I'm not complaining about change. I do appreciate the hinterland in Goa as the locals seem to keep their own patch in order. The 'progress' along the 'strip' in Goa has not been met with good maintenance, health/hygiene and safety which should have been taken care of in the last few years.Where has all the money gone?

As for 'go somewhere else'. Well there are areas of Goa which are still beautiful and hopefully with this downturn in tourism will be kept beautiful. I think Goa peaked in tourism a few years ago, now it's time for them to keep their house in order and try and be more responsible about their so called 'jewel'.

For those who are disappointed with the state of North Goa .... head South and experience better beaches, less rip-off (apart from taxis, beggars, mayhem.

As I am new on here Neil, can you tell me more about the diffrence between north and south please?

I do love Goa Glynis, and will be returning, however this site must surely point out both sides of the coin to people visiting Goa for the first time. The Goa I'm writing this from right now bears little resemblance to some of the brochure descriptions Friends who returned two days ago witnessed a lady in their hotel who spent her first two days in tears before paying the full price to return to the UK immediatley as the Goa she found bore no resemblance to what the brochure led her to expect.
alan

gramps wrote:

I do love Goa Glynis, and will be returning, however this site must surely point out both sides of the coin to people visiting Goa for the first time.

We have nothing against bad reports of places Alan, our forums are full of lovers and haters of various resorts/countries but what's happening only in the Goa forum are certain members who are posting nothing but negatives on a daily basis. I just don't understand the need to keep going on and on about a place. As I say if you don't like it move on, but let others go and decide for themselves. I almost envisage placards being patrolled outside UK airports in order to try and stop holidaymakers from going to Goa.

I'll be looking forward to the members who are out there at the moments impressions when they return. As many of them are holidaymakers not property owners or long stayers.

I am just back and class myself as somewhere in between a holiday maker and a long stayer. Here are my thoughts!
The fiasco with the shacks has definitely been a problem because people who have been to Goa before nearly always tend to use the shack they have visited in the past and have been upset when the shacks weren't there. Having said that it was possible (when we weren't in the middle of a cyclone or thunder storms) to get a sunbed and some food and drinks on the beach even if it wasn't at the shack of choice.
The beach itself was littered with rubbish but I was told that once the shacks go up it would be much cleaner as each shack owner cleans up their own section of the beach.
I didn't notice any increase in the number of beach sellers or beggars, mainly the same old faces! On the subject of beggars, a friend of ours keeps a large water pistol next to his sunbed and it works wonderfully at keeping them away!!! Every sunbed should be issued with one!!!!!
There seemed to be far fewer power cuts than in previous years, maybe this was due to the shacks not being open.
We visited quite a few restaurants during our stay and didn't have one bad meal and didn't notice any significant price increases or change in the size of portion.
There seemed to be more taxis than ever parked at the sides of the roads and there was the usual "taxi Madam,taxi Sir" every few steps. I just wonder that with there now being so many of them will they drop their prices in order to compete with each other.
One problem we had during our stay was with the ATMs. Frequently they were either out of money or not working. Some would only give a maximum of 5000 rps and some 10000rps. At one stage we thought our card had been blocked but after long phone calls back to the UK we found it hadn't been, so the problems were with the ATMs.
A lot of restaurants now have menus in Russian and some bars have Russian singers performing.
There seem to be a lot more Europeans driving cars than in previous years.
So, in between the cyclone and the thunderstorms we had a wonderful relaxing holiday in the hot sunshine, had really cheap nights out and ate excellent food, met up with old friends and made new ones, took 4 dogs to the animal rescue, 3 to be neutered and the other one which had been hit by the lifeguard jeep to have a dislocated hip repaired. (We all do different things on holiday!!!!)
To all the people going to Goa for the first time, my advice would be, give yourself a few days after arriving before buying anything or arranging any trips, by which time you will probably have spoken to others who have been to Goa before and will be able to help you with information on what you should be paying for these things.
I am looking forward to reports from Goa 1st timers as many people on this forum have been going for a number of years. It will be interesting to see what Goa is like to people who aren't comparing it to the Goa of 10 or more years ago.

Thanks squigs for your thoughts.

I too was suprised at the number of Taxia this year it was not as if there was a shortage last year.Lots of them seem to be parked up with no one to drive them.

Glad you had a good time.We also had no problem getting food on the beach but the only thing we missed was sitting in the shack at the end of the day having a beer watching the sun go down.

Papa

10 points squigs. this is my understanding of balanced information. good/bad but an information that "firsttimers" and "oldtimes" can both use for their holiday. thank you!
argo

Papa
honest report- and despite the negatives you still had a great time.

Fiona,

Thanks,

Did my hotel review.Bit negative I am afraid but,called it how I saw it.Done a review for every one we have stayed in since returning to Goa and always tried to give a balanced view.

Papa

here it is
Reviews are invaluable for others who are trying to decide where to stay.

Well,

Fiona,

Just followed the link and re-read my report of the Santa Monica and I really did say it how it was.Bit shocked at my brutal honesty but I have to agree with you.Before booking my OH and I check out all the reviews so it really is an invaluable resource.

Even though we know the quality of Goa hotels it still helps.

Papa

Papa
Your hotel didn't sound too great, was it the first time there for you?

How was it for cleanliness?

I don't see any problem with being negative when doing a hotel review - as long as it's truthful and reasonable.
For example, to complain about a 2* room not having a trouser press is a bit ridiculous (I did read that once), but it does sound like the dogs next door and the late night drinkers at the bar are a big enough problem to possibly put people off.

Prettypollycat

We have stayed in lots of Goan Hotels so we know what to expect.It really was not great at all.My review was probably coloured by a couple of things.First I was not too well for a full day and this spilt over into the evenings.

Not being able to sleep because of the dog really wound me up.

The fact that I knew before we got there that we eould be given the room overlooking the toilet roll factory.

There is no way you would choose to stay in one of these so everyone asks and then has to wait for a room at the front.The second room we were given was much better.

Another thing that annoyed me and it really should not have was the pushy restaurant owner just outside.

We ate there one night and did not enjoy it that much but every night after that he would rush outside expecting us to eat there.Why I let that bother me I do not know but it did.

The staff were great and not at all pushy for tips but my overall experience was not great.My wife who has been with me on every trip to Goa and has seen it all said never again.

I placed my review warts and all on Thomsons website in the full expectation it would not be published but they did along with an assurance that they would do something about the dog.

Great of them I thought.

I posted the review in the heat of just coming back so the rose tinted specs were off.I think that is the best thing to do.

Papa

took 4 dogs to the animal rescue, 3 to be neutered and the other one which had been hit by the lifeguard jeep to have a dislocated hip repaired. (We all do different things on holiday!!!!

Well done squigs!