Exactley, not everyone is as sophisticated as DaveWales, many people do indeed trust the brochure and the travel agent. Actually my friends at the Sana Monica found that apart from one block, it was a perfectly acceptable, bog standard basic Goan hotel, far from what Dave Wales classes as a £10 doss house, perhaps his standards and tastes are of a higher order.
Alan

DaveWales - do you think the Santa Monica looks like a "doss house" in the brochure these people looked at - of course not. Everything looks lovely in brochures and maybe these people do not have use of the internet and took it on brochure description.

Remember my reply was in response to Gramps who said:-

May be if they had read some of Spaldys posts they could have been spared all that grief by not coming.

Alan

The old saying goes, you pays your money and you take your chances.

Actually my friends at the Sana Monica found that apart from one block, it was a perfectly acceptable, bog standard basic Goan hotel, far from what Dave Wales classes as a £10 doss house, perhaps his standards and tastes are of a higher order.

Apart from one BLOCK !!!!!

I stick to my opinion, you are not likely to find a good hotel for less than £10 per night, especially one where a package tour and travel agent are both taking a cut too. Perhaps my standards and tastes are of an higher order and of course I am only intending staying for a relatively short period of time so I want a bit of quality more than quantity. I have managed to find some real bargains in the past but that is because I do research where I'm going to go first. I heard similar stories when we went to the Gambia last year. Our hotel was excellent but others complained that theirs were terrible. Doors that couldn't be locked, shabby rooms, dirt etc. And at what price ? A ruined holiday to save quite literally a few quid on a overall cost of hundreds.
The whole purpose of this forum is to inform. The good and the bad. However, I think opinions should be backed up with actual examples of what causes people to be so embittered so that at least the reader can decide whether or not it will effect their enjoyment of a particular holiday destination.

I do agree 100% that the Indian Government / Goa Ministers have not got a clue on how to 'look after' the British tourist

Or the French and German tourist who are very demanding when it comest to standards.

Is it all over? Yes but not for Indian tourists.

Tourism cannot increase within the European sector unless Goa puts more money into it's infrastructure. There will probably be a steady decline in European tourists which will probably be made up by Indian (Local) tourists.

We were there in December for 10th time. I must be one of those with rose tinted glasses as I didn't notice too many changes. The shack situation was sorted when we were there, but there were temporary ones anyway, so that didn't affect us. I think things were quieter tourist number wise, but that just meant the hotel worked harder at keeping people in there by putting on entertainment, and quizzes etc, so seemed to be an improvement as they valued our custom more. The beach was still beautiful, and we still got big welcoming smiles from hotel staff, shack staff and beach sellers who recognised us. This wasn't because they wanted to keep us sweet so that we would buy lots, as I think due to having been so often, there wasn't as much we wanted to get, so bought less than normal, but I didn't notice a drop in friendliness due to this.

The current 2 month rule on the visa situation is not the doing of the local workers, so I don't think we should let this cloud our view of the service we get on holiday. While we might not be happy with the rule, we have to accept that this is another rule we now have to stick to. Who knows, in a few months, they may take this back again. I'm well aware that for the duration of my holiday, I am their "friend" and the next week someone else is their "friend", but while I keep getting the service I am currently getting, I'm quite happy to accept that.

Roll on next time.

well we still love it and we will enjoy every single minute of our holiday next month, cant wait! and i know that we will be sorry to leave....its only as good as you make it !!!

J

That is what has been happening the last few seasons Neil,the domestic tourists have increased especially in the off-season. Infact people wise it can sometimes be busier now in the off-seson with some restaurants.
I think the guesthouses will have to start changing their policies,they normally close up at the end of the season but i think you will see a few more stayng open in the future.
Spike: I would rather not have any more snide comments from yourself thankyou.
PS. It's 20 pounds per night to stay in the Santa Monica.

Surely the fact that once the tour operators realised how popular Goa became and decided to whack their prices up, also started the decline for what was a cheap / reasonably priced holiday. It's probably cheaper to go the Caribbean now. The things that people are moaning about now, were part of it's charms when it was a bargain holiday, but I think a lot of people who have previously done long haul to the Caribbean, are disappointed when they have paid a similar amount of money, and once you leave the confines of hotels such as the Leela or Taj, it can be very grotty.

Also, can I say, there are two sides to every story, and as someone else wrote somewhere, if we all came on here and said what a wonderful, fairy tale place it is, first time visitors would have a very tainted view. We also need people to say what they have found to be negative about the place (not just Goa, any resort mentioned on the forum). Just because you don't agree with someone, doesn't make them wrong.

Totally agree Mobor one.

