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 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 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 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. This was confirmed by managing director and CEO of Taj Hotels, Raymond Bickson.

He says, "We exited out of North America seven years ago and strategically we were looking for an entry back into the North American market in key gateway cities and in the luxury sector."

"With our entry back into the US in New York in 2005, our vision was focused on looking for a West Coast property. When this opportunity came up to be in the third fastest growing market segment - in Boston - for us, it was a unique opportunity to come into a market that is basically on fire and currently today gives us, to a certain extent, the first mover advantage in a strategic AAA+ location in a market, that international players have looked at and are coming into."

So, does this mean a West Coast acquisition is on the cards? Bickson says, "We've been very active in looking at San Francisco and Los Angeles. We'll continue to do so. Chicago will be of interest to us and so would Washington DC.

"So, as these opportunities are there, we're constantly looking at a lot of companies and at different opportunities. This was one that came up, I guess, faster than we anticipated. But, we're really glad to be here in the Taj Boston.

"The challenge would be for us to get the awareness of Taj as a brand, put it in front of our consumers and especially our new consumers and our new guests."