On April 18th we drew a line under our busiest ever season at Ashwem Beach, north Goa. Like most hotels in Goa – whether boutique guesthouses, beach resorts or yoga retreats – we consider April to be the end of the holiday season. As the tourists fade away and the humidity and heat increase, local people start to yearn for the rains to arrive.
People do ask: ‘why not stay open until May?’ but the truth is we’re all tired and our staff need a well-deserved rest! We will re-open on October 15th.
BUT we don’t just shut up shop that easily! Remember: Jivana Plantation and the Artists’ House are still open! Both properties make wonderful retreats for the monsoon period.
At the Artists’ House you can lounge on the large veranda overlooking the paddy fields, which turn a fantastic, emerald green colour. And at Jivana the gardens just go crazy: everything grows and grows and grows! Monsoon brings fresh life to the countryside and all around there is vivid colour; this is a side of rural India that many tourists never get to see and boy are they missing out!
Before I finish this post, I’d like to thank everybody that visited this past season, it’s been a real pleasure for us to see more and more returning guests, many of whom have already booked for next Xmas & New Year. It’s wonderfully satisfying to know that we’re helping people have great holidays, after all, those are often the most precious memories we carry throughout our lives.
I’ll leave you with some snaps of our team replacing one of the cottage roofs, and a less glamorous shot of our new toilets. Renovations are underway, stay tuned…
