Mother-In-Law’s First Trip to India: Park Hyatt Goa Resort & Spa

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Emily:  Daraius and I left for Goa at around 9 am for our 11:30 am flight. Note that flights within India leave from the domestic terminal while international flights leave from a separate terminal.  They are about a 20 minute drive apart! Daraius:  I bought the tickets on Jet Airways for about $123 for a 1-way ticket since it wasn’t worth using miles for the tickets.  However, we could have used Citi Thank You Points or Chase Ultimate Rewards points via their travel portal to save cash, but we’re always short of Ultimate Rewards points, so we paid cash. Trip Report Index

• Introduction & Planning
• Kansas City to Chicago
• American Airlines Flagship Lounge
• American Airlines Flagship Service From Chicago To London
• British Airways First Class from London to Mumbai
• Shopping in Bombay
• Eating in Bombay
• Sights in Bombay
• Park Hyatt Goa Resort & Spa
• Park Hyatt Goa, Park Suite
• Park Hyatt Goa, Park King
• Park Hyatt Goa, Park Hyatt Goa Activities
• Eating In & Around the Park Hyatt Goa
• Radisson Blu, Agra
• A Day in Agra
• Hyatt Regency Delhi
• 2 Days in Delhi
• Eating in Delhi
• United Business Class Back to the US
• Conclusion and Blog Giveaway

Emily:  The airport had lots of food offerings, including Curry Kitchen, Domino’s..

and KFC…

and Subway!

Daraius got food from Curry Kitchen.

He had a kathi roll which he said was okay.

And I got lunch from KFC, which was like any other piece of fried chicken.

Unfortunately, we had excess luggage so we couldn’t check in all of the bags that we wanted to, but carrying them on was fine (since we had some space in our hand bags)  Most Indian airlines will let you check-in only about 20 (44 lbs) to 25 (55 lbs) kilos per person, and you have to pay per excess kilo after that.

Like everything else in India, you can often bargain down.  So if you are over the limit by, say 20 kgs, you can ask to be charged for 10 kgs and possibly settle at around 15 kgs in extra baggage fees.

On the ~ 1 hour plane ride, we were served cheese sandwiches and chicken sandwiches.  My mom said that the cheese sandwiches were some of the best she had ever had.   Personally, I liked the Frooti mango drink that came with the meal the best (though I didn’t eat the food due to my fish allergy).  It was a short one hour flight from Bombay to Goa, so by the time we took off it was almost time to land.

We landed in Goa and the Park Hyatt staff was ready to greet us and readily assisted with all of our luggage.

They took us to a large bus, and there was only one other couple on the bus.

We then spent 30 minutes in the bus to go to the Park Hyatt from the Goa Airport.

 

We walked through the metal detector to enter the hotel, while our bags were discreetly x-rayed to the side.

The lobby smelled so nice, and we got cold refreshing towels and coconut water to drink!

Beyond the lobby was a bridge and walkways.

The hotel is landscaped very well.

And there are lots of pretty streams and pools.

You can even sit in the lobby and soak in the scenery!

After checking in, we were showed to our rooms. There was a slight mix up with the rooms, but we straightened it out.  We wanted to give our family the 2 suites, and keep the regular room for us, but they had sent our bags to the suite instead.  But it was easy to fix.

We walked to our room amidst the greenery.

We had lunch and took a stroll around the resort.  We passed the meandering pool…

…and stopped to take pictures.

We went for a swim later on.

There is a big pool and smaller pools on the side.

The hotel is pretty big, and is very well landscaped so it was an enjoyable walk!

The guest rooms have a ground (1st floor in the US) and a 1st floor (2nd floor in the US).

There is either grass or streams in between the hotel buildings.

We passed the spa.

The spa is smallish, but very peaceful.

And there were coconut husks in the flower pots.

There was even a large kids area called “Camp Hyatt”.

You can leave your kids here and they play with other kids and the staff!

Surprisingly, the kids weren’t using the computer, but were making crafts and chasing each other!

Camp Hyatt has lots of activities for kids.

After walking around the resort to get an idea of the layout, we then walked in the wooden walkways towards the beach.

We passed the green lawns.

The grounds were very clean and well kept.

We discovered some beautiful flowers along the way.

We found the hotel’s seaside restaurant with a wonderful view of the beach, but you can go outside and have the same view and eat in the “shacks” for less.

The hotel’s restaurant did have nice seating, though.

I’m sure it would be romantic eating there in the evening.

The food was mostly grilled fish, so we never ate there because of my allergy.

Stay tuned for more details on the rooms, activities, and restaurants in and around the Park Hyatt in Goa!