Betalbatim Hotels

GOA WILL MAKE YOU SAY; WOOOOOOAHHHH!!!! and the Park Hyatt is the perfect place to come unwind after all the partying... Best beach ever... Best service ever... Best POOL EVER... ETC... Goa will have you saying a lot of best's ever's ...

NOPE

Perfect.. for all types of people and adventures ... real talk yo!

I extended a business trip from Mumbai and went to Goa. I spent most of my time by the pool and at the beach. The pool is large and stunning. It never felt crowded even though the hotel was full. Our room had a gorgeous view of the hotel grounds out to the beach. Be prepared to walk...the hotel is spread out and the grounds are quite vast. For relaxation, it was phenomenal. The beach was clean, the service for drinks and food was good.

My wife and I spent a week in Goa, with the first several nights at a friend's holiday flat in Calangute and then the final 3 nights at Taj Exotica. After soaking in the frenetic pace of the Calangute/Baga area for 4 days and then travelling to the Ponda area for a spice plantation tour and then further east an exhilarating and harrowing trek to Dudshagar Falls, the Taj Exotica was a welcome end to our holiday. The grounds are beautiful and every single member of the staff, from Pravin at the front desk, to Sandeep at the one of the several restaurants, to the activity staff, to the grounds crew--- EVERYone there seemed genuinely eager to help make our stay a great one. Since we were staying at the end of Monsoon Season (September), we were able to book a pretty reasonable rate for a villa-type room with it's own private plunge pool. The staff kept apologizing for the monsoon rains, but it usually only rained once a day during our stay-- and usually only for 30 minutes... really cooled things down and made things pleasant. Also having fewer tourists like us around AND the cheaper rate didn't hurt our experience either.. By India standards, the beach at Benaulim and particular in front of the hotel is pristine. The sand is fine, golden in color and nice and firm and flat... which is great for walking, which is what my wife and I like to do. We didn't have to walk very far to be completely alone, either... maybe a fishing boat or stray dog (or cow!) or two. We ate at the Goan restaurant in the hotel and it was excellent. Breakfast in the morning (included in rate) at the Eugenia Cafe was buffet-style and had every conceivable Indian/British/US -style option you could think of. The staff REALLY seemed excited if you showed interest in trying the Indian or Goan specialties... This was also the case in the evening at Eugenia for lunch and dinner. They offered a buffet, but we found the regular menu so full of good Indian and Goan options, that we ordered ala carte. Ag...

The pool was very warm and clean. The area was huge and great for party and group gathering. The proximity to the beach and other beach front restaurant was good. The free breakfast in the morning was also a good treat. My wife had the body massage and facial and she enjoyed it. There was no fear that the place was unsafe. The resort was in a remote area and not visible on the main road. Once inside the resort, the atmosphere becomes different.

My wife forgot her bathing suit. The staff offer to rent her one so they pulled a wet used one from the bin. It was not even clean. I don't know when the last time any body used it. Needless to say, my wife was turned off by this experience and she was not able to enjoy the pool. It would have been better if there was a fresh clean one in a sealed plastic container. It would have made our stay better. I was in Hyatt Bengaluru and the stay included the use of steam and sauna rooms but it was not available in Kenilsworth without purchasing the spa treatment. This was a let down. The staff in the restaurant made a lot of effort to get rid of the flies and for the most part was were successful. The problem is they left all the dead flies on the floor. They did not bother to sweep it away right away. The temperature control in the room was not very consistent. It was either very cold or warm at night. I had to continually adjust the temperature to make us comfortable.