Early 2005 we visited Goa Marriott resort for our honeymoon, despite the thought of ’So much money spent in India - for this price you can go abroad and have a honeymoon’ - because of tighter schedule before rejoining offices!!!
Location: In outskirts of Goa’s capital Panjim, very conveniently located and easily accessible from all the important places. A stone’s throw away from Miramar beach and with short rides reachable to Dona Paula and other North/South Goa beaches. The resort is at the mouth of Mandovi river where it meets Arabian Sea. You can see multiple different shades of water from your room balcony. (8/10)
Facilities: Brilliant swimming pool. One end of swimming pool opening up to Bar. The bar tables are submerged in water, so one can sip on drinks while still being inside swimming pool. Apart from this, Marriott has a casino, various restaurants, a shopping arcades, gym. For water sports enthusiasts, the resort offers in house scuba diving school ( http://www.barracudadiving.com - A PADI certified school - one can get certification on diving from here, which is valid around the world). Other water sports are available however are limited in choice - unlike Baga or Kalangute. (8/10)
Room: A very neatly designed. Most of the rooms give a view of Mandovi River or are garden facing. Honeymooners are welcomed with a nicely decorated room, a cake and a bottle of wine - make sure you inform them in advance. We were fortunate enough to catch glimpse of freshwater dolphins from our room balcony, when we tried to track the dolphin spotting rode boats. Rooms feature mini bars, safe, ironing and other regular facilities. (8/10)
Food: Multiple options. They have 1 Chinese restaurant, 1 poolside barbecue place, 1 Seafood specialty restaurant, 1 lobby bar and 1 cafe which doubles up as the restaurant serving Indian / Continental food. If you have taken the all inclusive package, this is the place where you would be served your buffet B/L/D. The spread is quite good, very tastefully designed and very very generous. The all inclusive package also entitles you to 2 drinks in lobby bar. (8/10)
Service: The resort ranks good in terms of services provided. A pickup and drop in AC bus from and to airport, complimentary message (was not a feature back then, I guess now its introduced in some of the packages). The staff is very friendly and takes care to remember guest’s name to extend a personal touch. Many packages also include a mandovi river boat cruise and an Old Goa tour. (8/10)
A word of caution here, is to be careful booking a taxi through the resort, as the charges are high, its better to walk for 2 minutes, where you hit Panjim main road and take an auto/cab from there. Another very lucrative option is also to rent a two-wheeler and use it to roam around goa.
Beach: One drawback of this property is its lack of private beach. Although the beach outside the resort is very secluded in nature, but is still accessible from other end of Miramar beach. A 10 minutes walk on the beach leads you to heart of Miramar beach. The beach outside the resort lacks in seclusion as given by south goa beaches, or crowd, food and recreation option of any of the North Goa beaches. (5/10)
The only regret with this property is, well yes, the cost of luxury!!! The rates are not within reach of indian middle class. This is one of the costliest resorts in Goa - a 5 Star Deluxe property. The rates vary from 18 to 24K for 3 night package (Ensure you check for latest rates, the rates I mentioned are a year old). (7/10)
Well, all good things come at a price, don’t they?
PS: Don’t forget to catch the glimpse of Goa Marriott in the famous bollywood song ’Gila Gila’ filmed on Akshaye Khanna and Kareena Kapoor.