Last year we stayed in the Dom Fransico and it was a complete dump, This year we got an apartment far better and cheaper. Met loads of people that were getting moved to places like Big Daddys because of the complaints.

The huts in the Jungle trip were better than the rooms in
Don and Dom complex

Hey twoshoes,
I'm interested to hear how your holiday was in the end as I've booked the Dona Alcina. I've been reading all the posts regarding the Dona Alcina and whilst I think everyone expects their hotels to be clean, people need to understand that you get what you pay for. I really dont think that you can compare India to the "med", as it's a relativly poor country. British people do anoy me at times, they go to other countries around the world and expect the same standards that they're used to in this country to automaticaly transfer to other countries. Basicaly, this is a CHEAP 2 star hotel. Your holiday company only pays the hotel about £7 a night! If I was the hotel owner I wouldn't put up with moaning brits for that! It has a bed, shower and no cockroaches, what else do you really expect??! Like millym said, your only going to use it as a base! Go out and enjoy the wonders of Goa and stop being snobs!!

Absolutely right flyingfox,
And it even has a swimming pool with a restaurant by the poolside...
DAK

It has a bed, shower and no cockroaches, what else do you really expect??!

to flyingfox, you must have been at a different donna alcina than me as mine had cockroaches, also i dont compare it to the med, but it is a disgusting dump.
also i have just returned from living in south east asia for ten years in a lot poorer countries than india and even in the jungle you find better digs than that hellhole.
you are forgetting that people have to save hard for the holiday and might be the only one they have had for a while so they want things to be nice and comfy and clean and not start the holiday off by looking for a new place to stay and moaning as you say.
if you have done any travelling you should know the only way to get things sorted out is to complain untill it is put right.

I have stayed here 3 times and each time it has got worse but i have realised that the rooms do vary greatly. The first time we had a great room with a little lounge area, the second time it was also a large room but no lounge area and the 3rd and last time a tiny dirty room. We asked to move and did get given a better room so this is worth asking for if you are not happy when you get there.

Hi ya ptfc4171,
Did I hear you mention Big Daddy's?????
Well any idea how is that, compared to DA and DF???
DAK

Met loads of people that were getting moved to places like Big Daddys because of the complaints.

re couple of posts about Casa sea Shells rooms, am I right in thinking no a/c available there
Del

Your absolutely right davecam, people do save hard for their holidays, including me! But in the end you are a GUEST in someone else's country so you need to appreciate that standards will always vary and be prepared for that! It does seem like some certain people on these discussion forums devote their lives to being bitter and continually slagging off this hotel, I think they really really really need to move on with their lives and maybe find a hobby or something because if they constantly keep raising the same point they will never get over it!! Fine if you don't like somewhere, make your point known then let other people have an opinion. It's amazing how after all that has been said about this hotel people still insist on returning to the same place, even the people that said they hated it! In the end I think life is far too short to spend dwelling on things.....

Compared to DA / DF Big Daddy's is far superior .The rooms in Big Daddys are excellent , Bobby from Bobby's shack showed me round and I really liked the place, small and friendly spent a few evenings there, the barman makes excellent Bloody Marys he used to be a cocktail barman for one of the big chaims in Mumbai

We stopped at the Casa Sea Shells for a week and arrived home last Saturday (19th). As far as I can tell there is no a/c there but the fans are very good and quiet. The rooms are very good and the gardens are extremely well kept. It's a nice place.

Have stayed at the Casa Seashell 3 times now and in my opinion you can't beat it for location / cleanliness and price. OK you don't have AC - I go in Jan when you don't particular need it so no worries there.

The staff are faultless and really make you feel at home.

Have stayed at the Casa Seashell 3 times now and in my opinion you can't beat it for location / cleanliness and price. OK you don't have AC - I go in Jan when you don't particular need it so no worries there.

The staff are faultless and really make you feel at home.

Hi,

I have read a few of the comments on the Dona Alcina and I can't imagine why people would say complimentary things about it.
5 years ago it was one of Goa's best middle range hotels, then the two brothers that own it fell out. Since then no money has been spent on the hotel and you can tell.

