Friday Finds ☆ Cidade de Goa ☆ Resort Hotel In Goa India

We spent 5 days in Goa, India at the beginning of January 2014 and it was wonderful. I attribute our relaxing and enjoyable time to the resort hotel we stayed, Cidade de Goa. When I was planning a trip to Goa in South India back in November 2013, I spent hours researching lodging options. It was not easy as many top choices for resort hotels on Tripadvisors were fully booked at that point (December and January are a peak tourism season). If you plan a trip to Goa in India during the Christmas break, it is better to start planning in September.

After a long research, in the end, I picked Cidade de Goa, a charming resort hotel in the city of Panjim in Goa and here are the following reasons.

CIDADE DE GOA

ROOM & RATE
Cidade de Goa offers good size room with a modern interior and even allows up to two adults and two children to be in the room, which is not common in this part of the world. Since our 5th one is very little, Cidade de Goa allowed all of us to stay in one room. Our room charge was a little over US$200 per night per room which was very reasonable for Goa.
*Many hotels would require you to get 2 rooms for a family of 5.

BEACH AND WATER
Cidade de Goa has a safe beach for very small children to play even in the water. Since the hotel is located inside the gulf, the water is very protected. This was a key element for our decision.
*Goa coast is known for rough water and strong undertow. It is not an ideal water for little kids or even bigger kids to play in.

FACILITIES FOR KIDS
Hotel has many recreational facilities for families with kids such as a basketball court, tennis courts, badminton court, beach volleyball court, playground, kids room, spa, 3 different restaurants and more.

CHARACTER
Cidade de Goa has a unique character of Goa.

DISTANCE TO THE AIRPORT
Cidade de Goa is about 30-40 minute drive from the airport. I could not imagine spending longer than that in the car after arriving in Goa.

AIRPORT TRANSPORTATION INCLUDED
Airport transports for both pick-up from the airport and drop-off at the airport were included.

Before arriving at the hotel, though, I was worried because I did not know how the hotel would be like. I was quite relieved to see such a charming place.

We checked in at the hotel and went to our room.

When we first arrived in our room, I felt that it looked different from what I saw on the hotel website. This room had two single beds and it felt that maybe there was not enough space for all of us to sleep. It felt a bit dark as it faced the back of the parking lot and one big window faced the hotel tennis courts.

I went to the front lobby and asked if there were any other rooms available. Cidade de Goa staff was friendly. The hotel staff who helped us was very helpful and showed us two other rooms with the same grade and rate. Both of them looked better than our assigned room.

We really liked one of them for the size, design, and location, so we requested to be switched.

This is our new room, #407.

It was much more spacious.

We loved that the bathroom has a bath tub as well as a shower space. It was great for a family like us with little ones to be able to give them a bath.

We asked for a baby cot to be put in our room. It was great that we had a plenty of room for it.

The sofa unfolded to become a bed. It fit our two girls comfortably.

We went outside to the roof top to see the view. The hotel staff told us that this was the top 3 of the class (we picked the most inexpensive option). It was pretty cool.

We decided to take a walk in Cidade de Goa.

We had a minor incident. If you are curious, please read my post about our vacation in Goa.

We got hungry, so we went to a cafe and had some snack before we headed out to dinner at Cafe Azul, a restaurant in Cidade de Goa. The restaurant starts serving dinner menu at 7:30 pm. You can order snacks until then.

If you are curious to see a few photos of the restaurant, they are on my instagram.

We loved the beach at Cidade de Goa. It is very safe for any age kids. The waves are very small and the water is quite shallow, which is hard to find in Goa. The water on the coast of Goa is known for big waves and strong undertow. It’s probably great for surfers.

Breakfast was included in the hotel room charge.

Transportation Service

We went out for dinner in town three times. It was really fun to see the town and experience a dining scene in Goa as we stayed at the hotel during the day. The hotel has a transportation office and the fare for a rental car for round trip to a restaurant and back to the hotel was reasonable.

Other Notes

While Cidade de Goa is lovely and can be romantic, it appeals to families with little kids. Thus, we saw many kids, which was great for us. Some people might not find the romantic ambiance and kids running around and their voices go hand in hand. If you can tune that out, it is romantic!

Cidade de Goa seems to be popular for wedding, so you might be able to get a glimpse of an Indian wedding scene. It would be nice, but that also means that some of the area could be blocked for the event.

CIDADE DE GOA
Near Vainguinim, Near Manipal Hospital
Dona Paula, Panjim, Goa 403004
Dona Paula, Taleigao, GA 403004
India
TEL:+91 832 245 4545
EMAIL: cidadedegoa@cidadedegoa.com

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DISCLAIMER

Just in case you are wondering, we stayed at this hotel on our own dime and we are not associated with the hotel. The post comes from me. To you!