Byculla railway station. The neighborhood is now predominately muslim. During the day there is a very busy vegetable and fruit market nearby. The streets are crowded with delivery people and shoppers for much of the day. If you walk around at night or early morning you will see many, many people sleeping on the sidewalks.

The hotel advertises itself as 3 star, but I would say it rates 2 star at best. The room was clean, with clean sheets on the single bed. The general aspect of the room was shabbiness -- paint, carpet, furniture, drapes, light fixtures, etc. all looked like they were 20-30 years old and worn out.

Despite being computerized, they had to look through a thick sheaf of faxed reservations to find my reservation. The desk staff initially gave the impression that they understood English, yet their actions indicated otherwise. They never found my reservation -- I would recommend having someone in India contact the hotel directly to make the reservation for you in Hindi or in Marathi.

There were windows on 2 sides of the room -- unfortunately, the side facing outside had smoked glass, so only dim light came in from the outside. I later found out that this side faces an alleyway -- perhaps the management didn't want their guests looking out onto this alleyway.

The other window faces onto the public corridor. I preferred to have privacy, so I did not keep the curtain open on this side. The result was that the room was fairly dark at all times of the day.

The A/C cooled only the bedroom, so you got to feel the heat while using the toilet. The electric hot water heater worked ok, but you need to remember to turn on the heater at least 30 minutes before you want to have some hot water.

The room was relatively quiet except for some loud party noise that came from the direction of the alley for 1-2 hours each night.

There was a broken safe in the room -- there was also a sign indicating that real safes were available at the front desk. I found the front desk staff so incompetent, that I did not trust them with my passport. I chose to keep my wallet and passport under my pillow at night.

The Hyderabadi restaurant was quite good. The hotel also has a roof garden where you can get a nice view of the surrounding neighborhood.

The rates for this hotel were commensurate with the facility -- if you're looking for a bargain hotel in Mumbai, this may be just fine for you. If you have a good reason to stay in Byculla, this is you best option. There is another hotel around the corner (called Hotel Nagina) but it seemed to be only 1 star.

January 2004. The hotel that we were originally staying at was awful (Mina International)! We had wanted to stay at the Heritage after it had been recommended but they were fully booked due to the World Social Forum being held at the same time as our trip.
Managed to get 6 days at the end of our stay and have to say it was brilliant. Cheap but of a high standard. Staff very helpful. Rooms very clean and comfortable. Restuarant on site but snack/breakfast cafe better. Out of the very centre of Mumbai but taxis quick and low cost. Direct dial telephone - fully itemised bill at discount call rates, very reasonable. Internet cafe across the courtyard. Book it!