u/SorryHamster8311

The weather has been extremely windy for the past 5 days now.

No rain.

Lots of dust.

Sickening weather. 1 or 2 days feels ok but the same gloomy weather for days is unpleasant.

There's this itchiness in the throat as well which I blame back to the wind.

We stayed at Caravela Beach Resort during the monsoon and overall had a pleasant experience. The property is beautiful with excellent outdoor spaces, but there are a few areas where the resort could improve.

Rooms & Accommodation

- Only the Deluxe Rooms, Superior Rooms, and Villas have a separate shower area along with a bathtub. The other room categories only have a bathtub, which may not be convenient for everyone.

- The bathrooms are quite compact. In a beach property where sand is inevitable, they require frequent cleaning during your stay, which ideally shouldn't be necessary.

- If you're booking a Deluxe Room through third-party platforms, it may mention "Garden View." However, the resort informed us that it could be either a garden or pool view. We specifically requested a garden view but were initially assigned a room facing a backyard, which wasn't pleasant. After requesting a change, we were moved to a pool-view Deluxe Room.

- The room size is comfortable for two adults. A third occupant may find it a bit cramped.

- If you're specifically looking for a sea view or golf course view, avoid booking the Basic or Deluxe Room categories.

- The balcony size is good and adds to the overall experience.

Food

- The food quality doesn't justify the prices charged.

- The breakfast buffet was below average in both taste and variety.

- The lunch and dinner buffet is quite expensive for the quality offered, and we're glad we didn't opt for it.

- The main restaurant also had quite a few flies, along with crows and pigeons around the dining area, which affected the experience.

- The beachside resto-bar has a decent menu and is a better option for meals.

- The resort also offers 24×7 in-room dining and food service, although we didn't use it during our stay.

Facilities & Activities

- The activities offered are excellent, especially for families with children.

- The swimming pool is one of the highlights of the resort. The water was pleasantly warm during the evening (not sure if it's temperature-controlled). The views are beautiful, and the pool area is well designed with separate shower/changing facilities for men and women, a pool bar, towel counter, and plenty of loungers.

- There's a paid hot-water jacuzzi near the pool. It's reasonably priced, accommodates around six people, and each session lasts about 20 minutes.

- The gym is functional but quite small, with limited equipment.

- A spa is available, although we didn't try it.

- There are tennis and pickleball courts within the property.

- A new swimming pool is currently under construction.

Property & Beach

- The resort has numerous picturesque spots for photos and videos.

- The Instagram bridge is particularly beautiful.

- The Sunset Cliff is a lovely place to relax with seating arrangements, though it can get crowded around sunset.

- The golf course is extremely well maintained and pleasant to walk around.

- The private beach is clean and has resort security present.

- Beachside benches under the coconut trees make for a wonderful place to unwind.

- There are separate shower areas for men and women near the beach, along with foot-wash taps before returning to the resort.

- There's also a small children's play area close to the beach.

- We also noticed informative boards across the property highlighting the different species of bulbuls and palm trees that can be spotted, which was a nice touch for nature lovers.

Service

- Considering the size of the property, buggy service is excellent. We never had to wait more than about five minutes.

- Staff members are available throughout the property and are generally helpful.

- The housekeeping team deserves special appreciation—they did an excellent job.

- The restaurant staff could benefit from additional training to improve the dining experience.

- There seems to be a communication gap between departments, so you may have to repeat the same request multiple times.

- We requested an iron, and it was promptly provided.

- The resort also accommodated our late checkout after we spoke with the duty manager.

- The airport cab service through the travel desk is reasonably priced and hassle-free.

Nearby activities

They provide multiple nearby activities like site seeing and water activities which can be pre booked at the reservation.

Monsoon Considerations

Since we visited during the monsoon, a few facilities were closed, including:

- Castaways (poolside pizza and fast-food restaurant)

- Beach shacks

- Beachside sunset decks

- Some benches near the golf course

However, the resort had plenty of umbrellas placed across the property, making it easy to move around even in the rain.

Other Things to Know

- The resort buildings have a maximum of three floors and there are no lifts. We didn't find this to be an issue.

- Highly secure property.

- Overall, the property itself is beautiful, well maintained, and offers plenty of activities and relaxing spaces. While the food, dining experience, and inter-department communication leave room for improvement, the beach, pool, outdoor areas, housekeeping, and overall ambience make it a worthwhile stay.

There are no u turn signs, no left turn signs, no right turn signs. Is it even followed. I see people driving relentlessly, creating chaos. These are mainly the cabs, autos and quick delivery executives, and some times the construction vehicles and water tankers. Crossing the junction is a nightmare, whatever time of the day it might be. Are the traffic police even looking into this?

Why aren't cameras installed at the junction and challans are imposed on such vehicles

This property is extremely disappointing and far from what it promises. Despite the heavily curated photos and videos, there is nothing particularly special here apart from one decent hill view.

I would strongly advise against booking the forest view rooms. They are located far from the main building and amenities, and the pathway is so steep that walking isn’t practical, you are entirely dependent on a buggy.

The food was another major letdown. The menu is very limited, overpriced, and mostly average or below par. I tried pizza, dal makhani, naan, veg biryani, salad, spring rolls, and a burger. Only the spring rolls and burger were decent. The dal makhani and naan were so poor that I had to return them. The pizza, priced at ₹700, was one of the worst I’ve had, it was not thin crust as promised and clearly made with a ready-made base instead of fresh dough. Since there are no food options outside the property, you are forced to rely on this.

The room amenities do not justify the price. Toiletries were low quality, and basic essentials like handwash and a hair dryer (especially important in hill stations) were not provided. The jet spray in the bathroom was also not functional.

As for recreational facilities, apart from the swimming pool, nothing is truly usable. Even the pool is relatively small for a property of this size. Other amenities seem more like marketing claims than reality, the waterfall is unclean and not worth visiting, and the recreational areas, including poolside seating, were poorly maintained.

The checkout process was particularly frustrating. It took over an hour, with repeated room and minibar checks. Staff also insisted on a 5-star review, which was uncomfortable. Even after that, the final billing process was slow. I would strongly recommend reviewing your bill carefully during checkout.

Overall, this property does not deliver on its promises and is not worth the price.