I happened to visit Goa in the last week of Oct’2008. After lot of research on various travel sites zeroed down on Cidade Goa for 4 nights.The photos were good so booked the hotel through phone and headed straight to Goa. Had earlier also heard the name of hotel quite often.
The airport pickup was in a normal AC bus whereas five stars normally provide a car pickup. When we checked into the room, I was a little surprised to find very old styled rooms with no bathtubs. This is the first 5 star I have seen without bathtubs. The room had a small balcony to for two people to just manage to stand. The only good side was that the rooms were spacious. The AC had to be asked for repair as the rooms were hot. Finally when repaired the rooms became chill even at low. No thermostat temperature control in AC, only low, medium and high speeds.
Then we went around for knowing the hotel for the services and the landscaping. The landscaping is really good and quite spread out. The facilities are also up to the mark but not of 5 star class.
As we were on a package with meals, I realized that this was the biggest mistake I did, as the food in buffet is horrible. So much so that I a;most spoiled my mood the first day. Also when you are out in the day you nev er happen to take the lunch and end up spending the money on lunch outside. Just imagine that we were in Goa and the buffet offered Chicken and Mutton mostly and once in a while Fish. Sea food was not seen in any buffet so we had to buy separately and pay extra.
The best restaurant they have is the Barbecue which offers really mouthwatering delicacies. We came out of the plan for the last day and enjoyed the food last day to the hilt. the other restaurant we enjoyed was The Cafe which had a very good sea view. normally this was used by us during breakfast. The hotel has range of pools for different age groups.
The half day sightseeing and Boat cruise as apart of package was good but nothing great to talk about as it is standard offered by all hotels and can be availed even without the package.
In all I will say a good property but needs investment to upgrade the rooms. The price is not value for money. May be if they improve the food quality then at least it will not pinch.