Goa is the quickest getaway for the Mumbaikar. Reams go in to catalogue celebrity rave nights that are a hallmark of the New Year season, just as city slickers arrive here during the monsoons to take a breather out of the concrete jungle to feast their eyes on endless stretches of green. For a gritty Mumbaikar, a trip to Goa is welcome at any time of the year.

We started early, even though it meant timing our biological clocks to the unearthly hour when the first local trains in the city were just preparing to roll out. Groggy from lack of sleep and bleary-eyed as we boarded the dawn flight, we consoled ourselves with the welcome thought that we were getting an early start to the holiday.

Tourists flock to this tiny coastal state for the sun and sand. And when they are done with the ritual of tanning by the seaside, they seek diversions in the local cuisine, some sparkling coconut and cashew feni, a boisterous flea market and a warm people.

Such is the allure of Goa that over the years people from other parts of the country have chosen to make it their home

It was sheer foresight on the part of Indian Hotels Company to have located the heritage spot of Fort Aguada in north Goa to build three distinct properties: the Fort Aguada Beach Resort, the Taj Holiday Village and The Aguada Hermitage. Such is the rustic simplicity of the Village that one is tempted to imagine that it may have existed alongside the fort itself, and that the resort was built around it.

The Aguada Hermitage is a cluster of 15 luxurious villas, set up to house the heads of states during the CHOGM meet in the early 1980s. There are villas here named after former British premier Margaret Thatcher and the late Indian prime minister, Indira Gandhi.

Fort Aguada is an hour-long drive from Dabolim airport. As you step into the breezy lounge of the Aguada Beach Resort, you are struck by the vast open spaces, elegant wooden arches, earthy Anjolie Ela Menon paintings and a touch of Goan humour with miniature sample jars of garlic, nuts and local vinegar put together on the coffee tables. Goan hospitality is the essence of its people. It is evident in the gardener’s lively ‘howdy’ as you drive by him to your villa or in the chef’s enthusiasm with the day’s specials.

"Goa has been running the business for us," the general manager, Taj North Goa, Sanjay Sethi, puts forth succinctly. There are dedicated guests here who reserve the same rooms and villas every year, says Mr Sethi. A certain elderly European lady has been visiting Goa for nearly 20 years. The staff is familiar with her slightest habit. She finds her house slippers just where she wants them, her bed is turned down on her regular side and the bath water is mixed to the correct temperature. She has at least one meal with the family of the house attendant before her departure.

Not surprisingly, the resort has registered a growth of 30 to 35 per cent in recent years, despite the slump in the tourism industry post 9/11. The prices at the hotel have not been hiked, informs Mr Sethi, although there have been several value additions. There are more dining options, for one, and a spanking new spa. Other attractions are a host of leisure activities: speedboats, sailing, parasailing, jet skis, banana boat rides, trekking, rock climbing, rappelling and jummaring. As Mr Sethi says, "Our endeavour is to keep the guests cosy in here. Hence, it is important to keep upgrading activities and inculcate the local flavour into the hotel."

One of the most prominent attractions in Goa is the shack food. The Resort has showcased this cuisine across its restaurants. The Morisco offers a blend of international and Goan seafood. The ‘catch of the day’ is displayed at the entrance of the restaurant. The Seashell buffet restaurant runs a range of theme nights like the Goan Mini Carnival, Vegan Delights and Salsa Nights by the poolside. The Fish Tail restaurant, which opened recently, has a dynamic menu that specialises in grills.

As if to present a slice of authentic Goa, lunch is announced at the Beach House, which is modelled along the lines of a traditional Goan shack. The assistant manager-sales, Payal Desai, decides that the first meal of the day should be sumptuous Goan fare. Over mussel and clam-meat cutlets, chicken cafreal, prawn curry and unpolished Goan rice, she begins to cajole us into participating in adventure sports the following morning. "I just needed to see for myself if you were fit for it; now I know you can face it," she smiles over a spoonful of rice.

She has in mind a trek followed by rappelling down the top of the fort. For the uninitiated, rappelling is a sport where you are tied up at a height (top of a cliff or a mountain) and then hurled down from the vantage point. The entire exercise lasts barely a minute. Needless to say, she has us gaping at her in horror. At this point she promises that the manager of adventure sports at the resort, Jerry Pinto, has potent persuasive skills, and that he was sure to root our minds to the activity. For the moment, though, Ms Desai decides to ease our rattled nerves with an afternoon at the spa.

The spa is housed between the Fort Aguada Resort and the Taj Village. It offers luxurious facilities such as a Jacuzzi, Swedish, aroma and ayurvedic massage.