The rooms need a paint! and new furniture, we know it wasn't just our room, as we moved room 4 times until we found one we liked.
They have frosted windows so you cant really see out, and the entrances to the hotel rooms are at the back, so to get there you have to walk past the bins or next to the pig farm next door! why they didn't have the entrances at the front in the nice gardens is a mystery!
All the buildings need a good paint and the bars on the privately owned hotel rooms make the place feel like a prison.

I really am not a snob, me and my wife travelled around India a few years back and you would get better standard rooms in goa for less than £5! (probably £7-8 now)
I know you get what you pay for and this is one of the cheapest but it can really depress you coming back to this hotel after spending a lovely night in goa!
If your not sure what hotel to stay in, my advice would be the Nizmar its roughly the same price but much nicer.
If you have a few more pounds to spend book the goa Marriott before you go, it's lovely and not much more if you book it this end with someone like airtours!
After 3 nights at the dona alcina we checked into the Marriott at a cost of £90 a night! bloody expensive but well worth it, as the dona alcina was somewhere we couldn't stay for our holiday, as only getting 4 weeks holiday a year, holiday is precious and a prison isn't our idea of a relaxing time!

Sorry to go on but it amazes me that airtours have it in the brochure. its not good enough. And people saying 'well it's India what do you expect' is wrong, you can get a lot better for the same money elsewhere in goa!

on a plus point the people are nice!

Oh and candalim has turned into benidorm for the over 50's, seems to be full of chav mums and dad, most restaurants in candolim prize them selves on there continental menu's , with chicken Kiev one of the fav's! this is India remember!

better to go to calengute or baga! if you want to stay in this type of area!

Mat

I feel I have to write a message in case anyone has booked to stay at the Dona Alcina or the Dona Alfresco (next door) - both are AWFUL.

A group of us have recently returned from a 2 week holiday in Goa, its our 4th visit so we know (or thought we knew) pretty much what to expect but the Dona Alcina really let us down. I travelled around India a few years back and did the back packer thing and i can honesly say that we rarely stayed anywhere so dreary, dark or depressing as the Dona Alcina - apart from when we were really desperate and then moved on the next day.

I suppose the cost of the holiday should have given us an indication of how bad it would be (we paid £440 for 2 weeks) but we thought that as we booked it through a reputable tour operater it would at least be clean. The hotel blocks literally had dirt and cobwebs hanging off it and the rooms were so dark, more like prison cell blocks than somewhere you can relax in.

We only ended up staying there for 4 nights out of the 14 as we decided we didnt want to riun our holiday by comprimising the standard of hotel. We still absolutly love Goa and plan to go back again next year but we'll do our research a lot harder next time and also probably would give Candolim a miss as the type of people are a lot older than us (we are all 25-35 where as everyone in candolim seemed to be 60+)

if you have booked dona alcina i would really recommend you paying the extra admin fee and changing it as its worth it so you dont have to be disappointed when you arrive like we were.

i wish i read something like this before we went!

Julia

*Edit bold removed - Glynis*

does anyone have any info on the hotel don alcina in candolim

Hi Toe ... I have merged your enquiry along with several other separate discussions about the Don Alcina, so you should now find plenty of comment in this 4 page topic.

David

we are booked into the don alcina hotel arrive goa on the 26th december will we be able to get another hotel there are 6 in our party if the hotel is really bad we have been to goa 3 times and as long as clean we dont expect luxery for the price but can not stay somewhere that is dirty

Hiya, I think there are some posts about the hotel you're talking about - directly underneath your post. I haven't been to Goa at Christmas, but I know it's much more expensive then, so it's probably really busy, with hotels bursting at the seams. Check out the reviews

Dona Alcina is what I would call standard, basic to what you're used to in England, but should be OK to dump bags and sleep, the pool are etc is nice, who spends much time in their rooms while they're on holiday anyway... You should be fine... It would be VERY difficult to find anywhere else, if you do they'll charge way over the top, so my advice, stay where you are....

Enjoy....