CITIZEN in Mumbai - Hotel Review with Photos

India › Mumbai Hotels › Citizen Review
Updated: January 13, 2022

Essentials
• Location: On the beach on Juhu Tara Road.
• Hotel website: citizenhotelmumbai.com
• Hotel phone: +91 (0)22 6693 2525
• Check prices for Citizen

The Citizen hotel overlooks the popular Juhu beach in Mumbai.

Citizen Hotel – Quiet and affordable midrange option facing Mumbai’s prime beach.

Positioned nicely away from the traffic, this small and friendly hotel provides more panache than expected. Some rooms could do with a little modernization, but are still very comfortable and reasonably spacious. Those facing the sea feel like they’re virtually on the sand, while most of the other rooms also offer decent glimpses of the water. The Citizen is not up to the standard where a pool and gym are expected, but the position facing the beach, and surrounded by cafés, is among the finest in the city. It’s value-packed, with midrange facilities at budget prices, and breakfast is included. And being so close to the airport, it’s a worthy option as a transit hotel.

Citizen Hotel – The Location

Address: 960 Juhu Tara Road, the main road alongside Juhu Beach, a popular area in the northern suburbs.
Area: Faces the beach at a bend in the road. About 150m down a poorly-signed lane from the road. A useful landmark is the bus stand along the lane to the hotel. Plenty of cafés and bars, and a few shops, in the immediate area.
How to Get There: From the airport, get a taxi at a pre-paid counter (10 km; 35-minute drive, longer during peak times). The Andheri train station and connected metro station are 20 minutes (5 km) away.
Handy to: Juhu Beach. Domestic and international airport terminals.

Citizen Hotel – The Basics

Guests: Mostly Indian tourists seeking a fabulous city-beach holiday.
Views: The few rooms at the front directly face the sea and almost feel like they’re on the sand. Those to the side still offer decent glimpses of the ocean.
Private Pools/Jacuzzis: Certainly not expected (or provided) at this sort of low-key hotel.
Extras: Daily newspaper delivered to each room.
How to Book: Booking.com will have the best rates.
Phone: +91 (0)22 6693 2525
Email: info@citizenhotelmumbai.com
Website: citizenhotelmumbai.com

Citizen Hotel – Amenities

Pool, Spa, & Fitness Center: Not expected (or provided).
Other Facilities: Money-changing. Laundry.

Citizen Hotel – Food and Drink

Restaurants & Bars: (Both restaurants serve alcohol.) Bay View Restaurant & Bar – Pleasant indoor setting with sea views. Impressive service and extensive menu. • Sea Side Patio – Outdoor tables alongside the beach, almost on the sand. All-day dining, cheaper than the attached restaurant. Perfect for sunsets.
Breakfast: Included in all rates.
Room Service: Available during restaurant hours of about 7 am to 10 pm.

Citizen Hotel – Rooms

Room Types: Executive Rooms • Deluxe Rooms • List of all Rooms
Smoking Rooms: Some smoking rooms available, if requested.
Best Room: The best, of course, are those facing the sea. And the ones on the top (3rd) floor would be a little quieter.
For Families: Rooms can squeeze in an extra single bed, while many have connecting doors.

Citizen Hotel – Local Transport

Walking: One of the finest areas in Mumbai for strolling, especially along the extensive beach. There are some sidewalks and plenty of places to eat and shop nearby.
Public Transport: Nothing of any use to tourists. The Mumbai Metro probably won’t reach this far for a while.
Taxis & Auto-rickshaws: Plenty of black-and-yellow taxis along the road. They have meters and drivers will use them without too many arguments. Unlike the city center, auto-rickshaws operate here, and also usually use their meters. Rides can also be booked using Uber and Ola apps.

Citizen Hotel – What’s Nearby?

