Papa
The Nizmar is not the first hotel to go All Inclusive.
The Victor Exotica at Candolim/Sinquerim has been all-inclusive for a couple of years. We stayed at this hotel in Feb 2003 and it was a mix of B&B/AI then.

In fact, I've noticed on the Thomson website that the Dona Alcina is offering All Inclusive for 2007/08.
I don't know if they are doing a mix of B&B/AI or if it is going exclusively AI.

I do agree with you that there are so many good places to eat and drink at such cheap prices that we personally would never, ever consider doing AI in Goa.

But, everyone is different and some people do like knowing that the majority of their food & drink spends are taken care of in advance.

Like you, I hope that the AI trend does not catch on in a big way as I imagine that this would impact negetively on the restaurant trade and we would also start looking for somewhere else to go.

Polly

As an addition to my previous comment, looking at the Thomson website it seems that you can stay from 27/11/2007 for 14 nights at the Dona Alcina on an AI basis for £1,190 for 2 people but to stay the same period on a B&B basis is £1198 for 2 at the Alor Grande and £1218 for 2 at the Phoenix Park.

Doesn't sound to me like a sensible business decision by the Dona Alcina.

Polly

The Dona Alcina has such a bad reputation in Candolim that this is probably the only way they can get people in.

I noticed in one of my travel web sites,that holiday inn. was al inclusive only,sad

Think you'll find more hotels will be going this way. They'll go for the rich Mumbai visitors in the end. Was told by the manager of the casino UK tourists don't spend enough and rich domestic tourists are their target...

Think you'll find more hotels will be going this way.

In that case, we'll be going 'that-a-way' to a different country.

As I said earlier in this thread, I think an increase in AI hotels will eventually impact negetively on the restaurant trade and I for one don't want to pay up front for hotel-supplied food and drink that I wouldn't consume.

Is this the beginning of the end....?

Polly

You don't have to go on a package holiday. There are hundreds of hotels & guest houses that will provide B&B.

Ok a package is easy but once you have been a couple of times take the plunge and book for yourself.

A prepaid taxi from the counter at Danbolim is 600rps to the north. This is less than the package companies charge each person. Plus there are no single supplements.

You can get a clean room with breakfast for about 600rps a day, and if you fancy a change half way through your holiday then no problem. The brochure hotels are harder to book as they contract most of their rooms to the travel companies.

The only time there is any problem getting accomodation is the 2 weeks over christmas.

Do what Gooner Fan and we do book it direct, you get a better deal and don't have to suffer the Monach sneer.

Would love to do it the way you do Sam, but I have always found the cost of flights really expensive from Manchester, therefore making it a better deal to use the holiday companies. I am also restricted to school holidays so maybe this is why we have difficulties. Who do you normally book flights with?

We now go via Heathrow.
The past twice with Virgin.
Total cost to Danbolim with Virgin & Spicejet was £345 each.
Got a cheap train to Heathrow £20 each & arranged for son to pick us up on the way back.
We think doing it this way costs about £370 -£390 each.
There are no extra costs for food or drink on the flights and the staff smile, are helpfull.
We know of good aircon rooms with TV & fridge for 900rps, without aircon or TV for 600rps.
So for 2 weeks our accomodation is between £100 and £150.
Total cost including taxis to & from airport less than £1000 for 2.

So long as you book early enough you can good prices on scheduled flights.

If you want to book hotels rather than guest houses use an Indian travel agent, via internet. They will arrange much better rates than you can get.

We looked at doing a similar thing with flights but the connecting times were really bad from Mumbai to Goa. I think there was a stop in Dubai too.

It'll be a shame if the hotels decide to go AI only. We prefer not to stop in hotels, prefer guesthouses or private apartments, but it may have a knock-on effect with the restaurants.

re getting to Goa being expensive- try going from Aberdeen! However, we got what I thought was a good price of £360 return from Aberdeen to Mumbai with BA. ( well, we are actually flying into Delhi and out of Mumbai- but the prices to and from Mumbai were similar, about £20 cheaper.

edit
just checked- the £360 was to and from Mumbai. We were £400 with our combination

Fiona,
You must be the top internet shopper, what a brillaint price.

I have to say I was a bit taken aback with the price myself! Was going to use airmiles then decided I would rather spend them on something more expensive!
RE AI- personally I would not book AI, even if it is to somewhere I have enjoyed as B&B in the past. However, I do think a lot of first timers may feel safer with AI and they will get the bookings.

