We also were allocated a room overlooking the toilet roll factory.I think this is standard practice as all the rooms at the front are always occupied.

You will be move as soon as a room becomes available so do ask.

The usual rock hard beds require painkillers to ease backache.

Breakfast is toast with rancid butter.

The staff are very helpful and friendly.

The biggest problem is the barking dog in the villa next door.When the owner leaves it out you will get no sleep.

I went down one night to confront the owner but was stopped by the security guard and night receptionist who informed me he would set the dog on me.

They have had several meetings with him as this is the number one guest complaint but to no avail.

It did occur to me one night he may be getting his own back on the late night drinkers at the bar.

Not sure what was worse the dog barking or the drunken braying of idiots at the bar.

Anyway avoid this place like the plague I will be.

This was our 11th year in Goa so we have a good idea what to expect, we stayed at his hotel 2 years ago and think a good clean and a lick of paint would not go a miss.

On arrival we ended up in in a room with a view of the toilet roll factory and a group of woman sat n the ground rolling toilet rolls, handy if you run out! We complained and to be fair the manager was understanding and we were moved in two days to a pool view.

Occasional late drinkers by the pool bar kept you awake but the local dogs were worse especialy the so called guard dogs on the building site next to the hotel, but on the days we spent at the pool seeing the builders at work was amusing, not a hard hat in site.

Must say staff very helpfull,rooms kept clean, and when we eat at the hotel food good, sweet and sour fish to die for.

Entertainment usual goan standard but entertaining ! overall would go back its in easy reach of Calangute and candolim and plenty of good resteraunts close by.

We've stayed in Goa 8 times & this is the worst hotel we have stayed in. We booked the holiday 12mths previously & had actualy checked it out (even chose the room we were to be supposedly allocated). We spoke to the manager, who we had met before & explained that we definetly did not want a room overlooking the toilet roll factory, he assured us that we would get the room we had requested. As we were staying for a month we wanted to be able to use the balcony.

On the previous visit it was obvious the hotel was a basic 2* but clean. However, on arriving at reception the manager greeted us & said he had given us a room at the back (overlooking toilet roll factory) we refused & was given two more to choose from. One of the rooms was in the original block we had chosen & the other was a larger room. We opted for the room in the original block over reception. Big mistake, couldn't use balcony as pigeons left their deposits there every day.

On the 1st night lots of people still drinking at the poolside after 2:00am, and the noise was very loud. On the 2nd night after 3:00am an arguement took place, when someone in their wisdom decides to shout down to the people drinking, to keep the noise down & woke everyone up in doing so. He was apparantly peeved because the security gaurd had 2 nights earlier asked him to keep the noise down while he drinking at the bar (this is what the man shouted off of his balcony to the drinkers below). Obviously the people in the bar were going to retaliate.This in turn set the dogs off barking.

After spending 2 nights in our room we asked to move because of the pigeons & noise. We were moved to the room above the one we was already in. The room was quieter & less pigeon droppings. The hotel was not of a 2*+ standard & had badly deteriated since 12mths prior. It was obvious the room hadn't been cleaned properly for some time (but not filthy). I bought cleaning agents,disinfected the room, cleaned the balcony window & scrubbed the skirting boards/tiles, sockets & doors.The only time the room was cleaned properly was the last 2 days of our holiday & a note was left wishing us a safe journey.

Whilst the cleaning lads were pleasant they are bone idle. Toilet rolls were left outside the door, pigeon droppings were not removed off of the landing (large amounts)or surrounding balconies. There was a pigeon nest under one of the balconies they also roosted in the loft area. The hotel is plagued with pigeons,even sunbeds covered in droppings.

When new guests arrived they were given back rooms, they complained & got moved a couple of days later, this was constantley happening.

However, location of hotel is good near enough to restaurants etc. Would definetly not stay at this hotel again, airtours rep only interested in trying to work out why you haven't bought from the shops at the hotel (must be on commission). I personally would rate this hotel as a 1*, the whole place needs a good clean & the lads need to do some work, instaed of lazing about all day.

Had a great time here the rooms basic, as are most Goan hotel, but small and very friend and nothings to much trouble for the waiting staff and room boys.

The only complant I've got is that loads of guest complamed about being sort changed when changing money. I'd recommend changing money out side the hotel as you get a better exchange rate.

This was my 8th consecutive year holidaying in Goa so have come to know what to expect with regards the basic level of accommodation offered. Unfortunately this was by far the worst hotel that I have had the "pleasure" of staying at!