A routine aromatherapy massage involves a spin in the sauna to open up the pores, followed by an hour of therapeutic massage with a mix of aroma oils. Single string tantric music soothes you as a Tibetan masseur eases your tired muscles. A spot of reflexology follows the massage. Reflexology involves easing all the pressure points under the feet, for it is believed that all the nerve ends of the body are located under the feet. Ananda, the masseur, learnt this science over 10 years ago. As he wields his magic fingers under the foot, he takes away the fatigue too. He spots physical ailments merely by feeling the right pressure points.

The evening opened to the Hot Salsa Nite around the poolside of the resort. Local dancers performed the tango, while a limbo dancer executed daring tricks with a ball of fire. An open buffet whetted the appetite of the guests. As if by destiny, Mr Pinto tracked us down to our tables to extract a promise of meeting us at the lobby the next morning for a spot of adventure sports.

It seemed there was no escaping a round of rappelling after all. Prasad Joshi, who has led teams on Himalayan expeditions, was our appointed guide. After surviving bouts of vertigo hiking up the fort, we were ready. Mr Joshi has a glib line to encourage first timers: a 200-pound heavy 69-year-old lady had braved it, and returned for more. Clearly, there was no choice but to go with the flow. As Mr Joshi harnessed the seat, fixed the loop in the Carabiner and issued basic instructions, the reality confronting us was the steep descent ending in the wide-open sea below.

Thus strapped up, we shut our eyes and took a brave plunge. It is only when the first rush of excitement courses down your veins that you want to repeat the act, as many guests have done in the past. By now the sun was beating down our backs, and we decided to return to it on a second visit to the property.

Our next stop was the swank premier property, Taj Exotica, in Salcette, south Goa. The lush extravaganza of the manicured lawns, almost like a sample of a well-maintained botanical garden, takes your breath away. The property is spread over 56 acres, and 35 acres are landscaped with tropical plants, swaying palms and broad avenue trees. The property has 34 deluxe rooms, 94 deluxe villa rooms, eight luxury rooms, two luxury suites and two presidential villa suites. There are facilities for sports, and a new ayurvedic health centre will open to the public soon.

Serenity and stillness defines this property. While the Fort Aguada bustles with activity, the guest list here includes senior citizens who are here to unwind and relax. Since rest and relaxation is the calling, only a multiple cuisine offer can enhance leisure. The Exotica offers fine dining options. The Miguel Arcanjo, facing the golf course and the beach, showcases Mediterranean cuisine, while Li Bai is the oriental restaurant on the ground floor of the hotel. Eugenia is a mullet-cuisine coffee shop serving authentic Goan and Indian fare and exotic South East Asian specialities. While Alegria serves Goan food, the Lobster Shack offers a dining experience in the open.

Over a lunch of Greek village salad, brushetta, roast chicken with balsamic vinegar and chilli oil, and a choice of breads, chef Julia De Sa, executive chef at the Taj Exotica, holds forth on impromptu innovations and food presentation, the hallmark of haute cuisine today. When a guest asks for spaghetti, the chef instructs her staff to put in a dash of coriander and chilli to temper the palate. "Since we are a country of disparate people, it would be a shame not to experiment when opportunity presents itself," says Ms De Sa. Mediterranean cuisine, she says, is popular with the uninitiated.

Later in the day, Vikram Lalvani, the accommodations manager of the property, takes us on a tour in the battery-operated buggies — the favoured means of transport to cruise the property. As you look at the property from the beach, you behold an endless stretch of cultivated green, punctuated with independent villas. Mr Lalvani steers us into the two presidential villas, the signature residences of the property. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee lived in one of the villas last year, on a short vacation with his family.

Each villa measures 2000 square feet carpet area. The villa opens into a salon that leads to a master bedroom with an attached bath, a personal Jacuzzi, a study area, a second bedroom, a well-stocked kitchen and dining room. Raw silk bedsheets, drapes and tasteful furnishings spell understated luxury.

On a warm summer afternoon, as you sit on the latticed balcony, overlooking the lawns and the vast expanse of the sea beyond, a blessed calmness envelops you. Barely a soul comes within your vision, even though the hotel is packed to capacity. This epitomises the ideal of the hotel: solitude and privacy come at a premium and, hence, are precious.

As we check out of the hotel, Mr Lalvani and Ms De Sa invite us for another visit soon. We promise to be on that early morning flight again, even if we have to keep our eyelids propped up with matchsticks.

Uploaded on June 18, 2003