Posted on: 10 May 2015

Bombay Watson's Esplanade Hotel
By Samuel Bourne (England, 1834-1912)
Late 1860s
Photograph
Albumen print

Source: Los Angeles County Museum of Art


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Watson's Hotel Bombay - 1863 Bombay's first 'STAR' hotel Now known as esplanade mansions is India's oldest surviving cast iron building,fabricated in England ,shipped to India, ,JOHN WATSON opened this whites only hotel with 130 guest rooms,bar,restaurant,employed English waitresses in ball room.famous guests included Mark twain.The first movie film by the Lumiere brothers in India was shown here ,seen only by white people.Rumours that industrialist TATA was denied entrance into the white only hotel and he retaliated by opening the TAJ hotel in 1903. See more rare Bombay photographs: http://bit.ly/1dVHIvb