The cleanliness of the rooms was well below the standard that I have come to expect over the years, food, plates, utensils etc left lying around in the corridors where guests may have had a meal in their room. The bed linen was most definitely not changed on a daily basis as stated in the brochure.

The location of our room / view which overlooked the pool was totally obscured by an extremely large palm tree and the balcony was only small enough to house the chairs and air conditioning unit which resided there! Talking of the air conditioning, the effects of this was no more than that of a ceiling fan coming through the wall! The bathroom did not even have anywhere to place your soap, shampoo etc whilst showering, all of which had to be balanced on the toilet lid which was soaking wet due to the lack of any type of shower curtain. Not even a bath mat was provided, therefore we had to use towels to dry the floor after showering to prevent slipping over and suffering an accident.

As for the restaurant, we did eat at the hotel on 3 occasions and I can only say that the food on all occasions was very good.

Entertainment was very infrequent (3 times in total in our first 10 days) although due to the location of our room overlooking the pool where the entertainment took place - it caused the windows to shake and vibrate in the room so god forbid if you wanted an early night!

We booked the holiday on the grounds that we were on a beds and "buffet Breakfast" basis - Buffet at this hotel means that you do not have waiter service and that you help yourself - not that you have a choice of breakfast - which I might add is "toast & jam". If you required anything other than this you had to pay extra! The waiters at the hotel were not very friendly at all as we have always been used to getting to know the staff - this has always been one of the main reasons for us returning to Goa - the friendly people

Moving onto the reception, we were short changed on a total of 5 occasions whilst exchanging money at the hotel reception. We were not 100% certain on the first 2 occasions (myself and my partner both made transactions at the same time) but on the final time I did check my rupees and found that we had definitely been short changed. Whether this was a genuine mistake and that the young girl on reception had problems with her counting or whether it was not, remains a mystery - though we did not cash our money at the hotel for the remainder of our stay there though we were getting a better exchange rate away from the hotel!

To conclude, for the first time in 8 years I found that I could not remain at this hotel for the duration of my holiday and checked out of the hotel on day 9 of my 14 night holiday whereby we checked ourself into another hotel at our own expense.

This was our 12th visit to Goa but the first time in the Santa Monica Hotel(which we picked after seeing it last year whilst staying at the Magnum Hotel just opposite) as it was in a quiet road and centrally located.

However, although travelling in a group of 4 we were put in rooms on different floors and were facing the toilet-roll factory - which meant we had to keep our curtains pulled shut at all times! The beds in our rooms were the worst we've had in Goa (and that is an achievement believe me), just 1" thick mattress covering a sheet of plywood!

The rooms were kept spotlessly clean by our very helpful and friendly room boy, with clean sheets and towels every day (although constant washing meant everything had a grey tinge). Normally would not eat in the hotels we stay in, but we did have lunch in the Santa Monica on our last day and it was very nice.

Overall, although this is a very quiet hotel,with very nice staff, we would not stay there again purely because of the beds and the outlook to the factory.

This is the second time we have visited the Santa Monica, first time in Feb 2005, that's why we went back.

Staff very friendly, the boys that clean the rooms, are very helpful, you see them doing everything, take your luggage to your room on your arrival, and also when you leave, even if it is early hours of the morning, they can't do enough for you.

The meals we had at the hotel were very good, and good value for money.

The Entertainment was better in November, then when we was there in February, very good Karaoke, and the bingo was great, only had one game, but that took nearly 1 hour. The caller big Willy as he called himself was hilarious.

Hotel is located at the back of the Nizmar. Pool was small but for the size of the hotel there was always enough room for a cool down swim.

Sunbeds got the sun all day only time you were in the shade was late afternoon. rooms clean but basic but good for 2* mini bar was well stocked just let the room boy know what you wanted eg all water all beer/soft drinks we payed every other day and was never overcharged.

Seemed that whenever we left or came back to the room the room boy was always outside asking if everthing was ok??

Food was of a good standard (fussy eater)breakfast you payed extra if you wanted anything cooked but that seems the case in most hotels in goa but was so cheap.

Staff helpfull and always on hand. Hotel is in a good location for bars and shops just walk through the Nizmar.

Beach was a long walk in the heat so after the first few days we mostly got a taxi so cheap. Entertainment was only about twice a week so I can only comment on the one band we saw which was bad.

Mostly we were out and about but when I needed a recharge found the hotel had everything for a lazy day. We would have booked this hotel again but could not get what I needed.

p.s. building work was going on next to the hotel but I dont think it will affect the hotel as we were told it was going to be a restaurant.