Gaura Waddo · Calangute · Goa
The sea is at the endof the garden.
Seven rooms kept by one family since 1983. Walk out through the coconut trees and you are on the sand.
Where this actually is
A waddo is a neighbourhood.
This one is Gaura.
Goan villages are not laid out as one block. They are divided into waddos, wards of houses that historically shared ancestry, work or a chapel, each gathered around its own open ground. Calangute has several. We are in Gaura Waddo, one of the older interior ones, where the houses still carry the Goan building habits the Portuguese centuries left behind: deep verandahs, strong colour, tiled roofs pitched for the rain.
What that means is a lane outside instead of a strip, and the sand at the end of our own garden rather than across a main road. St. Anthony’s Chapel, the ward’s own landmark, is a few minutes on foot.
St. Anthony’s Chapel, the ward’s own landmark, is a few minutes on foot.
- 1.3kmSt. Alex Churchthe parish church, 1741
- 1.9kmCandolim beachsouth along the sand
- 2.7kmBaganorth, past the creek
- 3.7kmArpora marketSaturdays in season
- 4.9kmFort Aguadaworth it for the lighthouse
Straight-line distances from our own coordinates. Goan lanes are not straight, so every walk is a little longer.
The house, earlier
Some things are
worth keeping.
The same doorway, the same trees, the same family. These pictures live in an album here, and the only thing that has really changed since is the height of the coconut palms.
The seven rooms
Three kinds of room.
Seven rooms, all different.
Start with the kind you want. Then choose the actual room, because each one was painted its own colour and several have flowers painted onto the wall by hand.
The indigo room
A deep indigo wall behind two pine beds, and a door that opens straight onto the garden. Step out with your coffee and the coconut trees are right there. Everything on one level, from the gate to the bed.
Twin beds that join into one. Close enough to the trees to hear them at night.
- Where
- Ground floor
- Outlook
- Garden view
- Sleeps
- 3, third on an extra bed
The green room
Deep green behind the bed, a wooden floor, and a door onto the garden path. It sits furthest from the entrance, which makes it the quietest room in the house.
One large bed. Steps out into the garden rather than onto the street.
- Where
- Ground floor
- Outlook
- Garden view
- Sleeps
- 3, third on an extra bed
The quiet room
Slate green, a ceiling fan turning, and nothing in the room asking for your attention. The same breakfast, the same round-the-clock hot water and the same welcome as every other room in the house. Made for guests who intend to spend the day on the sand and come back only to sleep.
For two. The best-value room we keep.
- Where
- Ground floor
- Outlook
- Inward, no balcony
- Sleeps
- 2
The red room
Deep red walls, marble underfoot, and the first door you reach at the top of the stairs. The boldest room in the house, and the one guests ask for by name.
Opens onto the turquoise verandah that runs along the front of the first floor.
- Where
- First floor
- Outlook
- Sea view
- Sleeps
- 3, third on an extra bed
The lilac room
Lilac walls beneath the original roof beams. The only room where the old timber is still showing, with the ceiling following the pitch of the Mangalore tiles above it.
Pine bed, magenta cushions, and the beams overhead.
- Where
- First floor
- Outlook
- Sea view
- Sleeps
- 3, third on an extra bed
The painted room
A whole wall of flowers painted by hand onto pink, under a white pitched ceiling. Brighter than it sounds in writing, calmer than it looks in a photograph, and the room people photograph most.
Ceiling fan and air conditioning both. The mural runs the full width of the wall.
- Where
- First floor
- Outlook
- Sea view
- Sleeps
- 3, third on an extra bed
The gold room
Flowering branches painted straight onto a gold wall, a pine bed, and a window facing due west. Be in this room at six in the evening and the sun sets in the window frame. This is the one to ask for.
The window in the photograph is not a photograph of somewhere else. That is the view.
- Where
- First floor
- Outlook
- Sea view
- Sleeps
- 3, third on an extra bed
Tariff
One price.
Two sharing.
Nothing added later.
The rate you see is the rate you pay. GST is inside it and there are no service charges waiting at checkout.
Booking sites take about a quarter of what you hand over. On four nights in a Boutique room that is roughly ₹5,000 leaving Calangute for a call centre. Book here and the whole ₹20,000 stays with the family.
| Room | Most of the year | Peak · 15 Dec to 15 Jan |
|---|---|---|
| Boutique 4 rooms · sea view | ₹5,000 | ₹8,000 |
| Deluxe 2 rooms · garden view | ₹4,000 | ₹6,500 |
| Standard 1 room · no view | ₹3,000 | ₹5,000 |
Per night, two sharing, 5% GST included. A third guest is a quarter of the rate. Children five and under stay free; six and over are 15%.
- To hold a roomFull payment, or one night. UPI.
- CancellingFree up to a week before arrival.
- Peak seasonNo cancellations, 15 Dec to 15 Jan.
- CommissionNone. Sites take about a quarter.
Before you book
Everything worth knowing,
before you book.
- The viewRooms 4 to 7 face the sea. 1 and 2 the garden. 3 neither.
- StairsSea-facing rooms are one flight up. The rest step-free.
- ParkingOn the street. No car park.
- Hot waterRound the clock, every room.
- Minimum stayTwo nights.
- The desk9:30 to 6. After that, one call and somebody comes.
- The restaurantFlying Dolphin is leased out and closed.
- BookingDirect only. No commission to anyone.
Breakfast, included
Tea or coffee · sandwich · poha · upma · aloo paratha · cereal · eggs to order · fruit
One hot item each; more at menu price. Two bottles of water and tea and coffee sachets in the room, topped up daily.
In every room
Air conditioningWi-Fi, free32-inch LED televisionHot water, 24 hoursFridgeRoom serviceIron on requestLaundry on demand
If it is not on that list, we do not have it.
What guests said
In their words,
not ours.
Rated 4.2 on Google across 174 reviews. Four of them, in the guests' own words.
After 20yrs visiting goa and pass this hotel every day but stayed there this yr and best I've stayed in rooms spotless staff great
Rooms (above floor) are good with clear view of Sunset through windows. Beach is hardly a minute walk.
Hotel is almost on the beach. Just 2 mins walking distance to beach.
Nice rooms and a beautiful beach right at ur footsteps. Highly recommended.
Check dates & rates
Your dates,
your whole price.
Every night is priced on its own date, so a stay crossing into peak season is worked out properly rather than rounded up. Send it by WhatsApp or email, or simply call the desk.
Around the ward
What is outside
the gate.
Two minutes on the sand, ten on foot to the parish church, and a wall of painted tiles in the village that tells Calangute's own story.
From the journal
About here.
What a waddo is
Why Goan villages are made of wards, and why we are in Gaura rather than on the beach road.
The shape of the year
Monsoon from June, the quiet reopening in September, and why the fortnight around Christmas costs what it does.
What to eat, and its real name
Sorpotel, recheado, sannas, xit-koddi, and the Konkani names of the fish at the market.