So What's With This Indian Company Taking Over the Boston Ritz?

I received an e-mail the other day from a correspondent lamenting the fact that an India-based hotel company called Taj had just taken over the Ritz-Carlton Boston, the one that's been a beacon of the Ritz-Carlton chain for decades. In fact, until Ritz management realized that there was nothing wrong with their hotels reflecting the community in which they stood, the Boston Ritz was nearly a template for the dark wood, and hunting prints--that English club look--that distinguished Ritz-Carltons for so many years.

I write to say, "Fear not."  The Taj Hotels company can be expected to maintain Ritz standards and, perhaps, even surpass them.  After all, the Boston property could use a bit of a renovation here and there.  (And if you MUST stay in a Ritz, there's the newer hotel, the Ritz-Carlton Boston Common, just across the park.) 

Taj is part of the Tata group of companies, and in India, the name "Tata" is something like the name "Rockefeller" in the US. Tata owns more than 90 companies involving engineering, chemicals, information systems, energy, and trucking.  With more than 70 hotels in the Taj portfolio, the company knows what it's doing.  It has a collection of five-star hotels and resorts in India and elsewhere--from Australia to Zambia--that make even the most jaded traveler drool.

The CEO of the Taj hotel group is Raymond Bickson, formerly the legendary general manger of the late, lamented hotel-of-choice for celebrities on New York's Madison Avenue, The Mark.  I know Mr. Bickson and was personally sorry when he moved to India four years ago.  But I'm delighted that Taj picked a smart, warm guy to run its hotel empire.  And to expand it.  Remember the Four Seasons' Fifth Avenue jewel, The Pierre?  That's now a Taj.

I expect you'll be seeing the Taj flag flying on other legendary properties in the US over the next several years, because Taj's task is to get its name better known in North America.  Which is why I'm going to send an e-mail right after I post this to Raymond suggesting Taj become a corporate underwriter for my public television travel series.  Isn't it wonderful when self-interest coincides with a brilliant marketing idea for someone else?