[hydtraveller]

Originally Posted by Guite

Coincidentally I was checking out Taj Exotica last night. I have enjoyed staying in their other properties in the past, but not at 30k+ per night. From photographs and Google map the property is impressive. But to spend so much? I don’t think I can justify the cost.


I seem to gravitate towards south Goa. Any recommendations there?

I have a question regarding “private beaches”. For example the Taj Exotica apparently has a private beach. Does this mean the beach in front of this property is out of bounds for other people? Can some one get onto this beach a few hundred metres away and walk along the beach, past this property? My intent is not about this property par se, but the entire beach along this sea front seems pristine as seen from photographs and Google map. It’s very inviting.

No beach in Goa is private. It is Government property and access cannot be denied to the general public. Where the access for the general public is difficult because of the terrain, it is termed private beach as you have very few locals or tourists on these beaches. Cidade de Goa in Panjim is one such hotel where access to the beach is very difficult for the public and is almost a private beach.

[adimicra]

Originally Posted by Guite

Beautiful and secluded (not crowded) might be a misnomer, but still seeking members' recommendation on such a beach in Goa. Going to Goa, we would like to stay in a resort, preferably run by prominent hotel chains, or by non brand resorts of comparable quality. Beach front property would be preferable but not essential.

So recommendations on beautiful secluded beach on one part, and a decent resort most welcome. If these two are not at same location, we will travel the distance by whatever means required.

Looks like similar requirements as mine..
I have booked at Holiday Inn on Cavelossim beach. I know the beach and it's pretty good and I got very good feedback from my friend who stayed there recently. Also, the reviews on makemytrip, tipradvisor, booking.com all look good. It is just beside the Leela and the Fisherman's wharf restaurant is also very nearby. You can have a look, I will be travelling next weekend, so not sure if you can wait.

[Guite]

Originally Posted by adimicra

Looks like similar requirements as mine..
I have booked at Holiday Inn on Cavelossim beach. I know the beach and it's pretty good and I got very good feedback from my friend who stayed there recently. Also, the reviews on makemytrip, tipradvisor, booking.com all look good. It is just beside the Leela and the Fisherman's wharf restaurant is also very nearby. You can have a look, I will be travelling next weekend, so not sure if you can wait.

What a coincidence again. I have also booked at Holiday Inn Cavelossim for Diwali weekend, however with option to cancel by 26th Oct. Location seems to be a very nice long beach, going past Caravella resort, Taj Exotica, Zuri White Sands, ITC Grand, etc

[Ferrari1976]

Originally Posted by Guite

What a coincidence again. I have also booked at Holiday Inn Cavelossim for Diwali weekend, however with option to cancel by 26th Oct. Location seems to be a very nice long beach, going past Caravella resort, Taj Exotica, Zuri White Sands, ITC Grand, etc

Just stayed there, depending on the room you get the view may not be great. The room size is smaller. Everything else is near perfect. The breakfast is very good, there are shacks very close by, their own restaurant on the beach also serves good food. it is right on the beach, the beach, the water is amazing.

Do take a walk till the point where the river meets the sea.

[redCherry]

I am planning to visit Goa end of this month by air.
I am looking for suggestions for reasonably-priced stay with these preferences for my less-than-10-years old kids.
1. Prefer Beach-fronts or close to beaches for stay
2. Dolphin Watching (for Kids, again )

Don't want to complicate things further with my preference for veg. food.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

[adimicra]

Originally Posted by Ferrari1976

Just stayed there, depending on the room you get the view may not be great. The room size is smaller. Everything else is near perfect. The breakfast is very good, there are shacks very close by, their own restaurant on the beach also serves good food. it is right on the beach, the beach, the water is amazing.

Do take a walk till the point where the river meets the sea.

I just returned from Goa y'day.
I stayed at the Holiday Inn for 5 nights with my wife and 13-yr old daughter.
It's a very nice hotel, good beach (almost private) with shacks and watersports. The hotel and the campus is beautiful and nicely maintained, would definitely recommend the hotel. Couple of areas of improvement - (1) better adherence to Covid protocols. The buffet breakfast, for example, becomes incredibly busy and wearing masks while taking food is not enforced. (2) there is no valet parking, which I found very strange considering the class of hotel. Walking from the lobby to the parking spot in the afternoon heat is not a pleasant exercise, particularly after a long drive.
Also, while the service staff was generally good, the people at the reception was extremely cold, not rude though. So, it's not a big deal.

