Still haven't booked hotel for New Years! Help!

smohnot

We need a place to stay for new years...
http://www.qbrating.com/indiatrip is our itinerary for the whole trip.

Any suggestions welcome. 3 of us will be in goa looking to party. We need a place to crash on the 31st and the 1st nights. Any ideas? please reply/pm/email whatever. We don't have a pricerange in mind but are looking for a good value.

PS the only reason we are staying at the hyatts and hiltons is that they are free stays by points.

GoanCanuck

The 3 star and above hotels are booked solid for New Years Eve. Your only option is to go for the cocohuts in Palolem or head to Arambol and stay with a Goan family.

Granola

Similar question..

I will be in Goa from Dec 19th to Dec 24th. I really like the idea of staying in a beach hut for a week and I've heard many good things about Palolem.

I've sent emails to Ciarans and to Ordo Sounsar. Both seem higher end than what I need (though I don't mind paying) and both are full for those dates. For all other email addresses I've located, the emails have bounced back.

Do you think I can wing it - just show up and get a beach hut? Or is it just a bad idea to arrive in Goa near Christmas without a reservation?

Thanks in advance.

GoanCanuck

You will need a reservation.

TulsaisntFar

I think your best bet is to grab your travel book and call. They take calls more seriously than e-mails. From US just dial 011+91+the number itsays in the book minus the first 0. Most hotels in Goa are booked solid so you'll just have to make calls down a list until you get one. Some hotels will quote a rate high above what the books say, keep it in mind but keep shopping.

nemunoki

any luck with the bookings smohnot?? i'm going to be in goa over christmas and new years, and i haven't booked a place either. i'm not looking for extreme comfort, but will need someplace to crash. did you manage to get bookings?

is it only north goa and the hotspots that will be fully booked? does anyone know if it's possible to get bookings in places that are less popular, maybe not the party beaches like calangute??

i'm really quite nervous now! i have a friend coming down from london and i'm arranging the whole things from bangalore, and obviously doing a lousy job of it. can someone please reassure me??? pretty please!

GoanCanuck

Every place will be full. The only places which might have vacancies are the small hotels in Vasco and Ponda. You can forget about Panjim, Margao and Mapusa.

sthakur

Hi all,

I was in Goa for both 99, 2000 new years, and both of those times I did not prebook a hotel and still found a decent room
at normal season prices. Just grab a taxi, pre neogoiate beforehand the fare and go hunting.

sthakur

GoanCanuck

Those times are long gone. You can thank the package tourists for that. Between 1999 and 2005 there has been a three fold increase in chartered flights arriving in Goa from Europe.

nemunoki

heavens, why are there so many people in the world??

hasn't anyone had the experience of being bombarded with touts saying "you want room, you want room?" as soon as they arrive? that's the experience i usually have in most tourity places, and was for once looking forward to seeing them in goa.

what about gokarna? those shacks, they don't really have advance booking do they? do you think i'll get place to stay over new years?

GoanCanuck

Gokarna is also becoming very popular these days and because there is a paucity of suitable accommodation in that area it may well be difficult to get a place.

sthakur

1999, and 2000 were the millennium New Year parties, huge amount of package tourists coming from the UK, but my buddy and I had no problem finding a room. In 1999 we stayed in Candolim, in 2000 in Calangute. Goa is a yearly New Year's destination for me, I have been there on New Years for the past 7 years, now I have a condo, so I don't need a room, but every year there are new hotels being put up, which means new rooms. Usually I have found that if you prebook a room for New Years you will pay alot more then the going rate, a small price to pay for the guarantee of a room.

For the more budget and adventures type, grab a cab or even take the bus to the major beach areas in North Goa, then go hunting, you will find a room.

S.Thakur

nemunoki

thanks for that thakur. that was what i suspected and was hoping someone would reassure me.

i have actually found a couple of hotels that have rooms, and they are charging me the earth for them, so guess i'll just be the adventurous backpackker then.