Grande Ave Maria Beach Resort — Hotel in Goa

My girlfriend and I spent a week at this hotel in October 2012. At the time, as I recall, it was not an OYO franchise and therefore I cannot answer for how it may or may not have changed since then. Here, though, are the pros and cons.

Pros:

At that time the reception was staffed by a Ms Nikita, who I learnt on another visit to Goa is no longer working at this hotel; she was, without a doubt, the single most efficient, friendly, and helpful hotel receptionist I have ever known. She arranged for us to have an upper storey room in the middle, with a balcony and great light, when we might otherwise have had to be accomodated in another building. She arranged a motorcycle rental for us at a concession rate, and ensured that we got whatever we asked for.

The room was good and large. The electrical situation wasn't great but breakdowns seemed common in all Candolim. The beach is only a very short walk away and is the best Goa beach I know of, being clean and not filled to the brim with tourists and people trying to make a living from tourists. My girlfriend and I spent most of the day driving around and always lunched outside so we cannot answer for the quality of the lunch cuisine. At this distance in time I don't recall what breakfast was like but it wasn't anything that made us complain.

I remember that there was an extremely friendly dog who used to follow the guests to the beach and make sure that they were all right. In a 2015 visit to Goa, when I had to stay at another hotel, I saw the same dog at Candolim beach again accompanying tourists.

Staff could speak some Russian, which would have been useful for the Russian and Ukrainian tourists who formed the majority of the clientele when I was there. Even so I had to offer my services to translate on a couple of occasions.

Security was not an issue, we never lost anything. Even the rental motorcycle, though it had to be parked on the street outside, never got a scratch. Nor did anyone attempt to steal our phones or laptop. And nobody looked at us twice even though we weren't married.

Cons:

Location, apart from the proximity to the beach, is terrible. It is hard to find the first time - my girlfriend and I took almost an hour and repeated phone calls from our taxi to get to it - and there are no shops in the immediate vicinity. Even after getting there it is possible to lose one's way and not everyone in the locality will tell you where it is.

My girlfriend and I were on a package that gave us free dinner. However the dinner could only be ordered from a restricted list of menu items and not the main menu. The food was all right but we could have chicken curry anywhere; the lobster that the hotel desk advertised in Russian as "ochen' vkusnii" (very tasty) was not available to us. Also we had to be back by 8pm to get our free meal.

I have been reading the negative ratings and either things have drastically deteriorated or other people have expectations much higher than my girlfriend and I. That's all I...

|This is the worst hotel I've ever stayed at. Booked for 4 days, and by day 2 I've been given 3 rooms, due to unfixable faults||Room 1: dirty and uninhabitable. Offered upgrade that I would have to pay for. I refused to pay anything. When I asked for money back I was given a new room||Room 2. Clean but electrical fault every 2 hours, no hot water ||Room 3. Tepid water, but TV not working and AC not blowing cool air regardless of what setting.||Everytime I raised issues, I felt I was politely told what they think I wanted to hear..."we will fix it whilst you're away" only to return to find nothing had changed. I dealt mainly with John and the hotel manager Samir||When I ask for a partial refund, this spurs them into action, room upgrade, water fixed, no more electrical faults, TV repaired within 30 minutes. ||You are recommended to hand your key in when you leave however they will only clean your room if you remember to ask them. ||For my entire stay I was given two small bottles of water- previous hotel it was 2 per day. I opted for breakfast to be included. The choices are bread, egg made like an omelette, and mixed fruit; for drinks:Sachet coffee or tea. ||Wifi advertised as being available thru the hotel, not the case. Mainly in reception it worked but 10 metres from there it became intermittent and the final 2 days, no wifi connection at all.||Final day thinking nothing else could go wrong, however room cleaned but no towels available, told they're with laundry which will arrive in an hour. ||Only good thing was it's location: a few mins to the beach, and on a quiet street.||This hotel just wants your money and doesn't care for the customers comfort or basic...

I recently stayed at your hotel check -in 14/03/2024 and wanted to share some feedback regarding my experience with the Front Desk staff. While I have enjoyed my past stays with your establishment, this time I encountered a troubling situation. Upon booking a room directly with the Front Desk one day prior to my arrival, I was assured of an early check-in at 10 am. However, upon arrival, I was informed by a Front Desk staff member, who I believe to be of Kashmiri guy along with one more guy who turn from his word that early check-in was not possible and was asked for additional payment. This was contradictory to the confirmation I received during booking. Furthermore, when I inquired about paying through UPI, I was encouraged to pay in cash instead. After some discussion, I was offered a room, but it was situated far from the hotel premises. I wanted to bring this to your attention as I believe such behavior is unacceptable and tarnishes the reputation of an otherwise reputable hotel. I would like to suggest considering changes to the Front Desk staff to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future. Thank you for your attention to this matter. I hope my feedback helps in maintaining the high standards of your...