Nilaya Hermitage

Heaven , simply put. In the middle of the forest overlooking apora. Teeming with exotic birds and monkeys . Spa is a must . Staff went above and beyond. I forgot the guide book and just asked them. I shall return . One of my favorite hotels in the world . And I’ve been to a few

Let's get this out of the way. There is nothing wrong with the rooms, the property, or the staff at Nilaya. All were perfectly lovely during the course of our stay. However, there are several things that make staying here impossible to recommend. 1. Terribly overpriced. Granted, we visited during December which is peak season, but the close to Rs 12,000 for a room with no breakfast is laughable. And if you go by online listings, the breakfast comes to close to Rs 2,000 per head, which most 5 stars would be ashamed to ask for. We did not try the breakfast, obviously. But I'm rather certain it's not worth that insane price. 2. Wildly different prices on different websites. There was a constant feeling that we were being ripped off. We made our reservation on ***********, where the room with balcony was supposedly the most economical option at 12k per night. But on other websites, there were rooms listed at 5k a night, but no pictures included. I am inclined to believe these were the exact same rooms, but deliberately without images, so that you are inclined to book the more expensive version. When confronted about this, the manager just laughed it off and gave no explanation. 3. Terrible communication. The phone number on Google, Booking and even their own website DOES NOT WORK. Until the day of our booking we were simply unable to reach the property to check if it was even operational. We asked for our booking to be cancelled owing to non-responsiveness of the hotel, but the request was denied and the tariff non-refundable, so we just had to arrive in Goa and hope and pray that the place existed. Fun! 4. Rules & Restrictions. We were told upon arrival that outside food and drinks are not allowed inside and that our booking would be cancelled if this rule were broken. Literally the first thing told to us upon arrival. I understand that hotels are allowed to impose their own rules, but at no point in our booking experience was this communicated to us. The property is also at the top of a hill which is a very steep climb, and you need to have a car to get in and out. We had one, because we're regular visitors to Goa and know people who can organise vehicles for us. But again, this was not communicated anywhere. Their last order for food is at 9.30pm. So you are stuck ordering from their insanely overpriced menu (seriously, more expensive than Mumbai) if you need food. Even after their last order, you cannot bring in food from elsewhere. So unless you have a private/rented vehicle to go out for dinner, you'll be paying 12k a night for the luxury of remaining hungry post 10pm. The pool is open for only very restricted hours (10am to 5.30pm). Again, not communicated. TL;DR - Unless you plan to spend every waking hour at the property to get value for the money you're paying (which involves spending EVEN MORE exorbitant money on F&B), I simply can't recommend this place. There are dozens of hotels that give you far better value, are more accessibly