[Sunil@KA25]

Recently I had been to Goa for two days and was staying at Rama Resorts at Agonda.

The property has ON-THE-BEACH - Beach facing rooms, a very good restaurant and the rest of the rooms are facing the Gardens / Partial beach view.

The rooms are having Air conditioning by default and the house keeping staff do a very good job at keeping the rooms clean. The resort / hotel has a dedicated parking lot as well. There are a lot of food options outside the resort including Vegan / vegetarian options, but we stuck to the restaurant at the resort itself which served very good food among the not many Vegetarian options available in their menu. Their service too is very good.


At the beach, except for Surfboarding, there were no water based activities - like ski boat, paragliding, banana ride, etc.. the usual other sport activities that are usually available at other locations - We had not planned on any of those activities anyways. The only plan was to get into the beach for the maximum possible time. The beach is just lovely and peaceful with clean water and very soft sands.

[am1m]

Margao railway station has a fancy new lounge. For 100 bucks per hour, you get a comfortable sofa, clean area and good restrooms. Not sure how long they can sustain at these rates, long-term maintenance will be key. But seems like a good option if you need to spend an hour before your train, or if you arrive by an early morning train and need to catch a quick nap or freshen up.

[am1m]

The past couple of years, there seems to be a new attraction at a couple of beaches, especially Palolem, but that is certainly not what it seems. The local small boats advertise something called 'eagle/falcon feeding'. There are certainly no falcons (or eagles) involved. The boatmen throw meat or other garbage to attract Black Kites and Brahminy Kites...both bird species that are as common as crows in almost any of our cities!

(Palolem does have a population of Sea-Eagles, so perhaps there are a couple of those in the mix, but you certainly don't have to pay to see them!)

[ashkamath]

Originally Posted by am1m

Margao railway station has a fancy new lounge. For 100 bucks per hour, you get a comfortable sofa, clean area and good restrooms. Not sure how long they can sustain at these rates, long-term maintenance will be key.

Considering that thousands of communters will be around on any given day at a busy railway station such as Madgao, the 4 /5 seater fancy lounge will have no dearth of customers as they need just a tiny fraction of the commuters to use their facility to keep it running profitably.

Yesterday I was at Madgao station and saw all the lounge Sofa occupied and it looked all good.

The idea is to get the people addicted to a sort of comfort that you would be drawn to it again when you visit the railway station next time. Let me explain. I took the Vande Bharat train from Madgao to Mangalore yesterday evening and it was an extremely pleasant experience. Tea and dinner was served reminding me of an in-flight F&B service, chairs were reclining & comfortable, mobile charging points fitted under every chair, the overall ambience was great.
I felt the experience pleasant that my return train back to Goa will be again Vande Bharat, even though the ticket price is many times higher.
This is how one gets addicted to the comfort and pleasant experience. It's same with the Sofa lounge in Madgao station..Once you find the experience pleasant, the value seems allright while paying the premium amount

Originally Posted by am1m

The local small boats advertise something called 'eagle/falcon feeding'. There are certainly no falcons (or eagles) involved. The boatmen throw meat or other garbage to attract Black Kites and Brahminy Kites...both bird species that are as common as crows in almost any of our cities!

This is interesting news. I reside in Goa and visit these beaches once in a while, tagging along with some friends/ relatives on a Goa trip. Perhaps I missed this Falcon feeding thing as I never heard of it. This is something I will ask around and find out more. Local boat people seems to be inventing newer tourist attractions. Smart move, I would say

[am1m]

Originally Posted by ashkamath

Considering that thousands of communters will be around on...Madgao, the 4 /5 seater fancy lounge will have no dearth of customers as they need just a tiny fraction of the commuters to use their facility to keep it running profitably.

Oh I certainly hope so. What I meant was I thought the prices were less and was hoping they could sustain the level of cleanliness and also expand at those rates. It is about time we had the option for better facilities at Railway stations, even at a higher cost. I am all for such facilities. Especially in tourist areas, it is worth it to pay and wait in a lounge like this if you come by an early train, or if you need to arrive a few hours early for a very late train. But maintaining standards will be key- especially keeping it clean.

Originally Posted by ashkamath

Perhaps I missed this Falcon feeding thing...Local boat people seems to be inventing newer tourist attractions.

Yeah, I can see the attraction in something like this for kids. But I also think it is a bit of a scam. I mean, I can see Black Kites feeding on garbage in Bangalore, why pay for that on vacation! But to each their, own I guess. Just wanted to post so that people are informed about what they are paying for.

[sinharishi]

Found this amazing place in South Goa - Green Leaf resort, located at Canacona. The place is few meters before you turn right for Palolem, coming from Agonda. USP is a private pool with every cottage. Absolutely neat and clean cottages. Peak season rates go as high as 10k/night, else you can book for 4-5k/night. Highly recommended.