I stayed with my family, totally 7 people including kids and we booked 3 boutique villa king rooms. We stayed for 2 nights in early Jan 2022.
I do travel quite frequently and have stayed in some of the best star hotels across India and abroad.
So here goes my review of Novotel Dona Sylvia, Goa.
My Overall rating of the property:
At best a 3 or 4 star hotel.
Reasons:
1. Service and cordiality:
Delayed at check-in (there check-in time is 3 pm and check out 12) and made to wait for 1 hr nearly. Tired and exhausted we were given 1 room of the 3 booked.
Reason given: trying for adjacent rooms (which weren’t anyways given.)
They were informed well in advance that we are a family with kids etc.
2. Restaurant:
We had booked an all-meal inclusive buffet package.
We went hungry and frustrated after a bad check-in experience only to find a gentleman giving the most preposterous reason of "saving food" as to why no buffet was served!! He said we can order Ala Carte. At that, there are less guests etc etc(less guests and it takes ages)
When we reluctantly(kids were waiting for a good buffet spread) started ordering my wife discovered that after every expensive non-veg item there was a rider that extra shall be billed to all-inclusive guests which the attendant did confirm is their policy!
Again absurd would be the right word for such a policy. When I finally lost my cool the next senior guy walks in (as usual with such places) and with the most mechanical smile says, ’no problem sir, you please order I will sign off!’.
I had to bluntly cut him off saying, he ain’t doing me no favor and that I have paid for every morsel!
Had a detailed chat with their FnB person, but the next day was similar(only veg buffet and non-veg we had to order).
Finally, the secret was revealed, there was a wedding !! Staff and food and everything deviated there!
Maybe lavish destination weddings don’t waste food!!
3. Room:
It was neat and clean. Bathroom accessories were so tiny that the shampoo and shower gel would last for half a bath!
Right next to the rooms, the wedding area was blowing loud music and the next day deafening drums for hours together. So it was not a peaceful stay by the sea but an EVENTFULL stay!
Incidentally, I had just returned from Maldives a few weeks back and comparison was depressing me even more.
4. Covid help:
We had to get our RT-PCR done for our return journey and the hotel people promptly offered us a no. and then washed their hands off all covid matters! That number never got picked even after 100 calls and the hotel staff didn’t know a plan B.
Finally, I had to use contacts from my hospital in Mysuru and we traveled 30 kms paying 1500 bucks to the taxi fellow and paid 14000 bucks for RT-PCR for 7 people and were still anxious for the results(the third peak has just started)
5. Silver lining:
A lady called Zara was genuinely trying to help though she just couldn’t do much in the jinxed system.
Hope a better place hires her, for her talent is surely mis/under utilised here.