Наши каникулы в Ramada Our holidays at Ramada

Greetings to all site visitors!
I want to share my review about the Ramada Caravella hotel.
Returned from the hotel 03.04. 2010. Period of stay: 20.03. 10 - 03.04. ten
Rested 2 weeks, three adults and a child of 8 years. I’ll make a reservation right away that before the trip we re-read all the reviews (including the horrific review of a certain Oksana about the death of her husband from a stingray bite). They were shocked to say the least. Since we were flying with a child, the question of vaccinations also arose: in the end, we decided to refuse vaccinations, so that, God forbid, I would not get sick with something terrible in RussiaJ)) My review is more focused on couples with children and mothers like I, who are now sitting at the computer in a panic after some reviews and are considering whether to purchase vouchers after all or notJ))


And now, in order: we flew with Nord Wind from Sheremetyevo, the flight was delayed for three hours, as a result, the waiting period at the airport was 6 hours. . loaded into the plane in a completely disassembled state.
The plane was a Boeing 757, there was little space, the air conditioners worked worse than ever, for 7 hours they were exhausted from stuffiness. We flew back in the best conditions, departure on time. Flight time: 7 hours 30 minutes. Feed tolerably, hand out blankets.
Later, at the hotel, we talked with those who flew Transaero: the impressions of the flight were mostly positive, the only thing our friends had a flight back to Moscow was also delayed by more than 3 hours.
Dabolim Airport is a small, shabby building with 2-3 Duty Free shops. Upon arrival, the process of checking and receiving luggage went pretty quickly, but on the way back, be prepared to stand in huge queues: first, in the heat in front of the airport entrance (at the entrance, the Indian checks tickets for everyone), then several more already at the airport itself.
After a huge queue for baggage check-in, I had to stand in the same one for passport control: Indians do not make distinctions at the place of departure, Russians, Germans, and British L ((

The road from the airport took about an hour on an old bus with prehistoric air conditioners. Through the window, they "admired" a huge garbage dump with dilapidated and miserable dwellings, and excuse the local residents who relieve themselves right there. The Ramada hotel is the last one, so our compatriots were brought to nearby hotels along the way. When some of the people were dropped off at Bollywood 3 *, we were finally seized with horror: this is not a hotel, but some kind of residential building in the middle of a garbage dump and an abandoned construction site. Here, just in the subject, the guide warns that if we have a desire to change tickets and return to Russia, tickets do not change ...We tune in for the best, continuing to watch the worst out the window.

And finally, the central entrance to the hotel: wonderful architecture, palm trees and well-groomed territory. A welcome cocktail at the reception: we decided not to try it yetJ) Check-in took no more than 20 minutes. We had two DeLux rooms: new furniture, clean bathroom with bathtub and shower, hairdryer, free safe, bathrobes, large closet, kettle, tea and coffee set, daily bottle of water for free. Mini bar is paid. Wonderful spacious balcony with wicker chairs and soft pillows. My husband and I have a double bed: large and very comfortable with a good mattress and 4 pillows.
My mother and child lived in a similar room with 2 separate beds (in principle, 2 people can easily fit on each bed) The mood improved noticeably and, to be honest, in principle, it didn’t deteriorate until the very end of the vacationJ))) My mother’s room with a child went out to the pool, in the morning it was quite noisy, and after 2 days we asked for a change of room. Changed without problems, and even provided two options to choose from. The rooms are cleaned twice a day, in the morning they make the bed, in the evening they take it apart for sleep. Bed linen was changed three times a week.
The territory of the hotel is large enough, green and well-groomed. I will not dwell on a detailed description: everything can be seen in the photos attached to the review. In general, the hotel is a kind of island of comfort and civilization among the garbage and poverty. The main contingent of the hotel is Russians, Europeans and wealthy Indians.
There were even couples with small one-year-old children, but I would not recommend such a trip: in principle, there is nothing to feed such a baby, if only to take it with you or buy it on the spot in good supermarkets. My husband and I went several times outside the territory, at first it was scary, and then we somehow got used to this atmosphere, it was even interesting J)) But to be honest, I would not dare to leave with a child. We also went to Margao and Varka. Margao has a pretty decent supermarket (6 floors) where you can buy everything you need. A taxi at the hotel costs 800 -900 rupees (round trip), if you go a little further towards the village, you can negotiate with the locals for 500. If you like rum, then buy only Old Monc (tested on my husband J), there is also another, it take: 100 g turns off the mind 10 minutes after drinking J))

