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 Vivenda
dos Palhacos is a one hundred year old, carefully renovated house set on
a very quiet* cul-de-sac in the village** of Majorda, in South Goa. The
longest beach, with the most beautiful sand in Goa, is about a kilometer
away. Guests are very welcome to rent a bicycle or grab a lift down
there in our customized Tuk-Tuk.
Vivenda dos Palhacos has three quite different atmospheres. At the front
of the house, is a modest Portuguese Mansion, built in 1929. It has a
hall, two large bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms, a sitting room leading
out to a veranda and a large dining room to seat twenty.
The older Hindoo house, behind, is made from thick rammed earth walls
with three double bedrooms all with ensuite bathrooms. All our bedrooms
have fans as well as air-conditioners. The latter are not usually
required until March or April.
At the back of the house is the main garden with a 12m swimming pool,
private dining and sun bathing areas and a self-contained cottage.
Restaurant -
Our food is best described as eclectic. We have had
several excellent chefs, as chefs go, and as chefs go, they have all
gone. So our current Chef, bless him, shall remain nameless until he has
remained with us for a year. Signature meals include a Goan Feast,
complete with suckling pig and continental favourites like Iced
Gazpachio topped with Lobster, drizzled in Paprika oil. Excellent steaks
on caramelised onions with Masala mashed potato and an exceptionally
gooey chocolate mouse, which my children have been known to eat for
breakfast.
Continental breakfast is complimentary.
Lovely first growth teas from Darjeeling and fresh organic coffees from
the South of India. Fresh fruit and fruit juices & the ubiquitous
buttertoast or butterhomemademangomarmaladetoast. Unless you’d prefer
something heavier, like ham and my scrambled eggs which, though I say so
myself, are usually unsurpassable.
Picnic and Alfresco lunches can be
arranged on the beach or by the pool. Cocktail eats, snacks and
children’s meals will be served at all times.
Dinner has to be booked by breakfast at the latest. This will allow us
to discuss the menu with you and ensure the freshest ingredients.
Drink -
Our wine list will have twin purposes: a) to quench the
sometimes-unquenchable thirst of those who favour quantity over quality
b) to tickle the taste buds and memories of those who prefer quality to
quantity. I will choose the former, and Ivan Scholte Esq. (former butler
to the The Queen, ex-wine merchant and currently a high-class hotelier
in Laos) will choose the latter. HAYWARD'S 5000 strong beer will be
served with our compliments to anyone beating the record, The Ladies’
record is currently six bottles, and the Men’s, eight. Both, needless to
say, are held by Australia. HAYWARD'S 5000 is stronger than wine and
very popular with North Indian lorry drivers.
Accommodation -
The rooms are named after the places we have lived in and loved, in
Bengal and Tamil Nadu. They all have fans, air-conditioners and en-suite
bathrooms. They don’t have TVs or phones. Though either of those menaces
can be easily rustled up for children or major sporting events.
There are two rooms in the Portuguese
part of the house. KONNAGAR, the master bedroom has an old four-poster
and its own balcony. The large bathroom next door has a shower and a
cast iron bath tub saved from the Royal Bombay Yacht Club.
ALIPORE has a window seat that is
either a love seat or prayer spot, overlooking the next door coconut
plantation. So if you hear a small explosion overhead every now and
then, it is more likely to be a coconut hitting the tiles than the
Taliban. It has a simple teak antique double bed and a long, narrow
ensuite bathroom hidden between the two houses.
In the older, Hindoo part of the house
MADRAS is a large double room with French doors leading out to the
garden from its open-air bathroom. BALLYGUNGE has two large single beds
in it that can be pushed together. With a distinctly Gujarati bathroom.
OOTY, with its private entrance from the courtyard, has a built-in
double bed and sitting area and a mirrored ensuite secret bathroom.
CHANPARA is a huge tent, with twin
beds, rugs and old camping furniture, including a Thunder Box and an
early version of a mini-bar. It has a private entrance and young garden
of its own, in a coconut plantation by the pool. It is fully plumbed and
air-conditioned.
The CHUMMERY is a self-contained,
air-conditioned cottage with a bathroom, small kitchen and two verandas.
Vivenda sleeps fourteen in perfect
comfort and more, in emergency. KONNAGER, MADRAS. The CHUMMERY and
CHANPARA are the four rooms with most space for extra beds or a cot. We
are happy to arrange spill-overs at various price points, round and
about.
Swimming Pool
- The 12 x 4 metre swimming pool is set in a young
tropical garden with private sun bathing areas. It is cleaned with
Ozone, instead of horrible chlorine, so it is like swimming in spring
water. The shallow end of the pool is three feet deep so will not suit
very young children. We’d be happy to set up a piddling pool in the
front garden for tiny tots.
Shop
- The Vivenda Shop, in our back passage, is in its
infancy. But we hope to gradually add a variety of products that are
beautifully made in India. This will include everything from leather
backgammon boards to clothes, jewelry, silver and the occasional
antique.
Sevices -
Airport pick-up (Rs 550 per car). Sight seeing and shopping tours from
Rs 1,800 a day. Baby-sitting. Bicycles to rent. Laundry. Hair dryer.
Around three-quarters-of-the-clock food and drink. Complimenatry wifi
broadband. Advice as to what is worth going to see and what is worth
avoiding. A television and DVD player in the sitting room. A very
sophisticated 24 hour, native English speaking concierge service.
Picnics and parties planned. Weddings arranged, though not necessarily
in the desi sense of the word. The spas at The Grand Hyatt and Leela are
both excellent and almost next door.
Getting There -
Air -
We are less than half an hour's drive
south of Goa's airport at Dabolim. Goa is a fifty-minute flight from
Bombay and Bangalore. There are frequent flights on a variety of India's
excellent new private domestic airlines (see Links) connecting Goa with
India's main tourist cities including Jaipur and Agra. The flight from
Delhi is under two hours and Calcutta is two and a half hours away.
Train -
We are twenty minutes from the main station in the second
city of Goa, Margao. The daily overnight train to and from Bombay, The
KonKan Express, is recommended in one direction if you are feeling
adventurous. We would be happy to suggest places to stay and things to
do in Bombay for a couple of nights at the beginning or end of your
trip. Or further afield if you would like to combine a relaxing week in
Goa, with a more rigorous trip elsewhere in the sub-continent.
It is sometimes possible, if you book
far enough in advance, to spend a night or two en route in a beautiful
old club instead of your average, characterless five-star hotel. The
Tollygunge Club in Calcutta, The Royal Bombay Yacht Club, The Ooty Club,
The Madras Club or Delhi's Gymkhana Club are all highly recommended.
...Room View...
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