Goa: Places to Stay

Sitara Cariappa
May 25, 2022
3 min read

Updated: May 16

While researching places to stay in Goa in 2022, we were recommended to stay in the Southern part, which was less commercial and more local. While we would have chosen that option any given day, we were conflicted with the thought of this being my Dad's first trip to Goa. My folks love music, dance, crowded places, they literally love to socialize and make new friends wherever they go, given that we wanted to show them the touristy parts of Goa. The Basilica of Bom Jesus, Fontainhas, Aguada, my parents had never seen it and so we ruled out staying in South Goa.

Our first two nights were at the Le Meridien in Calangute which was accessible to the beach, its shacks, Aguada and other bars where we enjoyed listening to local Konkani music.

Our next stay was in Reis Magos, where we stayed at the Serendipity House, a 100 year old Portuguese villa that houses 3 to 4 bedrooms amidst so much greenery. The house is vintage Portuguese in in ever sense and has the best furniture and upholstery to add to this characteristic. The house help consists of 4 people, warm and helpful, who make you feel at home at every point. The absence of the owner at the property gave us all the privacy we needed as if living in our own home.

The staff works like clock work and every thing is organized in this villa, the linen, bathrooms and cupboards are extremely clean, the essence for keeping mosquitoes away are lit everyday, through the day. It was also the perfect time to bask by the pool. Their pool as at an elevation under a canopy of trees, so secluded and tucked away. You would never feel like you need a beach to compliment this place, because the house by itself was beautiful and relaxing. We had the option of ordering in or having the help make us food, we did the former in order on couple occasions to try out our list of places to eat from, this with some board games like carrom made our family holiday worthwhile. The villa can house 5 to 8 people only so we had the whole house to ourselves on all days. I spoke to the owner and to a friend who helped me with booking this place, this stay was special because of their generous hospitality and taste in everything they provided.

In 2024, my siblings and I did a road trip from Goa to Coorg, we flew in from New Delhi in the fag end of 2024 December and decided to stay further South of Goa this time. We chose Benaulim, and here are our recommendations for this part of town.

Silva Heritage

Other places that we considered staying at are below. We researched and spoke to friends/ family/ managers/ owners of these beautiful stays and therefore recommend them :

South Goa

Alila Diwa

https://www.alilahotels.com/diwagoa/

Taj Exotica, Benaulim

https://www.tajhotels.com/en-in/hotels/taj-exotica-goa

Turiya Villa, Cancona

https://www.turiyavilla.com/

Figueredo House, Loutolim

https://www.figueiredohouse.com/

Dudhsagar Plantation

https://dudhsagarplantation.com/about-us

Costas Montage, links on Airbnb