Finding a place to stay in Goa is a long deliberate struggle. The husband thinks, I give it too much attention, but I am glad I do. On our last visit to goa we discovered “Siolim House” . It is easy to make me swoon if you use words like vintage, historical , back in time – I am quite the sucker for old world charm and the descriptions of Siolim House had me intrigued.
Casa Palacio Siolim House is 350 years old. An old manor house, it retains all its vintage charm. The team at the home is warm and inviting. We reached at 7.30 am which is quite early by Goa standards, but there were people who welcomed us, and our room was ready. We were also served some excellent coffee. You are greeted with the most charming , happy sign at the entrance.
You walk -in to a lovely area to relax followed by the common verandah. Honestly if you ask me, it is difficult to decide where you want to while your morning away. We chose the outdoors, if you are curious 🙂
The Swimming Pool is inviting and casual. It is not too deep, but serves the purpose of wallowing in the sun, or working up an appetitie for wholesome goan fare. They conduct a morning Yoga class at 7.30 am by the pool. Honestly, that Yoga Class may just spoil your hipster Yoga Class in the City.
The Rooms are spacious and our window looked out into the well near the common courtyard and had a charming sit out as well. But the piece de resistance was “the throne” , which you will see a picture of as you scroll. I normally refrain from sharing pictures of the pot, but this one just screams share! Honestly the bathroom was the size of both our bedrooms in our Bandra Home. The rooms as you can see are very spacious. Gorgeous wooden furniture, and
Around the Property
The Property has around 7 rooms, and has a certain intimacy to it. There are some charming spots that you can walk around in and simply enjoy your book or a cup of tea. They have a TV room, that houses some enchanting Coffee Table Books, and games so that you can choose to sit in and do nothing at the property that requires effort or planning.
The Steps you see above lead up to the TV room and Suites. The most interesting feature that we noticed was that there was a door that would become a floor as you climb up. And Prayshwi the really helpful receptionist told us that there were holes in the door, which would help people see who is at the door and in case they had to shoot attackers in the days of yore they would.
We spent only two days there, but as a location it is ideal. It is a stone’s throw away from Siolim Church. A 15 -20 minute drive will take you to Vagator or Anjuna and Ashwem is about half an hour away . That is super ideal in my book. As a policy you pay for your stay in advance, as we made a last minute booking, very honestly I did not read the fine print on that.
This ranks high in my preference of places to stay in Goa. We missed having any meals at Siolim House, because Goa has so many choices when it comes to eating out and favorites, but that is defintely something I would love to go back for and stay for a longer time.
SWATHI RISHI 