I stayed in the Deluxe category of rooms which were sufficiently large enough for 3 of us. These rooms are housed in separate villas and I would certainly recommend these, if you need more space.

For the food options, I would recommend not eating at the hotel. I tried all the 3 restaurants in the hotel and frankly, the options outside are much better. Make sure you try these restaurants - the beach shacks outside (Mike's),Fishermans wharf, robin's Ark and James beach huts. Get a reservation at Fisherman's wharf one day early and ask for a riverside table for a memorable dinner.

[comfortablynumb]

Thinking of booking a stay at Heritage Village Resort & Spa soon. Any feedback about this hotel from folks here?

[ant_vas]

I am planning to visit Goa end of this month by air.
I am looking for suggestions for reasonably-priced stay with these preferences for my less-than-10-years old kids.
1. Prefer Beach-fronts or close to beaches for stay
2. Dolphin Watching (for Kids, again )

If you are OK with wooden cottages and not looking for luxury stays like Taj / holiday inn, then i suggest you to check out the numerous beach front cottages on Agonda Beach. This beach in south goa is less crowded, clean and mostly has families visiting it. No water sports are available and the usual bustle of shacks at other beaches is missing here. post sun set the beach is almost empty.

We stayed at Om Sai Beach huts at the beginning of this month. The rooms are clean & spacious and had AC. These huts are right on the beach so am sure your kids will love it. nice seating area to enjoy the sun set and sea breeze if you opt for beach front huts (they have garden facing huts as well). Food at their restaurant was good, but you also have other restaurants on that beach to explore. Do note they don't have any buffet for breakfast or lunch or dinner. you will have to order at their restaurant and have it there itself.

Then there are boat services available on this beach, which will take you to some near by islands and dolphin watching rides. some of the islands they take you to include butterfly island, cola beach and some rock island etc.

Do check other stay option on this beach as there might be better option available.

[noopster]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

Thinking of booking a stay at Heritage Village Resort & Spa soon. Any feedback about this hotel from folks here?

We've had two or three enjoyable stays here in the period 2014-16. Unfortunately after that it got "popular" and the rates went through the roof. The rooms are OK but back then the highlight used to be the sunken bar and the fact that they used to serve 4 o'clock tea by the poolside, which was complimentary along with breakfast, lunch and dinner. Which meant that we could laze at the resort without having to wander out for meals. Moreover the beach is a short walk away and it's virtually a private stretch.
It's a nice enough place but if you ask me not worth the rates quoted on Booking.com (about 11K a night with 15% discount on meals). Am certain you will find better options: Nanu Resort at Betalbatim where I stayed recently is more economical and almost as good.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by noopster

It's a nice enough place but if you ask me not worth the rates quoted on Booking.com (about 11K a night with 15% discount on meals). Am certain you will find better options: Nanu Resort at Betalbatim where I stayed recently is more economical and almost as good.

Thanks for your reply noopster.

Yes, Nanu's VFM quotient is hard to beat, which is why we have stayed there 4 times already. But they didn't have rooms available for Dec 4-7, and had only Deluxe (not Premiere) rooms for Dec 11-14. These are a bit cramped, and also on the 1st floor, which makes it difficult for my wife due to a leg injury. Beleza by the beach (adjacent to Nanu) was also sold out.

In general at this time of the year, rates seem to be sky high. Holiday Inn & Caravela were 15-16k/day and Novotel 22k! Heritage booking agent has offered 10.5k/day.

Any other Nanu like recommendations in the stretch from Majorda to Cavellosim? Don't want to go further south than that, as it would mean a longer drive to visit relatives in the Margao area.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

In general at this time of the year, rates seem to be sky high. Holiday Inn & Caravela were 15-16k/day and Novotel 22k! Heritage booking agent has offered 10.5k/day.