As for food: we took breakfast and dinner, the price difference is small if you pay immediately in Moscow, but there is no need to search for food in local beach shacks. 90% of vacationers (especially with children) with whom we talked regretted that they listened to the advice and took only breakfast. In general, the buffet is quite meager, the food is mostly spicy, but out of 10 dishes 4-5 can be found without spices: well, dinner - pasta, rice, potatoes, beef stroganoff, pork and beef, they bake cakes and sweets, a must ice cream, vegetables and fruits, for breakfast - scrambled eggs, sausages, potatoes, pastries, fruits, cereals, milk, waffles, pancakes.
In the afternoon, we dined either at the hotel or at the cafe on the beach (called Chikita, the owner is Sebastian) on the right side of the hotel. Large selection of seafood and our Russian cuisine. At first, some unsanitary conditions were embarrassing, but then they got used to it.
Before eating, they always used antibacterial hand wipes and for all 2 weeks no one suffered from indigestion. For reference: for 1100 rupees (660 rubles) you can take a large dish of various seafood (tiger prawns, mussels, crab, lobster, fish), for 70 rupees (42 rubles) - a fairly large portion of fried rice with shrimp. According to rumors, the cafe in front of the hotel entrance is cheaper, but we have never eaten there, so I can’t give guarantees for the quality of food and prices.
There is practically no animation in the hotel, it is more focused on a quiet "vegetable" holiday. In the evenings, live music, several times during dinner, the Indians danced national dances. If you are traveling without a company, it will be boring, in the same Majorda it is much more fun. There was also an unpleasant aftertaste from the fact that very often lavish parties were organized with music, treats and theatrical performances exclusively for Indians resting in the hotel.
Neither Russians nor other Europeans were allowed there. It was a shame, because we were also guests of the hotel ...

As for the beach, it is clean, the sand crunches like starch. Traders cease to irritate over time, the ocean is warm and the endless expanse of an almost deserted coastal strip. It was always very difficult to persuade my daughter to swim in the sea (in Turkey, Egypt, etc. , children love to sit in the pool with slides all day until they are blue in the face and you can’t drag them into the sea), but here my child herself asked to go to the sea to jump on the wavesJ The ocean temperature was 29 degrees, the water is not very salty, and all the children enjoyed it very much. We did not see any snakes, stingrays and other "creatures" crawling out of the sea, only crabs ran along the sand in the evening.
We rented bicycles at the hotel and rode along the coast (at low tide, the sand was rolled like asphalt).
In this way, you can travel and buy souvenirs: there are many sellers of souvenirs, T-shirts, etc. on the beaches. You can also buy fruits: mangoes and pineapples are ripe and sweet at this time.
For 2 weeks of rest, without denying ourselves anything either in the hotel or outside the territory, and every day using a paid mini-bar for 3 adults and 1 child, we spent 3.000, 00 rupees. In terms of rubles, this is about 2.600, 00. As for souvenirs, etc. : I purchased a 2.5x3 bedspread, complete with 6 Indian-style pillowcases for $100, a set of gold jewelry (earrings and ring) with diamonds and sapphire for $550 , a silver ring with pearls for $ 25, a silver table set for 12 people (forks, spoons and knives) for $ 70, and plus my husband bought several bottles of rum as a gift.
Summing up, we can say that the hotel and the rest in general left a rather positive impression. Of course, everyone is individual, and each of us looks at the world differently.
But if the main priorities for you are the sun, the warm sea, rich vegetation (and this is not the case in Egypt or Turkey in March), peace and quiet, not too long a flight, then you will like it. Hindus, although slow and mostly poor people, are very friendly. Follow the basic rules of hygiene and take a first aid kit with you - then troubles can be avoided. India has its own unique atmosphere and color, and you either fall in love with it forever, or you don’t perceive it at all. We did not regret the time spent and we also wish you a memorable and pleasant stay!