The new jewel in the Taj crown

On Thursday, the United States of America got its first Taj brand hotel, when the landmark Ritz Carlton in Boston became the Taj Boston. Indian Hotels, the Tata Group company that owns the Taj hotel brand, also manages the prestigious, The Pierre, in New York, and wants to go West for its next acquisition.

When the Ritz-Carlton hotel became the Taj Boston, some changes came quickly, like the welcome mat and the uniforms. Other things were slower to change, somewhat like Bostonians themselves. Boston resident, David Jacobs told SAW, "Boston is just a very tradition-bound city. We're all going to miss the Ritz I think. My wife and I actually met each other decades ago, having afternoon tea."

Vendors for services like linens and cosmetics have also changed. So, will the cuisine, under a new executive chef. The new managers say they will stop discounting their rooms, which can cost up to 4,000 dollars for a night in the Presidential Suite. The hotel will also get some Indian touches, such as what General Manager, Taj Boston, David Gibbons explains, "particularly Indian weddings, a lot of the hotels battle over them. Hopefully, we'll be winning that battle and we'll see a lot of Indian weddings here. Hopefully, we'll get some Indian newspapers in the lobby, a gift shop in a day or two."

The Taj Hotels Group paid 170 million dollars to buy the Ritz-Carlton last November. Still, not all the staff at the hotel had heard of their future employers. Doorman, Taj Boston, Tom Toner says, "No, I actually hadn't really heard of them before. Another doorman, Ibrahim Assaf echoes him and says, "Never heard of them before, no. We've always been here, 20 years, he's been here 25 years."

The Ritz-Carlton had been a Boston icon for 80 years, overlooking America's oldest public botanical garden on one side and an upscale shopping district on the other. Norman Pashoian has been a doorman here for 60 years, welcoming Winston Churchill, the Kennedys and baseball legend Babe Ruth among others. Will he stay on at the Taj Boston? He laughs and says, "Yes - forever."

This is the second blue-chip Taj property in the US, after the Group took over the management of The Pierre in New York in 2005.

First New York, now Boston and if the company gets its wish, the Taj flag will soon be raised at a hotel in California.

Indira Kannan