The ad described a "vacationer's ultimate dream, exclusive holiday homes set in a prestigious condominium" with swimming pool. That is much overrated by western standards. But then, those who do not know the local context should be aware that hyperbole is a national passtime in India and hospitality facilities overpriced in comparison to the Asian area and even to some European destinations.

I had booked one 2-bedroom villa for a well deserved 2 week vacation with Sophie George of Condor Holidays at Luisa by the sea at the beginning of December 2011.

The condo was off the main road and very peaceful but one was under the impression of an 80's property that wanted to be on the luxury side but did not get proper maintenance through the years. Some villas, especially those along the river are luxurious indeed, but some look really worn out and neglected, tarnished by mould, and so did the common areas. Within the gardens there was some dump area. The swimming pools were only cleaned on the surface but not vacuumed so all the dirt macerates in the bottom and they don't seem to have a proper filtering/pump system. So we had 2 swimming-pools on site but never used them after one first and last intent.

Villa 56 where we stayed was fine and quite fairly equipped but most of the mosquito nets had holes, and did not offer an efficient protection against the voracious and numerous big black mosquitoes. I almost slashed by leg on the salient nails hidden by the cushion of one of a broken ratan chair before requesting to have it removed. The inverter was only working for 3 seconds until on the 10th day I tried turn it on manually after the power went off.

But my main criticism would point toward the global attitude of Mrs. George who demonstrated very little aptitude for the hospitality business. She repeated several times she was living within the condo but the times I called her she was never on site and seem to be avoiding us and only too willing to put the blame on us for what was not working.

She had offered the taxi pick-up so I took the precaution to advise previously that there would 3 of us + 2 babies and quite some pieces of luggage. We arrived in the evening and the Toyota Camry type that was waiting for us had only storage space for 2 suitcases. For a bigger car we were asked to pay an extra 1200 rupees. I called Mrs. George but all she could say was that this was the vehicle she regularly utilized. I wonder how she manages when she has a family booking for one month…Anyhow, the taxi driver was very diligent and found us an alternative non A/C Maruti Suzuki Wagon.

When we arrived at the villa, we were "greeted" in a non-conformist way by Mrs. George who seemed to be under stress, never ask if we had a good journey or wished us a pleasant stay, and in a hurry to go through all the things we should not do with the villa equipment: as for instance, not manipulate the aircon remote as it would only mess up the setting. I asked what if we were too cold. Answer was: "you can always turn it off"...One night we had forgotten to turn off the fan on the terrace and she popped up after an evasive hi! to switch it off then withdrew as fast as she had come. We notified the pools were not clean and Mrs. George went to inspect them herself in the company of other owners but nobody found anything abnormal.

In the ad on the property I had seen that we could order breakfast on site but Mrs. George just took away the menu as she preferred not to offer this service as she had received too many complaints before. 2 days before our departure, she called to ask me if we were leaving today (how could she not know if she was my contact for the reservation!). I replied that we will be leaving on Saturday early morning to catch our flight at 11h00. And she said "Oh find then.The next customer are arriving at 11h00 that same day". Speaking of hospitality and customer service attitude...

Afterwards she wrote me an email to say that she had never stated that it was a luxury property and, anyway, what should I expect for the price...rate was almost 100 US$ per day...

You should also be aware that there is no bakery or coffee parlour in the resort and the fresh staples supplies are very limited unless you rent a motorized vehicle to go farther north to Varca market or Margoa main town.

So no, I will not go again or recommend Luisa by the Sea, or at least not with Condor Holidays.

Luisa by the sea is a wonderful place to stay in South Goa. The villas are very spacious with some of them having a swimming pool. The area around the villas is very well maintained. If you are not that keen about staying in a typical hotel, then Luisa by the sea is definitely the best option for a relaxed and a hassle-free holiday in Goa.

we stayed here in november and we had a very comfortable stay in this villa, we found it very relaxing to be able to come and go as we please. We felt very safe here also its not noisy at night and well guarded by security. The villa is well equipped and any problems we had were sorted straight away by Sunita who owns the villa. The swimming pools are very nice and cleaned daily. I would like to book this villa again for next season. and would highly reccomend this to anyone.

Me and my hubby visited this place from 15th to 18th sept 2011 as we had a conference in south goa.
Of course being an off season we knew about the pool being non functional.,but there were no lights on the property near the villa we stayed..
We stayed in villa 65 under the name of goan sand villas..which was pool facing..
The A.C. studio villa was very nice and relaxing with beautiful greenery and flowers around. It also had a fridge, TV, gas, utensils if anyone wished to cook.
For eating , we went to the nearby Mike's place and Hungry Shark.
Hungry Shark is located along the river side and has nice ambience and food..
Do not forget to visit the Fisherman's Wharf near Holiday Inn Resort, for dinner with their live band, the river by the side and excellent food and service, it was really amazing..