The year 2023 has dawned with the possibility carving out a lot of long weekends over the course of the ensuing months; the first of which is the Republic Day weekend. The Republic Day, 26 January was a Thursday and with Friday off, it’s a long weekend and we headed out to Goa.

Our stay was at a new hotel from the Taj group, the Taj Vivanta at Miramar in North Goa. Our cab from the Dabolim airport took us first to the Taj Vivanta at Panjim, an older property situated right in the middle of the town; a common mistake by most cab drivers. After the initial confusion, we soon landed up at the correct Taj Vivanta at Miramar.

The flag hoisting on the Republic Day was scheduled at 9:00 am on the terrace of the hotel; looking around you could see the nearby beach from the terrace. The staff, manager and few guests showed up for the flat hoisting ceremony. The event was well organized and carried out with point precision.

A colourful platter of sweets was distributed to all the rooms later in the day; the orange laddu on the top disappeared in no time 😋

The hotel chain seems to be in the midst of a rebranding exercise – Trust, Awareness and Joy (TAJ). The rooms were comfy, service impeccable, the food was yummy, all translating to an idyllic holiday.

The breakfast buffet was a peaceful and scrumptious affair. The ideal timing for the breakfast would be between 7:30 am and 8:30 am, post which the decibel levels in the restaurant goes up as more guests saunter in and the frenzy begins. Our group was spread across three rooms on three floors and we all met up each morning around the breakfast table. Each one had their favourites; their poori and bhaji was lip smacking and I had the same thing every morning. There was not a hint of excess oil to be seen on the round puffed pooris and the generous portion of the potato gravy was yummy !! Their masala chai needs a special mention 🫖; none can have just one !!

We also tried an à la carte lunch from the in-house restaurant; the meal was fantastic. We chose all fish dishes – we had the butter garlic prawns🍤; kingfish coated and fried with the Goan recheado masala, the dish was spicy 🌶; also the snapper in oyster and chilli sauce with fried rice🍚.

The rooms were spacious and we chose the ones with balcony; the view is the road outside, but a perfect setting to get some warm sun.

A perfect setting to mark the start of a short Goan escapade ⛱

Till next post, take care !!