Cilantro Agonda

It’s a peaceful place with plenty of parking and hardly any crowds. There are only a limited number of rooms, so it seems well suited to families. The beach isn’t visible from the rooms, but it’s an easy walk away. Sitaram manages the whole place. Just keep your expectations in line with the low price, rather than expecting five star hotel room service. Visit and enjoy 🏖

The room had actual mould, and the owner, Clifford, was the worst I’ve encountered. He was extremely crass and repulsive, and didn’t know how to speak respectfully even to women. The way people are treated is completely unprofessional, especially for hospitality. You can read the other reviews and find similar experiences. When reviews don’t fit the owner’s agenda, the response seems to be “it’s your fault” or “you didn’t even stay here”. You’d be better off at one of the properties next door. Skip this place.

We stayed for three days in November and found it budget friendly. The staff were polite and humble, and we really liked the food. Chef Mr. Ravi was especially good and kind. Whatever we asked for, vegetarian or non-vegetarian, breakfast or dinner, arrived hot and tasted great. The main problems were weak water pressure and no hot water for bathing. We also expected a water bottle each day, but they only gave us one for the first day. We let those issues go because of the staff’s behavior and the quality of the food. I’d recommend going for a meal, and you could consider staying too.

For our safety and peace of mind, we paid the full amount we had agreed on and left at 1 AM. We were shaken by what happened, and our female friend was trembling with fear. While we were leaving, the owner was still abusing us. The next day, locals said this kind of bullying was common here. Looking through Google reviews afterward, we saw many reports of similar experiences with both the owner and caretaker. The owner also seems to answer negative reviews with accusations against guests instead of taking responsibility. If you value safety, respect, and basic hospitality, stay away. The caretaker was drunk, the owner was aggressive, and there was no professionalism. We had checked in at about 5 PM and agreed on a price for one room for that day. We said we’d pay for that day then and settle the next day’s amount in the morning. At check-in, we looked for caretaker Sitaram to pay, but he wasn’t there. We waited nearly 15 minutes. We’d clearly said we would pay, but stepped out briefly so we wouldn’t miss the sunset. Later, while moving our bags, Sitaram showed up heavily intoxicated and not in his senses. He started verbally abusing and intimidating our female friend, aggressively telling her to go inside and pay right then. When one of our male friends calmly asked him to speak respectfully and share the payment details, he kept talking incoherently and falsely accused us of “running away with suitcases.” We explained repeatedly that we were ready to pay and asked him to calm down. Instead of sorting things out, Sitaram called the owner, Clifford, who arrived around 12:20 AM. He was even more aggressive and started shouting and abusing all of us, including our female friend, without hearing any explanation. He said he didn’t want to listen and demanded immediate payment. We told him that Sitaram had been drunk and acting irrationally, that he hadn’t been available when we first tried to pay, and that we’d only checked in a few hours earlier. None of this was acknowledged. There was no effort to listen, understand, or handle the situation professionally, especially at night.