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Wanderlust
Female, Age Range: 36 - 45, India

Primo Bom Terra Verde Calangute
5.2		rating
5 People reviewed this Hotel View all reviews

Primo is a beautiful eco-resort comprising of cottages nestled in acres and acres of green lawns,... .. Primo is a beautiful eco-resort comprising of cottages nestled in acres and acres of green lawns, flowering bushes and lakes. The resort is as large as the name is long. The cottages are of three types, fabric cottages, wooden cottages and suites. The wooden cottage is a cosy and yet adequately large room with a tiled roof and a compact bathroom. Each wooden cottage has its own private tiny lawn with a bench to while away the time. Canâ€™t comment on the fabric cottages which seemed to have walls made of fabric and may not afford much privacy in the light of the evening lamps (although I canâ€™t be too sure since I didnâ€™t stay in one of those). One end of the property is divided into rectangles, each rectangle housing a row of wooden cottages. In between each row of cottages are long lakes bordered by flowering bushes. The other end of the property houses the swimming pool, a restaurant next to it and a medium-sized pond for paddle boating. There is apparently fishing to be done in the lakes dotting the property but when we asked for fishing tackles, they had been taken by somebody else, so apparently the stock of tackles was limited. The restaurant is a small one and we didnâ€™t have anything but breakfast there so canâ€™t comment on the food but the setting of the restaurant is beautiful too. It is located close to the swimming pool and is flanked on one side by yet another lake and green lawns. The breakfast was limited in variety but tasty. It be noted that Baga beach is a longish way away â€“ around 15-20 minutes of a slow walk and those with low energy levels/kids/elders should hire cabs. Cabs are aplenty on the roads but costly, as in all of Goa. A one-way ride to the beach will cost you Rs.100 (after bargaining) and in the peak evening rush, the cab wonâ€™t even be allowed to go right upto the beach. If there was one thing I would change about the place, that would be the general attitude of the management. The property and cottages are dotted with signs warning members not to do this, that and the other. The signs in the cottages actively discourage use of room service which is a bit weird - the property is so large that to walk up to the restaurant often is not an attractive option. The manager/owner who is present at the reception (although he doesnâ€™t interact much with the customers) is professional but came across as curt and at times positively rude. It may have just been his way of talking and not intentional discourtesy but people in the hospitality industry need to be warm and welcoming. Also, the hotel takes the entire money in advance which again is completely opposite to general industry practice. However, these are irritants at the most. If you want a romantic or relaxed and green holiday in beautiful surroundings, this is the place to be. Be prepared however to shell out a packet for the wooden cottages and suites. If you are the active type, avoid it as the place is too far away from the beach and the water sports. More » « Hide

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Fidalgo Hotel Panjim
5.9		rating
28 People reviewed this Hotel View all reviews

Great location, nice food including an excellent breakfast and a lovely room made our stay at... .. Great location, nice food including an excellent breakfast and a lovely room made our stay at Fidalgo a very happy one. On the negative side, the hotel is very expensive. Reception needs to learn to smile. The hotel is located in the heart of the shopping district of Panjim. If you donâ€™t care about the shops but prefer to just contemplate life, the Mandovi river which is a ten minute slow walk down quiet streets is the ideal place. The Panjim Municipal Market, another interesting place, is on the way to the river. There is a taxi stand in front of the hotel and a rickshaw stand at the other end of the hotel. The Privilege Premium room was very spacious and beautifully furnished. It didnâ€™t have much of a view but that wasnâ€™t much of a negative considering the beauty of the room itself. The beds were comfortable and the hot water in the shower was probably the best Iâ€™ve experienced in my many hotel stays so far - the water remained uniformly hot throughout without becoming too hot. The bathroom is quite small. The air-conditioning was a little uneven in different parts of the room but not enough to complain about. The breakfast is outstanding. Great variety, tasty food. The price of the room reflects all the positives and is probably much more than I would want to or could pay in normal circumstances. There are cheaper hotels if you look around although they are not in the same class as Fidalgo, of course. The hotel has around 4 restaurants, each serving different cuisines including street food of Bombay, Goan cuisine, Gujarati food and a multi-cuisine one. We tried the Goan restaurant â€“ O Goa. The food was par excellence, service however was very slow, which is actually probably a problem all through Goa. There was a live music show at the restaurant and most of the patrons had come for a drink and to watch the girls in the show, so they probably didnâ€™t even notice the service! â€˜Receptionâ€™ was definitely cold but largely efficient. Check out could have been smoother. If some friends of mine had not been accused of taking away a box of tissues and had their bags checked at an earlier visit (for a plastic box of tissues!!!!), I would have rated the hotel much higher than I have. Tip: The hotel is surrounded by buildings, so don't bother to choose a room based on the view. More » « Hide

