Leela Goa - a 5-star beach resort is situated in Mobor, South Goa. Mobor is a tiny fishing village located on the delta where river Sal meets the Arabian sea. Designed as a fusion of South India’s Vijayanagar palace and Portuguese heritage, Leela Goa is simply fabulous. You are welcomed by a grand and stylish porch and then on, every aspect of this resort keeps you mesmerized. To compliment this posh architecture, Leela owns a huge 75-acres property with manmade lagoons, fountains, 10 hole 3-par golf course and a variety of tropical plants. Till now, this has been the best property we have visited and no other resort even comes close for the matter of comparison.
We (me and my wife) visited Leela for a duration of 2 days in the last week of April, 06. Our decision to visit Leela was partially due to reviews on this site and mainly due to unavailability at Taj Exotica for those 2 days. However looking back now, it was a good decision and you will come to know why soon.
The resort has 2 sub properties – old resort and a newly created, exclusive The Club @ Leela (https://theleela.com/goa/Club_goa.asp). We had actually booked Deluxe Lagoon Villa but changed it to The Club Suite at the time of check-in. And oh boy, that was a clever decision indeed. You will find plenty of reviews on the normal resort and hence I will concentrate mainly on The Club @ Leela resort.
The Club @ Leela (Club) is an exclusive part of the main property with its own golf course, beach access, swimming pool and a lounge bar. This area of the resort is only for the Club residents and thus ensures privacy for the guests and avoids crowding. Club villas are indeed very spacious and very well maintained. Club Suite that we opted for had a dining room, a kitchenette, a living room, a bedroom and a grand balcony facing the beach. Club is luxury unlimited! Both the living room and the bedroom have huge glass doors giving full view of the beach. Imagine lying in the bed or the couch, enjoying nature’s best show – the sunset! For the geek in you, both the living and bed rooms have cool flat plasma TVs and Bose audio systems. And yes, to top it all, Club guests have their own personal butler! Go ahead – be a lazy bum – get yourself pampered – your butler is there to spoil you!
Now about the beach and the property – Leela enjoys a secluded stretch of white sand beach. The beach is very clean and all credit to the resort for maintaining it. Coconut trees, palms, wooden beach chairs and white sand – simply awesome! Only beach that comes close to it is that of Park Hyatt. Beach is 200 meters from the resort and a small path will take you there. Bored of walking? Don’t worry, call your butler and he will take you there in the golf car J. As I said, the property is just wonderful. It’s so huge that 2 days were just too less to see it. But do ask your butler for the property ride; believe me its worth seeing.
Now one thing that we didn’t like – throughout the property, you will find Hindu temples. Temples are open and are mainly there to enhance the resort beauty. Some temples are smack in the middle of the pathways and it was hard to see guests with cigarettes in hand walking literally inches from the statue. It’s my personal opinion – but these temples could have been built in such a way that their sanity is not spoiled and guests look at them as our culture and not as decorative objects!
So room quality, property and luxury – full marks! But that’s not all we look for when choosing a resort, right? At the end of the day what matters is room service, hospitality and the staff. The staff here is friendly but not proactive. If you have stayed in Taj, you will know what I mean by being proactive. Staff here will help but when asked for. We are not very happy with room service either. Suites here are all for in-room dining. Who will want to go out when you have a dining room as well as a balcony with a dining table! Every time we ordered, something was missing – pepper, salt, ketchup, spoons. Though minor, these things show efforts that the resort or staff is taking to keep the guest happy. We also found that the reception was less informative and not at all prompt. It took them couple of hours to find out if the hotel can wash our car and a day to get the faulty coffee machine replaced! Of course they tried to patch up by giving us a complimentary gift but the damage was already done. When you are paying so much, one thing you expect is value for money, right?
Now about the F&B quality – if you are a veggie, settle down for sandwich, salad or basic pastas. Vegetarian menu is not exhaustive and we personally didn’t like the preparation either. Resort has a limited Indian cuisine menu and can be a problem if you have oldies like grand parents with you. During the stay, we mainly liked Biryani and Greek Salad.
Now a quick comparison between the resorts we have visited in Goa. Property – Leela wins hands down. It’s worth going just for their property. Room Quality – Leela is the clear winner. Room Service – Taj and Hyatt. Staff and Hospitality – No one but Taj!
Conclusion: Overall we are happy with the resort and might go there again. This resort is best for families or couples. If luxury or romantic touch is your prime criterion, Leela is for you. But if you are looking for a complete package, I will suggest opting for any Taj property.