Alegria de Goa Hotel

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We went on the 2 Feb 2006, flew with My travel from Manchester in the new Airbus 330 with downstairs toilets and plenty of leg room, the journey was only 8.40mins, it took nearly that long to gain entry into Goa !!
Beware the young men who take your cases off the carousel and offer to take them to your coach, I thought that I’d escaped them only to be fooled by a young boy pretending to be a Manos courier and got ripped off for £5 to take our cases 20 yards, the rep greeted us with bottle of cold water which was wonderful as it must have been at least 32 degrees.
As we were driving through Panjim, the noise of the traffic and the beeping of the horns were horrific but after a day there you don’t notice them at all.
Candolim looked very lively and colourful, which is what we wanted.
We stayed in The Goan Village, which was in a good position and had security at both the gates and was handy for taxis and put puts!!
Our room was in the new area of the hotel and was excellent, cool marble floors, air con and ceiling fan, large well stocked fridge, satellite TV, velvet sofa and a huge bed and lots of wardrobe and drawer space, the bathroom was large with a powerful shower and vanity unit, with all the toilet paper wrapped in pretty pink and lemon tissue paper and nice herbal soap The rooms were cleaned everyday and fresh linen and towels were also replaced. The laundry service was very cheap and prompt, 15 rupees for a beach towel and 15 rupees for shorts and t shirts, all returned fresh and ironed the next day.
The pool was very clean and well looked after by the poll staff, clean towels put on the beds if you wanted to use them and all around the pool was a mural painted by Sylvester.
The reception staff were very helpful and there is a private room with international dial phone, and calls home are very reasonable.
From the waiters down to the ladies who swept everywhere outside, you were always greeted with a wonderful smile and nothing was too much trouble. Our room boys made some marvelous creations with our beach towels, from a cobra complete with eyes and fangs to crabs and lobsters and on the last day our bed was decorated with petals and leave to say goodbye.
The restaurant was wonderful, the choice of food was unbelievable, and every night there was a specials board, all freshly cooked, tiger prawns as large as the palm of my hand, kingfish, pomfret , lobster and crabs, as well as stunning curry’s, gorgeous rotis, naan and chapattis plus a good range of local beers and wine. Try the cashew feni with lemonade, pure fire water!!!
Entertainment was good as well from Indian dancers and singers to magicians and trendy bands.
Jazz House next door was enjoyable with live entertainment and cheap cocktails.
Sweet Chill restaurant was good with dancing and Floyds for a nice tandoori!!
We hired a scooter and toured northern Goa, where we walked on a deserted beach with dolphins swimming one side and kingfishers flying on the other. Petrol is sold in plastic Evian bottles for 50 rupees!! Different to say the least.
Every village we traveled through the children shouted hello!! It was amazing to see catholic and Hindi children mixing so well.
Dudzagaha falls is worth the long trip, the jeep ride alone is amusing!!! We booked with Johns Boat trips and had a lovely picnic meal proved.
Went on a boat trip to Monkey beach, saw the dolphins close to, snorkelled in the warm Arabia Sea, had a bbq on the beach cooked by the lovely young Indian boys and relaxed in the sun !!!
Don't be conned into paying 500 rupees to photo the elephant by the men dressed in orange it’s illegal, so just snap away and ignore them.
Haggle and enjoy yourself, it’s a wonderful place is Goa and well worth the journey!!!