Goan Extravaganza (3 Star)

Meals:

NEELAM'S THE GRAND

City: Goa

Walking distance from Calangute beach in north Goa, Neelam's The Grand stands prettily on the main road; a big yellow-coloured building. The reception is on the right and an unusual one at that. It is a small open reception, one that would normally be mistaken for an open veranda. There are long sofas and chairs as seating and an inside room operates as the travel desk. On moving inwards, the first thing that catches attention is the huge swimming pool, which is the centre of activity of the hotel, because it is around this pool that the rooms, restaurant, pool bar and tailoring shop are located.

Rooms
There are a total of 143 rooms at Neelam's The Grand in Goa, and all of them are elegantly appointed and spacious. The hotel boasts of Standard and Superior rooms and Deluxe and Super Deluxe Suites. The Superior room is a big room with an extended sitting area. The cupboard is neatly tucked away on one side, while the sofa is placed in parallel to the double bed at the other end. The television, air conditioner, tea and coffee maker and drinking water are some of the facilities available in this category of room. A notable feature of this room is that there are two separate entries to the balcony; one from the bedroom and one from the sitting area. The bathroom is simple and compact with basic facilities like soap, shampoo, moisturiser, shower cap and towels.

The Standard and Superior rooms can be a double bedded or twin bedded room, as per the requirement of the guest. The Deluxe and Super Deluxe Suites are bigger room with a separate drawing room and bedroom and ample space for room amenities like tea and coffee maker and fridge. There is a side table/writing table here as well. The drawing room is complete with a modern sofa cum bed set and table. As in the normal rooms, there is a separate entry to the balcony from the drawing room. The bedroom also adorns a clean uncluttered look like the drawing room with a bed, mirror, cupboard, table chair etc. Both the bedroom and drawing room of the Suites have an air conditioner each. The bathrooms of the above rooms are moderate with bathtubs in all of them with amenities like soap, moisturizer, shower cap and shampoo. Other facilities like laundry service and room service are available as well, for which the guests are charged extra.

All rooms also have en-suite electronic safes, hair dryers, mini bars, and tea/coffee makers. Rooms for the physically challenged are also available.

Dining
As mentioned earlier, the area around the pool is an active corner; so this is where a multi cuisine restaurant called 'Promenade', which can accommodate 50 people and where you can sample a unique blend of Chinese, Continental and exotic Goan and seafood dishes, is located. The hotel also has a poolside boat bar, and a swim up bar, so that one can mix swimming with drinking! The hotel also has an indoor air-conditioned multi-cuisine restaurant, as well as a coffee shop, and a coffee shop bar. There is also a large Sports Bar, with pool tables, table tennis tables, and dart boards. It includes a big screen television for sports broadcasts and karaoke.

Facilities
The hotel has a large swimming pool, which is safely divided into a kid's pool with a barricade with pool toys in it. The steam, sauna and Jacuzzi are located in the Spa Centre, where one can also avail an Ayurvedic oil treatment and therapeutic massages. The steam room, salon and gymnasium are also housed in the same complex. However, all of these can be used at an extra cost and guests need to take an appointment for the salon and treatments. The resort also has a Mac Tailors outlet. The entire hotel is Wi-Fi enabled, and public area usage is free. The hotel has parking facility,

In all, Neelam's The Grand is a homely hotel with heart-warming hospitality, if not facilities.

Location
The hotel is just 10 minutes walking distance from the famous Calangute beach in north Goa. The Dabolim airport is 45 kilometres away from Neelam's The Grand, Panjim city is 14 km away, Baga beach is 4 km away and Candolim beach is 5 km away.

A palm fringed beach in Goa