Hi, welcome to our Yab Yum blog, this is where we try and give you an insight into our business, the ins and outs of running a boutique hotel-cum-beach resort (or is it an
eco-resort-cum-yoga retreat?) in Goa, and the (sometimes) resulting soap opera. Of course we also provide some useful information for people travelling to Goa and India in general.
We even encourage people to contribute to the blog if they have an interesting insight on anything Yab related. Feel free to just
drop us a line.
Enjoy!
It may or may not be apparent, but we take all the feedback we get on Yab Yum very much to heart. Most of it is hugely positive and helpful, some is simply negative and makes is wince, some is just downright odd!
This season our good feedback has been crazy, with the vast majority of guests simply saying ‘don’t change a thing!’. Another comment we see a lot is ‘don’t get too big!’.
For no other reason than a quick chuckle, here are some of the more leftfield comments we have seen. Read more…
Thanks to Bernd, one of our resident yoga teachers, for this month’s post.
I figured it was high time I appeared on this blog, to share a few thoughts with you and talk about a very exciting yoga retreat Kasia and I are holding here in north Goa in February.
We are both loving the experience of sharing the wonderful practice of yoga with folk from all over the world, in a truly beautiful space within a truly beautiful space. The shala here at Ashvem Beach is an ideal place to explore the body, breath and mind, whether you are a seasoned practitioner, an occasional dabbler, or a complete beginner. Yoga is certainly not limited to those who are able to perform breathtaking contortions and have a spectacular level of physical fitness! Read more…
At Yab we’re lucky to have one of the most photogenic beach locations in the whole of Goa; someone even suggested ‘in the world’ but that’s not something I can vouch for.
Our 2 serene acres of boutique, eco resort-cum-beach resort (or whatever you want to call it) has been photographed thousands of times: by ourselves for the website, by guests for memories’ sake and by professionals for fashion shoots. However, we never get bored with seeing new pictures; different people see different things and, with the light constantly changing, no viewpoint stays the same for long. Read more…
November is here, and though it’s been a hectic couple of weeks since we opened on October 15th, we’re now glad to say that all is well and the guests seem happy!
We have been more or less fully-booked since October 20th, which is great, but of course difficult to iron-out teething problems when rooms are occupied. I’m sure most hotels in Goa, India, wherever, start the holiday season with hurdles to be overcome as new staff find their feet, new processes are installed, new dishes hit the menu and snags in renovation work are uncovered. Some questions we have asked in the past 2 weeks: Why would you fill a hole in a wall and not make it flush!? Why would you fit a clean white light shade with dirty hands?! Why would you paint an antique chair with brown gloss paint!!!!!!!? Read more…
This monsoon has been our busiest ever, even though we’re closed!
Our renovations have been continuing apace, hampered by the weather of course, but if we waited for the rains to stop then we’d be left with about 2 weeks to do everything before we open on October 15th!
We have improved so many things for the coming season, some of which are not visible to guests (plumbing, electrics, kitchens and so on) but there are some significant changes that our regular guests will love… Read more…
Here’s my own personal top 5 reasons for visiting North Goa. There’s 1 thing to note here: I don’t really drink or party hard! Lots of people go to central Goa (the busy part, where most big hotels in Goa are situated) for those reasons and good luck to ‘em, but I see Goa as more of a chill-out destination.
So here goes… Read more…
How many men does it take to move a coconut tree? Well we’ve done it a few times and it can be as many as 25!
Now, with Ashwem Beach closed and the monsoon looming, there’s a window of opportunity for planting, replanting and transplanting. Moving this particular tree was like moving Stonehenge. All nearby able-bodied men jumped in, and with some rope, brute force and tree trunk rollers, the coconut palm was moved all of 50 metres to a new spot. Read more…
Last august we lost 2 of our oldest residents at Jivana when Shakti and Parvati, our happy guard dogs, sadly died. Both dogs have been sorely missed this season and now wandering round the gardens at night it’s not so easy to imagine what that shuffle amongst the banana plants is!
So now a big ‘thank you!’ must go to the staff at International Animal Rescue’s ‘Animal Tracks’ centre at Assagao who gave us 3 lovely puppies. It’s great to be able to give Chapati, Tikka and Roti a new home, and with such a great playground at Jivana we’re sure they’ll be happy! Read more…
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. Read more…
Most people hate them but our staff are indifferent to them. Why? Because they have learnt what all inhabitants of hot, humid places have learnt: you can’t kill them all! And trying to do so is the quickest path to insanity!!
One of the biggest concerns western travellers to India have is malaria. Like any medical issue you can easily spend a week googling and researching and still be none the wiser. Most people in Goa will tell you that there is no malaria, and it is true to say we’ve never heard of anybody having it in Goa, but then we aren’t doctors.
Our advice: consider the probability of catching malaria and weigh that up against the side-effects and cost of taking tablets. There are all sorts of things you can catch when on holiday and perhaps malaria should be a bit further down the worry list. Read more…