IT was a classic rags to riches tale. No, not Andrew Lloyd Webber and AR Rahman's Bollywood blockbuster (though the plot does go something like that), but our whole sadly-brief weekend in London's lap of luxury - sampling a theatre break with a definite sub-continental flavour.

With the success of Bombay Dreams at the Apollo Victoria, the Bombay-based Taj hotel group - which just happens to own top London townhouse hotel, 51 Buckingham Gate, which just happens to be next to acclaimed Indian restaurant Quilon, and a short walk from the theatre - realised they too could have a hit on their hands by offering an Indian-themed weekend package featuring all three.

Hence our visit to check them out. It's a hard life, this journalism gig.

The hotel certainly has a prestigious address, being just round the corner from Buckingham Palace and St James's Park, in the heart of Westminster.

From the outside it looks suitably palatial, as you wander past a security barrier into an imposing private courtyard, with a fountain donated to them by Queen Victoria, to find the actual entrance to number 51.

Despite the intimidating business of showing up at a super-swish hotel that you know is more used to entertaining the Prime Minister of India (a recent guest) than heavily-overdrawn hacks from North Yorkshire, the staff could not have been friendlier or more helpful, with no trace of the stuffy elitist snobbery you always fear from such establishments. Especially ones boasting Ivor Spencer-trained butlers and Shiseido Qui Spas.

So, I stopped feeling like I was in an episode of Faking It. At least until I saw the suite.

Inside Buckingham Gate, despite the genteel townhouse exterior, all is modern and tasteful, yet comfortable and welcoming.

Our apartment-style accommodation contained more technology than a branch of Dixons - two TVs, DVD player, stereo, fax machine, a phone that would probably let you communicate with the international space station if you wanted, and, reflecting the hotel's cosmopolitan background and clientele, a huge array of satellite channels including many Asian language ones.

Thanks to the hotel's home-from-home ethos, the suites are self-contained apartments with a gleaming kitchen - though whether anyone ever uses it, with a choice of top dining options just down the stairs, I don't know.

Speaking of food, after an ill-advised attempt to meet friends in the middle of town in the middle of Oxford Street Christmas shopping hell, we were in need of our meal at Quilon.

I was concerned that we would find it a rush to get to the theatre for the 7.45pm curtain-up, but the staff are well-aware of such things, and the service is perfectly-timed but never rushed. Like the hotel, Quilon is tasteful and modern, though oddly quiet for a restaurant which has been named the best Indian eatery in the UK by The Good Curry Guide. It lives up to its reputation. Just reading the menu was breathtaking, and the food was superb.

It specialises in South Indian coastal cuisine, meaning plenty of fish dishes - with such delights as lobster and mango, and fish cooked in banana leaves (hint: for God's sake don't do what I did and manfully munch the banana leaves until a waiter discreetly explains you're not supposed to do that), and also a fair few game dishes - my partner, Vix, sampled such delights as Partridge Masala. Superlative food all round, and although we are talking £20 main courses, this is the heart of London, where you can probably spend far more to eat an awful lot worse.

Then to the show, five minutes' stroll down the road (despite a minor detour caused by that other London tradition, the bomb scare).

Bombay Dreams is a hugely entertaining, fast-moving and colourful show, which embraces the traditions of the Bollywood movie - flimsy romantic plots, spectacular set-piece musicalnumbers and choreographed fights - with a sense of affectionate, knowing fun and some sharp, witty exchanges courtesy of Meera Syal's script.

It follows the rise of Bombay slum-dweller Akaash from the gutter to the billboards of Bollywood movie stardom, with a cast of characters just as colourful, from corrupt movie moguls, lawyers and gangsters, to a transsexual sidekick.

The score by AR Rahman, Bollywood's own John Barry, is brought to life by the two on-stage percussionists and their complex, energetic rhythms, which drive the whole performance.

It's not a musical packed with memorable songs (though the obvious stand-out, the drum'n'bass-tinged set-piece Shakalaka Baby is set for single release next year), but its whole concept and execution is a real breath of fresh air to the world of the big West End show.

The Bombay Dreams, Buckingham Nights weekend package is available from £329. It's not cheap, but all three of the attractions are at the top of their game. The hotel offers wonderful accommodation, location and service, Quilon is an amazing restaurant, and Bombay Dreams is the hottest ticket in town, making it an unbeatable combination. If a weekend of the best that London has to offer is within your budget, you will not be disappointed.

51 Buckingham Gate - info and reservations, 020 7769 7766 or www.51-buckinghamgate.com. Nearest tube is St James's Park.

The Bombay Dreams, Buckingham Nights break can be booked on 020 7963 8333 or via the website. Prices are from £329 for a package for two people sharing, including a one-night stay in a double junior suite, the best seats in the house for Bombay Dreams, dinner before or after at Quilon or the Bombay Brasserie, and breakfast.

Quilon - 41 Buckingham Gate, tel 020 7821 1899

Bombay Dreams is at the Apollo Victoria theatre, by Victoria Station. Tickets, priced from £14 to £40, are available from the box office on 0870 4000 650.

www.bombaydreamsthemusical.com

David Martin travelled to London courtesy of GNER.

Updated: 17:33 Friday, December 13, 2002