I think a major problem for people who have been going to Caribbean, Thailand etc. then to Goa is the accomodation.

Some of the 'boutique' accomodation is way overpriced in Goa and lot of the cheap accomodation is simply not good enough.

I checked before going to Goa over a year ago and was appalled at the rip off prices that are being charged for 'upmarket' hotels.... and I'm not talking about Leela or Taj. Small privately owned 'boutique' hotels.... mostly asking around 7000 RS.

Ever checked the ridiculous prices for rooms around Agonda?

If you are going on a package you only realise the price of food and drink, on a DIY it's different.

I only travel DIY and Goa IS becoming expensive on some fronts.

I think we are all going to have to agree to disagree, I rent a beautiful apartment in an old portugese style house in Candolim. It has a large well furnished lounge with satellite tv, a roomy bedroom, large equipped kitchen, bathroom and loo and two large balconies. The whole place is spotlessly clean and the gardens are immaculate. All this for £10 per night. To be honest I didnt expect such nice accommodation at this kind of price You need to look around but there are other similarly priced apartments available.
Obviously you dont have the facilities you have in a hotel but with such an abundance of bars and restaurants it doesnt really make any difference. Also it suits me as it is obviously quieter than the average hotel.

for £10 per night, I didnt expect such nice accommodation

At £10 per night - I would love to see some photos of that.

Roxey,

Sounds good.

I should have mentioned that I was quoting prices with a pool.

Cheers

N

SMa- why not combine Goa with a tour? My first trip started with the Golden Triangle, then Mumbai and finally Goa, where it was good to relax after an exhausting but brilliant time. Easy to do as DIY. Internal flights are very cheap.

Hi Fiona, when the time comes I probably will do just as you suggest but my main reason for not going at the moment is that I feel about Cuba the way many of you feel about Goa. I love the atmosphere, the overall latin vibe and it's my love of the music and the opportunity to take dance classes with Cuban professional dancers in particular that keeps me going back year aftr year. All in all it costs a lot and for the moment there isn't too much spare cash available for other longhaul destinations. And I want to savour Cuba as it is for as long as possible before it once again reverts to being a US playground.

Don't let the doom and gloom posts put you off. If you study them, although there are many posts, they are by very few people.

I do realise that the majority of you here harbour good feelings and postive memories of Goa and that those 'doing the place down' are only a minority but for the moment it's not just the vocal minority here who are putting me off. It's also the fact that a very beach centred holiday is not really for me at the moment - I hated the 3 night extension in Varadero on my last trip to Cuba and kept regretting that I'd not simply stayed on in Santiago for a few more days. Also, while I'm sure that it doesn't typify the whole of Goa, I have been a bit put off by the passing references in some posts here that indicate that in some parts of Goa at least there has a been a tendency to cater very much for the UK market - the idea that there might be British and Irish style bars is a turn-off, as is the idea that there is a bit of an ex-pat scene going on and in particular a social scene that revolves around spending much of the time in the company of other UK visitors. By that, I mean that a holiday for me is a prime opportunity to learn about other cultures and not re-create what I can get home but in the sun. It's not what I'm looking for at the moment. But once the Spanish is up to scratch and the hips get too stiff for salsa then who knows? But rest assured, Fiona, I'm not tarring all you Goa fans with the same brush - I realise that other axes are being ground by some on here.

Goa is very rough round the edges but that is made clear to anyone reading the forum. For many, that is why they love the place

And finally, anyone who's been to Cuba and ventured away from the high end AI resorts will know that if I can love Cuba as much as I do, then the rough edges of Goa are NOT going to be a turn-off for me!

SM

Martin_d wrote:

However, with the new visa rule, the ever changes in vibe etc. is it time to call it quits or plough on and seek out new pleasures in the fabulous state?

Nope...and yup!! Next question.

I love Goa - S**t and all but how deap do we have to plough this furrrow

Everything looks lovely in brochures and maybe these people do not have use of the internet and took it on brochure description.

As Waterproof says all is not always as it looks ! But that includes the net !!

Those familiar with the Marinha Dourada might recognise this scene on their web site. There again they might not !!

Look at it here :- madogoa.com

Having not been to the Marinha Dourada, I take it that your point is, it looks nothing like the web shot Dave?

In the main picture banner, the photo has been considerably changed to merge a completely different background to the actual one that is there. Don't understand why they would do that but I would consider it misleading !

Hi Max
'At £10 per night - I would love to see some photos of that. '

I havent got any photos, however its Sinquerim end very close to Kingfisher Villa. PM me if you would like more details, they are more than happy to show people around.
Cx