Grand Hyatt Mumbai

This place is huge, sitting right off the Western Express Highway in Santacruz. It’s a bit like a maze when you first walk in. There are so many floors and different wings that even the staff gets turned around sometimes. Because we’re so close to the highway, there is a constant hum of cars and trucks outside. It never really stops, even at three in the morning. Inside, the air conditioning is always running because the Mumbai heat is no joke. We have a lot of people coming through for meetings or just staying before they head to the airport. The lobby is wide and has a lot of stone and glass. It takes a whole team of people just to keep the glass clean. We spend our shifts walking back and forth across the property. It’s a lot of ground to cover. The rooms look out over the city or the inner courtyards. It’s a busy operation with a lot of moving parts. Sometimes things get a bit chaotic when several big groups arrive at once. We don’t really try to be anything other than a big hotel where people can get some sleep. There are trees planted around the edges to block out some of the noise from the road. It feels very separate from the busy streets once you’re inside the gates. We just focus on getting the rooms ready and making sure the lights stay on.