We always used Travelpack! They are excellent!!

The Thomson Gatwick flight leaves at 15:05, would it be worth considering coming down to Gatwick?

Hi we normally go to the m.d in january,and like you have found that that the flight times going from manchester really naff.And under no circumstances will we fly with monarch,which we have been told by a thomas cook employee that it states it a t.cook flight but as last year it will change to monarch by september.
As east midlands and birmingham is no longer available we looked at portland to go via manchester,it wasnt just the flight times that put us off but the prices!
We ended up booking for 5/02/11 for 3weeks at the m.d from gatwick,yes i know its a pain to get to but its a sat night approx 7pm and you return from goa about 3pm if i remember rightly.The main reason for feb and gatwick was it was quite a bit cheaper that jan.
Just a word of advise,whenever we have booked with portland or olympic and seen the price we like ive phoned them and said,you usually give us a further discount as we book with you regulary,and she knocked a further £110 off the price and for 3wks it cost us £1826 for 2 for 3weeks,she also gave us a bit of discount off the vip lounge too.
I know that you can get great deals as our friends have booked to go to the osbourne for 3wks with monarch for £1200 from manchester,but once youve been to the marinha dourada you will understand why we pay the extra,its so lovely to go back to the peace and quiet of your room with the best view after a hard day on the beach at the ocieanic with all the sellers.And the staff are amazing.
Just a final thing if you havnt been this year,there is a new place to eat as you leave the hotel turn left and go over the bridge,and its on the right called Razas,great food clean, brill staff and the menus got a great selection,and if you want something different they will do it.Their cooked breakfast is divine and nothing like eating whilst watching the elephant and cows go by!
O roll on feb 2011,enjoy!

yes have to agree with all that has just beeen said about the M.D.it`s like returning to paradise after you`ve been out for the day,so calm and tranquil,i could never tire of the beautifull views.

There's no denying the beautiful setting that the Marinha has,and the ammount of work the groundstaff put in to maintain it stays looking so good. All members of the staff (receptionists,waiters,roomboys ect) all go out of thier way to try and ensure you have a great holiday, but I think a bit of a freshen up is long overdue. It's nothing major required but maybe a lick of paint and a little bit done in the bathrooms......just a thought ....Keith

Yes i agree with you,a fresh lick of paint would brighten the place up and a tea/coffee facility would be good,but you know what,when you hear some of the reports from people about the quality of there rooms and the surroundings,i can cope with it and to be fair we only tend to wash,sleep,and sit on the balcony and take in the views.
They do keep saying they are going to do something,so next year we may be in for a shock,but i so love arpora ,and the M.D

Hi Zoo, we were there 20th Feb-13th March and there was a lot of disgruntled guests because of the TV switch over (most of the popular channels switched to pay per view) there were also rumours that all the top floor rooms across the bridge were to be a higher price than the lower rooms. We have been going to the MD since 2000 and as much as we love the place it does seem to have rested on its laurels and IMHO I think its lucky that it has such a large number of repeat visitors,as I said earlier the staff are superb but I think its time the new owners put thier hands in thier pockets. Lets be honest for such a big hotel not to have a proper dining room is madness and when it comes to breakfast well thats a farce (266 rooms and 1 toaster) I think it used to be a Best Western Hotel until a few years ago.We had alook at the Lazy Lagoon & the Nazri and the MD can certainly learn a thing or two from them also this year we were shown around the hotel being built behind the MD and that is going to be something special (I think you can google Rio De Goa).......cheers

Hi Ian

Have you looked at Qatar flights from Manchester, they only have a short stop in Doha and you can get the Md for 2400 Rps a night if you haggle, maybe less if you are good at it or want longer than a week.

KJF, we also had a look at the Nazri and I was very impressed.
The surrounding area for the Marinha Dourada is superb and nothing will beat it. The grounds itself, the lake, the pool view - all fantastic, however the rooms itself are in dire need of decoration. They are very clean but other than that they getting quite old fashioned. We were at the hotel last week and for last week (week commening 29 March) and enquired if the hotel ws busy but we were told that only 50 rooms were rented out to British people and another 12 rooms to Indian people. Apart from that the hotel rooms are lying empty.
I know all this 2 month rule nonesense and Visa problems will play a part as well. But in the very same week we visited and looked round a couple of rooms at the Nazri, the girl informed me the hotel was virtually full last week.

