Mumbai for couples

Best boutique hotels

Mumbai stretches along the Arabian Sea in a north-south ribbon, and where you sleep determines which city you experience. The southern tip — Colaba, Nariman Point, Marine Drive — holds the colonial-era grandeur and the waterfront promenades. The western suburbs from Bandra north through Andheri carry the city's creative energy and its airport proximity. Bandra Kurla Complex sits between them, all glass towers and weeknight expense accounts. Central Mumbai, threaded by the local-train lifelines, holds the old textile-mill neighborhoods now filling with converted warehouse restaurants and rooftop bars. No single neighborhood gives you all of Mumbai; the question is which slice you want at walking distance from your door. Rates across these neighborhoods run from about $84 a night in the BKC business parks to $169 near the airport, with the heritage-district flagships sitting in between. Each area editorial below tells you what is actually within walking distance of the hotel, what closes early, and which neighborhoods reward a traveler who stays past the first night.