Best Nearby Restaurants & Bars

Ramada Plaza Palm Grove

Domino’s – Familiar pizza joint notable for the rooftop eating area with views rivaling those at 5-star resorts.
TAP – Trendy meeting spot on the ground floor. Focus on grills. Also, live music, DJs, and TV sports.
Bora Bora – Above TAP and similar layout. More of a bar than a café, but great Italian food. Live music most nights.
Ramada Plaza Palm Grove – This hotel offers a few decent options: Tangerine Café (24-hour coffee shop), Oriental Bowl (authentic Chinese), and Shooters (sophisticated bar).
Shiv Sagar – One in a city-wide chain of reliable vegetarian restaurants. Always good value and perennially popular.

Nearby Shops & Markets

A must-visit is the Nature’s Basket supermarket. Packed with organic products and fruits, as well as imported cheese, wines, and other goodies. Almost hidden behind the Juhu Residency hotel, less than 1 km north up the road from the Citizen.

Nearby Attractions

Juhu is the premier beach in Mumbai. Implausibly packed on public holidays and weekends, it is relatively quiet on weekdays. The beach is the sort found in Goa: extensive, scenic, reasonably clean, and usually fine for swimming. A few water sports can also be arranged at a spot near the hotel.

Citizen Hotel – The Hotel

The Citizen hotel is in Juhu, an excellent beach in the northern suburbs of Mumbai. The layout ensures that all rooms to the side also offer decent glimpses of the ocean.

The hotel is located away from the main road.

The hotel is about 150m from the main road, so all rooms are shielded from traffic noise.

The Citizen offers more style and grace than the exterior and rates might indicate.

Bay View Restaurant & Bar offers sea views.

Inside, but still offering sea views, the Bay View Restaurant & Bar at the hotel is swish.

Sea Side Patio offers beach-side seating.

Sea Side Patio is an appropriate name for this café/bar at the hotel, one of very few in the area alongside the beach.

Sea Side Patio offers interesting beach views.

There is always plenty to see from the Sea Side Patio café at the hotel.

The hotel rooftop offers extensive views of the beach in both directions.

Some rooms could do with a little modernization, but are otherwise very comfortable.

Spacious rooms have enough space for a desk and luggage.

Rooms feature decent-sized desks and enough space for luggage.

Each room has a small window-side sitting area.

A small sitting area is alongside the window in each room.

A few minutes’ walk north (via the beach or road) is a collection of food stalls.

The food stalls at the beach are an ideal place to try some street food.

Ramada Plaza hotel is within walking distance.

The Ramada Plaza hotel, less than 500m north via the road or beach from the Citizen, offers several fabulous places to eat.

At the Ramada Plaza, the Tangerine Café is open 24 hours.

The Shooters bar/lounge at the Ramada Plaza is ideal for a relaxing drink.

Shiv Sagar vegetarian restaurant is opposite Ramada Plaza hotel.

Almost opposite the Ramada Plaza, Shiv Shagar is one in a city-wide chain of vegetarian restaurants.

Bora Bora opposite the hotel is great for drinks.

On a bend in the road almost opposite the Ramada hotel is Bora Bora. On the upper floor, it’s a trendy open-air meeting spot for a drink or meal.

Under Bora Bora is the equally hip TAP bistro/bar.

Domino's outlet nearby with rooftop seating.

Only a few minutes on foot from the Citizen, this familiar pizza joint offers rooftop seating with outstanding views.

Nature’s Basket supermarket is within walking distance.

Just behind Juhu Residency Boutique Hotel, about 1km north of the Citizen, is the outstanding Nature’s Basket supermarket.

Nature’s Basket sells organic and imported items.

Nature’s Basket sells locally-grown organic products and imported goodies, like wine and cheese.

Metered black-and-yellow taxis are common in the city.

There are always plenty of taxis along the main road. The black-and-white ones have meters – and drivers usually use them.

A useful landmark is the bus stand along the lane to the hotel, but services are of little use to foreign tourists.

The beach in front of the hotel extends a long way in both directions.

While the beach can be impossibly crowded on public holidays and weekends, it’s comparatively quiet on weekdays.

The sunsets at Juhu, especially from the hotel bistro/bar, are fantastic.

A few water-sports can be arranged at a spot very close to the hotel. Check rates and availability: Citizen

Citizen Hotel in Mumbai, India

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