I stayed at this resort from 6th Sep to 10th Sep 2006.
Booking:
I read some review and visitied https://nivalink.com for photos, tarrif etc. Finally selected this resort’s "off season" package of Rs 8000/- for 3N4D + 1 N complementary. They asked me to fax my booking request and deposit an advance of Rs 3000/- in thier ICICI bank (hmm this bank is a big topic in itself !) account. Thus we confirmed our booking.
Airport pickup:
This was complementary as almost every hotel in Goa offers. It wasa non A/C Maruti Van. The driver was at the Dabholim airport in time with a plackard holding our name. He was helpful and promptly put our luggage in the trunk. Drive to the resort was enjoyable as we could watch the typical Goan monsoon scenic beauty all around.
Arrival at the resort:
We were given a welcome drink (which was a small glass of pineaple juice I suppose. Not too exotic) I was asked to pay the remaining 5000/- upfront which I did. They accept all credit cards. There was some confusion between a deluxe room and a superior room. So was asked him to give us the sea facing room which turned out to be a villa. We were told this was one of the best rooms (? read below). We were also give a wine bottle and a packet of cashew nuts upon entering the room.
The Room:
Our initial excitement was kind of subdued as we entered the room (Villa #1 Room #103). It did not have granite flooring as promised on their webpage. Also it was not dusted properly as we could see a feel dust on the floor. The dressing table was the worst of them. It was a broken / cut state with a lost of dirt seen on its edges. They have those white colored CFLs behind the lamp shades on the dressing table wall. (These should have been yellow color to match with other indandescant lights in the room. They have a "rustic" theme for the resort as boasted on the website. But looked like a very old room which has really been "rusted" by now. The bathroom was no different type. There was a strange fishy smell in the bathroom. In fact one of the taps on the basin did have a fishy smell to the water also. I would give 2 out of 10 to such a room esp when they charge Rs 2000/- per day for it.
The needed to use the AC (Window) very often as climate was hot and humid most of the time. It was a bit noisy though.
View from the room:
The view from the room was very good if not breathtaking. The sea is upclose here as if touching your feet. The distance between the see shore and our room balcony could be hardly 20-30 feet. The sea -view was somewhat obstructed by the palm trees around. However overall it was an enjoyable scene.
Room Service:
Room serice was quick and the food quality was very good. A little expensive though. However thats probably about every hotel (and room service) in Goa. There were hardly any guests in the resort on that day. That probably explained the quick room service.
Restaurant:
The restaurant too had a nice view of the sea and the beach. They have a VERY HUGE banyan tree next to the restaurant. I have not seen many big banyans as that so far. Food quality is very good for the price. Ambience too is good. It is however not possible to sit in the restaurant in the evenings as lots of mosquitoes will virtually kick you out of that place. Service is polite and quick. Cleanliness is not of top quality but alright. I had seen some other restaurants in Goa in my previous visit and experienced that these people have an "attitude" towards Indian customers. They however provide very good service to foreigners. However this restaurant did not give us that kind of experience.
Smiming Pool :
The best thing that they have is the smimming pool. Swimming costumes are compulsory. It was very very clean and the shape was also very good. The depth is from 2and 1/2 feet to 8 feet. With the blue colored tiles it looks very inviting ! I will try to attach some snaps. We indulged in the pool for hours together. One can see the sea while swimming in the pool. Overall the ambience of the pool area is 8.5 out of 10.
Reading Room:
This is practically useless. They do not have any interesting books here. Strange enough we found some Russian books here. Russian books were also available for sale in their shop/boutique. The chairs and table here were again "rustic" (You know what I mean)
Landscaping :
They have a nice layout with right positioning of the swimming pool. However there was a lot of maintenance activity going on at different places which was kind of annoying. Right form masonary work to plucking unwanted grass etc was constantly going on. We found those workers as if our co-guests.
The beach:
This is definitley not one of the best beaches of Goa. There is a large rocky patch in front of the villa rooms. To the left and right of this rocky patch you find some sandy beach. The beach was a bit dirty. However we had an exclusive access to the beach (just a 20 second walk from the room) They also have areas to clean your feet off the sands from the beach with 2 taps provided. We did not find any interesting ocean life on the sea. Some crabs were seen only in the evenings. No star fish etc. were seen.
Hiring 2 wheeler:
They charged us Rs. 350/- for the 2 wheeler hire. We hired it at around 3 PM . But we were charged the whole day for it. They also did not agree for keeping it till 3PM the next day. We had no choice but to pay them as much they asked for. The vehicle (Bajaj pulsar) too was in a very bad shape. Also we were told to tell the police that this is a friend’s vehicle. The bike had white number plate. This was not an official bike on rent.
Karmali Railway station drop:
This was the worst experience of this resort. They had promised a complementary pickup and drop from airport or rly stn. However when we reached the rly stn the cab driver asked for Rs. 400/- as drop charges. When we called the reception he too said that the drop was not complementary. So whay did he not take the money at the hotel itself ? This in our opinion was a fraudulant practice that they followed to extract money from the guests.