Vinsons Cottages

The restaurant next door is a must try for the food. I stayed at vinsons cottage, very close to colva beach, and the rooms and amenities were good. It's a nice place for a family to spend time. The caretaker or security guard from Assam was a top lad, really helpful and fun to talk to.

The rooms are clean, but the fans barely move any air even at their highest speed. The host starts checking people out at 10 in the morning, although the time posted on the wall is 12PM. This one star is for the host's behaviour.

The clean room and pleasant, well-kept grounds among the trees were good points, as were the nearby beach and Trisara restaurant. Still, the overall rating surprised me. Reception put us off straight away by asking for the full five-night payment before we'd even seen the room. We've been coming to India for over 40 years, and in nearly three months of travel this was the first time we were welcomed in such an impersonal, unfriendly way. Thankfully, the young man who brought a kettle and extra pillow was nicer than the managers. For room number 1 in the building, the price felt too high for what you get. It isn't large, and some things are dated: the toilet seat, a hook behind the door that keeps falling off, and old, sluggish air conditioning. Hot water is often unavailable in the morning if you're not sensitive to the cold. If you're a heavy sleeper, you may not notice the bass vibrations from the restaurant next door, which plays music until 1:30 a.m. There are also dogs barking outside the door at night.

I've been here quite a few times. The first visits were pretty good, but on my last one they were suddenly informal, and I had to literally ask for hot water and water in general because it hadn't been filled up. Overall, it's a decent place for two or three nights. I'd recommend filling the water tanks and having a water heater in the rooms in case the solar system doesn't work.