Goa Hotels

Goa is a former Portuguese colony, currently a state in India's West region. It is 3700 square kilometers in size and has a human population of approximately 1.4 million. Its east-west mix, beaches and syncretic culture is what attracts an officially-estimated two-and-half million visitors each year. Out of these, about 400,000 are foreign tourists, the rest coming from other regions of India. Portuguese culture and architecture can still be found. Some call it "India lite", an easy-to-encounter version of India. Others label Goa's Panaji (also referred to as Panjim, Ponnje or Pangim) as India's most charming of state capitals. It probably still is, despite recent changes. Goa has its brown-tiled roofs, beaches, a reputation for centuries as a place where cultures and people meet. And undoubtedly, the holiday capital of South Asia. But Goa is much more too. It's a charming place with a different history. A place that acts as an entry point into India for a growing number of Euro tourists. And a place that writers, creative persons and others find increasingly attractive to make their home. From the 1960s, Goa has been attracting a steady flow of visitors -- first the hippies and returning expat Goans, then the charter tourists visiting (starting with the Germans in 1987), pilgrims visiting both Catholic and Hindu shrines, those opting to settle in Goa as their home, visitors coming here for medical treatment, and a growing number of those who attend seminars and conferences in Goa. If Goa is visibly different from the moment you encounter it then, that has something to do with Goa's unusual past. Obviously South Asia, like any other corner of this region, Goa's isolation from the rest of India for 451 years of Portuguese rule, in many ways, shapes its current reality. Many are attracted by Goa's Portuguese face, even if the post-1961 dominant political face sees this as somewhat politically incorrect. Hotels too sometimes name their suites with quaint Portuguese names and icons.