We were at the MD at the same time as you KJF, and I totally agree with what you said. It was our second visit, but this time we noticed more that the rooms could do with a coat of paint, and I had heard that the bathrooms had been updated, ours hadn't, unless a new shower head and mixer tap counts

We love the setting and spent many an early evening sitting on the terrace, having a G&T (or two) The breakfast was not as good as before, but from what I've heard about other hotels, we shouldn't complain. Please start a campaign for new toasters - on the few days there were two, one burnt the bread and the other was painfully slow, but no point in getting frustrated, chill out, you're on holiday.

We also had a look around the Nazri while we were there, very impressed, but we were quoted a silly price per night (no doubt a bit of haggling may get it down, like everything else in Goa!).

Gems while we were there in March a good friend told us that the Nizmar only had 7 rooms let out to the british and 3 or 4 to others thats bad I think ....colleen

Colleen I think your getting a bit mixed up (to much over indulgence on the coffee) the Nazri is the fairly newish hotel in Baga the Nizma is in Calangute. Gemma I cant imagine how quiet it must be at the MD with so many rooms empty, also hope you enjoyed the appartment you booked it looked superb.As I mentioned earlier I think this new hotel (Rio de Goa) will take some beating it has been done to a high standard. Another thing to consider about staying at the MD for 1st timers is how much you will spend on taxis.....Keith...

Zoolouzoo - with regards to the TC flights, is it just the Manchester ones which will revert to Monarch, or Gatwick too? Last year they only cancelled the Gatwick ones, so I was hoping they wouldn't dare do it again!

Hi mobor one,i can only say that the travel agent who i know well and really wanted to book with and id stressed that there was no way id go with monarch and i was looking at going from manchester,she said the only thing is that they have no say over the changes and that they had a lot of disgruntled long standing customers who had booked extra leg room and the higher class end to find out in september that they had been changed from thomas cook to monarch,and lost out on what they had paid as extras!
When i asked is it likely to happen this year,she said it is likely to happen???
Hence us booking with portland to get the hotel we love and a decent ammount of leg room without having to pay,and good flight times,all be it that its from gatwick,but im sure the vip lounge will soften the blow.
Hope this helps ??

We booked the TC flight last year, and were not happy to be bumped.

Booked again last November to go this December, sort of hoping that they wouldn't dare do it twice.

I've prebooked my seats for a TC plane, and haven't yet had a letter informing us of the cancellation, but I can't remember at what time last year they bumped us

Thinking positively and looking forward to flying TC

Hi all....thanks for all the replies! Some good points made and somethings to think about...cheers

zoolouzoo...thx for the tip about phoning Portland! Just shows that if you dont ask, you dont get! Is Razas the old MoJo's place just over the bridge? (I hated Mojo's...I won't start!)

debs16...completely agree...PARADISE!

KJF...agreed, it was looking a little tired in April 09 and would benefit from a lick of paint but that would never put me off from staying as everything else (except breakfast) is ok.

I'm with zoolouzoo, I'm never in the room except to sleep and shower in and so long as it is clean, its ok.

meagain...not yet but I will do tonight...thx.

Gemma33...Maybe I should be looking elsewhere but sticking with the devil I know sometimes is better.

Back to the drawing board I guess.....still plenty of time before next March to sort it out.

Hi Ian,no razas is not the horrid mojos,its a bit further up the road on the same side,but just lovely

iaintwoeyes wrote:

hated Mojo's

zoolouzoo wrote:

the horrid mojos

So you will be glad to know it is now closed....for good!! Had some good times for many years!

Goangirl....I had only heard good things about Mojos but after visiting it twice in 2008, I would never return and never did. Little rant....we ordered 6 meals there once, 90 minutes later 5 appeared....guess whose was left out? MINE!! ARRGHHH

Zoolouzoo....I will look out for Razas....always good to get a recommendation.