India's first hotel is the Esplanade Hotel, located in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay). It was established in 1901 and is still in operation today under the name of The Esplanade (Bombay). The hotel was built by a businessman named John Watson and was designed by architect Rowland Mason Ordish. The hotel was initially intended to cater to the British visitors to Bombay and was considered to be one of the finest hotels in Asia at the time of its opening.
