Call Of The Beach

Achal Dhruva checks out Clarion - The Beach Goa

South Goa, with its sylvan beaches, is fast catching up with its northern counterpart on the popularity charts and this fact is attested with the rising number of resorts and hotels in the region.

The latest entrant on the scene is Clarion - The Beach Goa, a 123-room five star sea front resort located on Benaulim Beach, 10 kms from Margao. It was inaugurated in June 2005 by the Nashik-based Deegesh Group who have made a foray in the hospitality industry.

Adjacent to Taj Exotica and a stone's throw away from Radisson White Sands, The Beach Goa (the first Clarion brand of the Choice Hotels International property in India) aims to target leisure and business travellers.

Plunge pool in the Luxury Room	Kingsize bed in the Standard Room
Villa facing the pool	Melange Restaurant

High In Style Quotient

The resort, spread over an area of nine acres, comprises four majestic row houses and 13 enchanting villas surrounded by lush gardens. The row houses and villas sport a Moroccan design and are painted in a rich arresting black hue, creating a sharp contrast with the surrounding shades of natural green.

Another distinctive feature of this resort is the design of the reception lounge. It is spacious and tastefully designed with woodwork in the South East Asian style of architecture. Two cannons adorn the entrance of the reception and the interiors sport a collection of ornate brass and wooden sculptures.

Melange, the resort's 50-cover multi-cuisine restaurant and coffee shop, offers à la carte all day. The restaurant also gives the option of buffet dining.

The property of The Beach Goa is located on a long narrow strip of land stretching from the road to the beach distinguishing it from the rest of the resorts. Its row houses and villas are lined up beginning from the reception and slowly moving towards the beach. In between, it is dotted by gardens, swimming pool and a poolside restaurant called Horizon. This gives the resort a rather compact look with all facilities located comfortably close to the rooms.

Horizon, the 80-cover restaurant is the other dining option at the resort and serves snacks during the day and grills in the evenings. A special feature of this restaurant is the 'island display' kitchen, which allows diners to see their food being cooked.

Benaulim Beach	Horizon Restaurant at the end of the pool
Aerial view of the pool	Entrance to the reception lounge

Spacious Living

The resort has four different room categories. It has 26 Standard Rooms (340 sq. ft.), 55 Superior Rooms (470 sq. ft.), 13 Junior Suites (500 sq. ft.) and Luxury Rooms (640 sq. ft.).

All rooms are well-appointed with private balconies or verandahs, king-sized beds, direct dial phones, wall-mounted plasma screens, in-room electronic safes, tea/coffee makers, bathroom phones, etc.

The Luxury Rooms are certainly the USP of the resort. Thirteen of these rooms have an in-room plunge pool while 16 have an open air jacuzzi. In contrast to other resorts, its swimming pool is rather small but the Watering Hole - the sunken pool bar - more than makes up for this shortcoming.

The resort has an impressive array of leisure activities although most of them will be functional only by October 2005. But it currently offers a host of in-house activities like yoga, meditation, aqua aerobics, beach volleyball, water polo, culinary demonstrations, wellness lectures and workshops on stress management.

According to the management at The Beach Goa, the resort will soon offer a spa and health club and a casino with a bar adjoining the beach. Although its main focus appears to be leisure, it is also well-equipped with conference facilities and high-tech meeting halls to cater to business conventions. Once all its facilities become operational, it could well be the new Goan address for vacationers and businessmen alike.