Insane rates! Goa is going to price itself out of the beach tourism market at this rate. But looks like people are willing to pay, since these resorts seem to be booked out. Can't imagine why people would pay this much. Thailand and Sri Lanka seem much better value for money at these prices. I've spent a considerable amount of time in Colva over the past year and trust me these beaches along the Majorda-Colva-Benaulim stretch are not even as good as some of the other beaches down south, let alone the beaches elsewhere in Asia. Only a matter of time before people wake up to that fact. Goa tourism needs a major course correction- if they want to charge these rates, they need to up their service levels and beach experience by a factor of several times, starting with cleanliness.

[Akshay6988]

Guys, need your suggestions for stays and things to do in Goa for bachelor's. We'll be heading down to Goa next weekend from Pune. Which route to take ? What time is good to start from Pune ? Which Goa is more suitable for bachelors - north Goa or south Goa ? On the accommodation front - simple, easy on pocket hotel with basic amenities is fine. Also suggest which pubs and eateries to check out.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by Akshay6988

Guys, need your suggestions for stays and things to do in Goa for bachelor's. We'll be heading down to Goa next weekend from Pune. Which route to take ? What time is good to start from Pune ? Which Goa is more suitable for bachelors - north Goa or south Goa ? On the accommodation front - simple, easy on pocket hotel with basic amenities is fine. Also suggest which pubs and eateries to check out.

The following threads will have all the info you need:

1. This thread

2. https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...eries-233.html (Mumbai - Pune - Kolhapur - Goa : Route Queries)

3. https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shift...g-out-goa.html (A Guide : Eating out in Goa)

4. https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...st-timers.html (Goa Vacation for First Timers)

5. Umpteen travelogues on Goa here: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/

[am1m]

Originally Posted by Akshay6988

Guys, need your suggestions for stays and things to do in Goa for bachelor's.

Well my friend, you're arriving in the peak season, after a difficult year for the Goa tourism industry, so expect pretty high rates everywhere and this will be the case till end-Jan at least.

If staying up late with music and a general 'party vibe' is your thing- the ever popular Vagator-Anjuna-Baga-Calangute stretch and further North all the way to Arambol should be fun. Though expect traffic jams, crowds, every kind of booming music (except actual Goan music!), and a good chance of running into someone you know back home from Bangalore, Delhi, or Mumbai/Pune leading to and on the beach!

The South is generally more peaceful. I say 'generally' because the better known beaches like Palolem are no longer the untouched paradise they were/ are supposed to be and see crowds and traffic jams on weekends too. But in general you can find a couple of quiet beaches south of Margao.

Stay, personally if I were in my 20s I'd look at one of the many hostel options, like Zostel or the Hostel Crowd. Clean, convenient, and reasonably priced. Also a good vibe and a good place to meet fellow travellers. But most of them will be booked out during this season.

Public transport is non-existent, and taxi drivers extortionate as always, so consider renting a car at the airport. Or renting bikes from/near the place where you are staying. Please be considerate about where you park. Most Goa roads near the beaches are narrow and a badly parked car will cause hassles and a traffic jam.

Food, well the popular places have all been covered extensively on youtube, tripadvisor, and by the millions of 'food bloggers' (who all think they are "discovering" a place for the first time ever!). So just google them. If you're looking for real Goan food- look for the small bars where locals eat. If you're looking for just a cool place to eat with most of the kind of food you'd get back home anyway, or the kind of seafood preparation that no Goan would recognize, then any beach restaurant/shack will do. Pick any at random, they all have the exact same menu anyway!

[HTC]

Originally Posted by Akshay6988

Guys, need your suggestions for stays and things to do in Goa for bachelor's.

Also suggest which pubs and eateries to check out.

Goa for bachelors is easy to plan. If it is your first time, north goa is what everyone prefers. Baga, condolium areas. Try decent 3 star or 4 star properties. Wouldnt recommended snacks or huts as they lack lot of amenities and not safe to keep belongings.

Try Alidea cottages in baga. We stayed when the room rates were less than 1k long ago, but now the prices are around 5k.There are plenty options for bachelors.

Regarding food - don't miss the fish thali in Ritz classic, panjim. Brittos on baga used to be good for breakfast and lunch. Not sure how it is now. Calamari beach shack in condolium is nice. And there was a thai place near agoda fort road, not able to recall the name. Martin's corner(v expensive), Mickey's in south goa. Give a try to road side food trucks. We got some good rolls last time we were in goa.

Enjoy.