The reason more and more hotels are going all inclusive is to get you to stay in the hotel with your money and go over your set allowance for food e.tc. A little known fact is that when the greedy tour companies take a block booking at a hotel they pay a miserly ammount for the room, this rate does'nt change one bit when it comes to the busy time like xmas when the huge rise in prices we pay go straight to the tour companies. The only way the hotel can make money is selling food and drink, but we all go for that to the shacks and restuarants outside. The first big hotel to make a stand was the Goan Heritage which now only deal with Travelpack, they got rid of the big companies and found it more profitable to sell A.I. short break packages to the Indian Market But everything is changing, up until this year, our two or three visits yearly, was to a nice place at the bottom of Holiday Rd., The White House. We have used it for a few years and because we were regulars and well known we paid 800rps for an upstairs room with fan. When I spoke to them for a price for early Dec. next year but leaving before xmas I was told that for the Quiet times next season the rate would be 1200rps, which is quite a jump. Fortunatley we were able to find place closeby for 650rps with cable tv thrown in. So it looks like lots of Goans think the good times are hear to stay, as obviously newomers are willing to pay whatever asked by the proprioters. We wont go back to the packages but by the time we get down from Scotland, pay the scheduled fares, then the rising cost of accomodation, unless you are going for an extended stay, it certainly doesnt work out any cheaper, plus the fact of a considerably longer journey time, unless you are close to the likes of H/row and Gatwick. Alan

Alan
I agree with you about the considerably longer journey time on scheduled airlines.

Our Monarch non-stop flight from Gatwick took 8 hours 45 minutes outbound and 10 hours 30 minutes inbound.

We were talking to a couple on the beach who were flying home from Dabolim to Mumbai, then into Heathrow with BA and then onto Manchester also with BA.
BA had cancelled their LHR - MAN flight leaving them with less than 90 minutes to get from Terminal 4 to Terminal 3.
They'd chosen that route because of the extra legroom on BA but my personal choice would be to put up with the Monarch flight and have to check in just the once.

Polly

Leoness we always go at Easter time and book our own flight and hotel. We leave on Friday 30 March for 2 weeks and paid £425 for our flight this year, we have a quote for next year for £469, both from Manchester. We have stayed in the same hotel for the last 8 years which we book ourselves. We pay £175 for 2 weeks for A/C room with fan and fridge, overlooking the pool with a large balcony. I know we could get a cheaper hotel but we are really happy here and well looked after. It is a really clean and well kept hotel very close to the beach. We first went there with Cosmos but he wouldn't take tour operators now as he said they don't want to pay anything for the rooms yet charge the clients astronomical prices. All his clients are regulars or recommendations. We have the same taxi driver pick us up every year from the airport and he looks after us throughout our holiday.

Hi ALL
Just before we left for goa we saw what we thought was a fantastic offer Nizmar all inc for £2500 for 3 weeks 2 adults and 1 child So my hubby booked it immediately
Before we left we decided to check it out
We explained all to the receptionist who kindly showed us around . Rooms are really Great so clean and spacious and the pool was very clean infact we were impressed UNTIL we had a drink in the bar and asked a few questions to the residents there. It seems that hardly any of them actually eat there
We were told that for breakfast if you want egg then you have to join a queue for a chef to cook them for you as you wait but when your in a queue for more than 15 mins it seems silly also the main meals are all buffet and is served out on the court yard the other restaurants apart from the odd day charge you and all who we asked said the food was not up to the standard they eexpected from a hotel in Goa
so now i have just phoned portland to ask for a transfer to a different hotel (MD because of the great things youve told me about them ) i told them why but they told me that i had to pay a transfer charge which was more expensive than the deposite i had paid so i cancelled the booking and booked again for the same time but at the MD price £2130 I Think you can rightly say that for just a few pounds more (for food and drink) we can now eat and drink anywhere we want to so i think were quids in and have a better hotel to boot
sharon

I agree that there is no need to go for the AI option in Goa. However having just booked for December at £760 pp there is not much difference between that price and a lot of b&b's. We're staying at the Aldeia Santa Rita and love the hotel, staff and the food. We still eat and drink out so don't miss out on the "Goa" experience.

i have heard a rumour that the russians are teking the nizmar franchise over next year from a good source the genral manger just returned from goa