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Abad Plaza Kochi (Cochin)
5.5		rating
23 People reviewed this Hotel View all reviews

The hotel is a good, comfortable place, at the quieter end of the upscale shopping area,... .. The hotel is a good, comfortable place, at the quieter end of the upscale shopping area, M.G.Road. The location is in the centre of the city (around an hour’s journey from the airport) and around 35-40 minutes away from the tourist attractions of Fort Kochi. The famed Cochin market is a ten minute drive from the hotel. Ideal for those who are making a quick visit to Cochin and not the best place for those who have come to focus on the attractions of Fort Kochi, which by the way, are of a limited nature. More » « Hide

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The Silver Tips Munnar
5.9		rating
30 People reviewed this Hotel View all reviews

The hotel is new – probably not more than a few years old and not very well-known except to the... .. The hotel is new – probably not more than a few years old and not very well-known except to the tour circle – and will surprise you positively. I was pleasantly taken aback by the grandeur of the hotel. The façade is much better than most other hotels in the area, the rooms are very well furnished. The location is in Old Munnar town, within the main town itself and around 10-15 kms away from most attractions of Munnar, so the location is easy on your travel budget but you don’t get to live in the clouds. I liked our room- it is not cramped and beautifully furnished. A big lacuna in the rooms is the lighting. The room is pleasantly shadowed in the day and depressingly dark from early evening onwards. It is too cold, windy and foggy to go out in the evenings and the surroundings are invisible from the balcony in the dark, so it can get irritating that the room is too dark to do anything much except sleep. Apart from this, in my opinion pretty serious problem, our stay was very pleasant. The room is clean, the bathroom spacious and bright. All in all, full marks for the interior design (except the lighting). Although the rooms don’t have a view because the hotel is in the town and not on a hill, Room no. 308 and the rooms above and below it have some sort of a view. These rooms are corner rooms and therefore the balcony is open on two sides. The smaller side of the balcony overlooks a green football field and the green tea plantation laden hills with the clouds descending on them can be seen from the balcony. More » « Hide

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Munnar, Kerala
Wanderlust, , Posted Date: 2nd October 2011

Munnar is one of the most beautiful places in India that I have visited to date. Nestled among..... Munnar is one of the most beautiful places in India that I have visited to date. Nestled among green hills, the natural beauty of the place takes your breath away. Visitors to Munnar should, in my opinion, book a room in a hotel high up in the hills which serves good food and laze the day away among the clouds. There is nothing to do in Munnar town itself. The only advantage of staying in town is proximity to the food joints. None of them being worth more than a mention, you would do well to live among the clouds. Gently rolling hills, tightly carpeted with green tea bushes or the tall, thin eucalyptus is the standard and very soothing sight that one can expect when one visits Munnar. Since we were close to plucking season on our visit, the hills had a fresh, young, green look to them, very pleasing. Another wonder of Munnar is the clouds that descend on the hills from early afternoon onwards. They float like gauze over the hills, inexorably covering everything in sight with a white, semi-transparent film. Although we stayed at town-level and not in the hills, the clouds came right down to town to meet us, one evening. Staying up in one of the hotels that are built into the mountainside would be a great way of lazing away the days but only if you have no health problems. The hotels in the hills generally involve a steep drive up the hill and are built on multiple levels that involve a fair degree of climbing to access say, the restaurant or other amenities. Not for the elderly, people susceptible to the cold or couples with young kids who will need to be carried at some point of time. Again, if you are on a budget trip, then the petrol count matters, so staying in town is better in that case, since it is closer to the tourist spots. More » « Hide

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