Team-BHP - Madgaon to Malvan route and Hotels

I'm planning a trip to Malvan at the coming weekend, and will be taking my small, friendly, perfectly house-trained dog.

Madgaon to Malvan route and Hotels-spotbottle.jpg

Does anyone know of a decent pet-friendly (or at least pet-tolerant) hotel at or near Malven? Failing that, a hotel with parking inside a secure compound so the dog could sleep in the car, with the glasses rolled down a couple of inches.
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I see I have two main choices of route from Madgaon, with barely 2 km difference according to Google Maps:
1) NH 17 to Kudal, SH 118 / SH 4 to Malvan(141 km)
2) NH 17 to Padnem, go straight across the river bridge to Kondura / Malewad Naka, turn left (West) to Shiroda, then North to Vengurla / onward by SH 4 to Malvan (139 km).

Speed and timing are not an issue for me, as I'll be meeting up with friends who will be driving down from Mumbai, and will have plenty of time to reach Malvan before they do. I also don't mind narrow roads, but would definitely want to avoid unmaintained roads with moon craters. And I have a GPS navigator, so a complicated route isn't a problem either.

I do like a more scenic drive, and option 2 looks more likely to be it, as long as the route doesn't have any totally rough patches. Does anyone with a local knowledge of road conditions have any advice to offer? Oh, and the car is a Hyundai Verna VTVT.

All responses appreciated.

Thanks, db

Although I have not been through the roads recently which you mentioned but I feel the road through Kudal will be in better condition as compared to the other road. Malvan has many hotels I dont think it will be big pain to get a pet friendly hotel.Sorry I cannot provide you any hard info as I have not been in this area recently but I used to stay in Malavan quite some years back.

Thank you, Amit. I did anticipate that NH17 would be a better surface than the alternative route, but as I will be having plenty of time, I don't mind a road on which I can maintain even as low as 50-60 kmh.

How long ago did you last drive in the area? and did you move by the Shiroda/Vengurla route? if so, is it scenic? and any really bad patches?

Darryl

GTO, thank you for the links. I'd already gone through two of those threads and the other two made good reading.

My conclusion is that, road-surface-wise, it's safe to take the second route, via MSH 4 (not SH 4 as I had wrongly identified it).

Still hoping for any specific information on a pet-friendly hotel at Malvan. I'm 60, and I don't exactly relish the thought of spending the night in the car because I can't take the dog in the room nor safely leave her to sleep alone in the car :)

db

Update: I drove to Malwan via Shiroda-Vengurla as planned. I made good time on NH-17, leaving Goa for Maharashtra in exactly 61 minutes. As far as Shiroda, the road isn't too bad, but the signboard at Malewad Naka is a little confusing; according to a tempo driver, that points at the 'old road' which is now a ground level vegetable and fish market.

Maharashtra MSH-4 appears to have been recently sanctioned/approved. There are several patches where small humps in the undulating terrain have been bulldozed to level the road, and others where existing cuttings are being deepened for the same reason. The going was so slow that I diverted to the Kudal-Vengurla road and cut back to Malwan by (?) SH-122.

Oh, and the route isn't scenic either.

Needless to say, I returned via Kudal and NH-17. The patch before and after Sawantwadi was, as usual, broken up, but I noticed some vehicles seem to be taking the yet-to-be-opened bypass. Around the Goa border, work is going on for 4-laning, and traffic moves on whichever half of the road is in better condition, without benefit of any diversion signs.

Because of having a dog with me, we stayed at a moderate but well located hotel, Sun'n'Sand. The rates for a 4-bedded AC room on the ground floor or a two-bedded (+extra bedding) room on the second floor were 1000 per day, off-season. One of the best hotels around appeared to be the Sagar Kinara, which is where its name would suggest.

Food everywhere is good; the most recommended restaurant appears to be Atithi Bamboo, but I didn't find it any better or in any way special compared to the 'ordinary' places in the market area.

db