Our first days in Goa – not that fun at all!

After a short airplane ride from Udaipur to Goa we were picked up by a pre-arranged hotel taxi which drove us to our hotel at Majorda Beach. We had booked this hotel in the very last minute, as we had decided that we would like to see something more of Goa before getting to Palolem beach, where we knew we would want to stay for a longer period.In the pictures in booking.com our hotel “The Treehouse Blue” looked like a real luxury hotel and it had received great reviews.When we arrived at the hotel it had started to get dark outside and behind the high gate to the street, we were met by a poorly lit reception desk, full of people. Even though they were so many, they seemed completely confused and we had to take the initiative ourselves to leave our passports, ask for directions to the beach, breakfast time etc. After being led through a maze of alleyways we got to our room on the second floor. We had booked an apartment and it was huge with two balconies and a separate bedroom. There was no restaurant in the hotel but we were told that there would be two of them nearby, both with home delivery of food. We decided to try one of them and got help from the front desk to call and order.

The breakfast was brought to our room each morning in a basket but for some reason we could not order in advance at what time we liked to have it – instead we had to call the reception every morning at 8 o´clock and ask them to bring us our breakfast. No one, except some of the reviewers on booking.com, had told us that it was a self-service breakfast, in the basket there were raw eggs, a pack of bread, milk (in a plastic bag …), cereals, butter and marmalade. Hard to put together to something tasty…

We had been longing for the sea and the beach when we booked this hotel! On booking.com the hotel was described as located a short walk from the sea. We got ready for the beach with our books and towels and began to walk. And we walked and we walked…and no beach. Well, after 2.5 km, we finally arrived at the beach, a little sweaty and moderately angry at the false marketing. The beach was long and wide with white sand, but with a lot of rubbish.

Finally there, the plan was to have our first swim in India! We went into the water but stopped and looked at each other when the water reached up to our knees – the water smelled strange and not so nice and we became less eager to take a swim. Yet a little more angry, we walked all the long way back to the hotel.

The remaining time in this hotel we spent in the hotel room, the urge to go outside had decreased significantly after the visit to the beach. The only bright moment was a visit to a pizzeria a few kilometers away, where we had wonderful good vegetarian pizzas, even enough to save some slices for lunch the next day.

We had really been looking forward to Goa and to get some sun and bath and we were soooo disappointed. But shame on those who give up – Palolem beach, here we come. We have read a lot about this beach – and we really hope not to be discouraged again.