Furtados Beach House

We booked the hotel rooms online and we were full of excitement for the photographs on the Net are very inviting and appealing. The location is indeed superb. We were attracted by the low cost and great amenities pictured in the ad on the Net.

The rooms were as portrayed – huge and clean. The furnishing is basic, but it is practical and comfortable. On checking in we liked what we saw. We felt we are in for a lovely holiday in Goa.

It took us about two days to get the list of little flaws of the hotel that actually take the fun out of the holiday. For one, the staff seemed to be hanged on the non-Indian guests – I guess because of the tips that these tourists were likely to pay. The service is miserable. We had to ask for anything at least three times. The food served in the restaurant is atrociously expensive. The Goan dishes are good however. We particularly liked the king fish and prawn platter. All other dishes are either too bland or too hot. AN order takes about 45 minutes to be executed which is a hell a lot of time given the fact that when we ordered there were only two other guests in the restaurant. I dread to think how they will serve if the restaurant ran full.

We stayed the planned 3nights – 4 days break away holiday – but I do not think we will ever go back to this hotel. I think it needs plenty of improvement on the service front – especially for Indian guests. Though you get what you pay for – this is a simple, basic accommodation in a great location – better service would have made a lot difference.

We liked the hotel. The location was superb with the beach so close and all. The rooms were spacious and very clean – which was very important to us. We had trouble with the mosquitoes but after some body lotion that was managed.

What we did not like too much was the service. We had our meals in the restaurant about 4 times and each time it was sheer torture. There were 10 staff members to wait on tables, and only 2-3 tables takes at any given time – yet the service took ages.

On the positive side, the lackadaisical attitude of the staff became our plus point at the time of check out. The check out time is 10.00 AM and our flight was at 7.30 PM; because the staff were so uninvolved, we stayed on until 5.00 PM and they never charged us anything extra.

I would say the best thing about this hotel is that the rooms are large and spacious. The service sucks though and this one of the main reasons I would not be so enthusiastic about going back there.

For those who want to paint the town red, we advise that they use the services of the travel agency that is just adjacent to this hotel. They provide good taxis and advice at less than half the price the hotel offers. This ‘travel agency’ also offers a number of pretty souvenirs – we got some pretty stuff from there for our friends back home.

Overall an average place. It could be much better if the management and staff take more interest.

The hotel looks great in daytime. It transforms itself into some kind of eerie place at night – I think because the lighting of the place is simply terrible. The rooms are clean and comfortable in size – but they come with mosquitoes and lizards which were very creepy. The bathrooms definitely need more maintenance though were clean. We asked for toilet roll but none was provided. We bought our own in the end.

The breakfast is complimentary and ok. However, the service is pathetically slow. You almost forget what you ordered by the time it comes to you – and as it often happens in Indian budget restaurants, some things you ordered never turn up. The waiters in the restaurant were courteous no doubt, but more interested in watching TV than serving their guests.

The room tariff is not too low – so the amenities and ambiance should be much better. We checked out after two days even if we had booking for a week, and checked in Palm Grove Cottage for the same amount in rooms that seems like palace when compared to Furtados.

Something this hotel needs to do about is the steel doors!! This is definitely something you need to lose fast for besides the dreadful lighting, the iron door makes it feel like you are a prisoner. In fact, my husband called the episode as ‘our time in prisoner cell block H’.

What surprised me was that the place was full – even though it was so depressing, which makes me think that maybe we were judging this hotel by European standards. At the same time I would like to say that we are travelling to Goa for the 4th time and we are used to the differences in hospitality.

We found this place utterly depressing, the service terrible, the food passable and the rooms eerie. I would not stay here again under no circumstance – and I would definitely not recommend it to anyone.