Just got back from 2 weeks at Dona Sylvia and have to say its a great hotel. The room was clean and comfortable and cleaned every day. The staff really do look after you and couldnt do enough for you.

The pool was very clean, not sure why someone posted otherwise before, and was popular. One good thing is that the hotel installed some umbrellas around the pool last week which were needed.

There are now three restaurants at the hotel, the Seagull (main restaurant, buffett style), Mamma Mia (snack bar daytime/ A la Carte evening) and Kebabs and Kurries (evening only).

The last two are charge restaurants for the evenings.

Food was excellent, and varied although a passion for curry does help !!

The beach is stunning and goes on for miles. The sellers are a little pushy but if you say No they do leave you alone. It you want to though do spend some time talking to them as they are really nice people and you can pick up a bargin.

Also you must try a meal at one of the beach shacks. While we were there most people seemed to stay away as they were all inclusive and didnt seem to want to try the shacks - big mistake.

The beach shacks should be a major part of your holiday, if you buy a drink from them during the day the covered sun beds are free and if you find a shack you like they will keep beds for you.

We kept going back to the Bay Watch shack every day, and some nights. The guys there - Raul, Sam, Tom, and Del Boy are real characters and will look after you. They all speak great English and are really keen to talk to you without hassling you at all.

The food at the Shacks, everyone has their favourite, is great and unbelievably cheap. An evening meal including beer for 2 wont come to more than £10 with seafood, and even less if not.

Also once a week the shacks put on a firework display and beach party - well worth a visit.

Finally there are a number of great restaurants over the road, we would recommend the Goan Village, and Get Down and again you can have an evenings food, drink and entertainment for about £5-£15 for 2.

If you are looking for a "get away from it all" holiday then this is the place to be. The Dona Sylvia is a great hotel and the surrounding beach, shops and restaurants mean if you want to go out you can.

Value for money Goa is one of the places to visit.

We stayed at the Dona Sylvia for a week in February and it wasn't long enough. The hotel definitely lives up to all the good reviews it gets on trip advisor. The rooms are lovely and cleaned every day, the only downside is that we didn't have a balcony on our ground floor one like some others do. The food was delicious, if you like curry you are in for a treat, but there is also a few english dishes for those who want shepherd's pie in India! The weather was perfect, not a cloud in the sky the whole time we were there. Sunbeds do get reserved very quickly around the pool but if you ask the boys around the pool they will find you beds, and will even take towels from loungers where people have not been back to them for a while. There are lots of shops just outside the hotel but be prepared to be hassled alot. There is also a multi storey a/c shop selling cheap sportswear etc which is a stones throw from the hotel. The beach is white sand and goes on for miles, we didn't eat at any of the beach shacks but had a couple of drinks at sunset there. We only did one excursion with Thomson which was the Dolphin cruise. It did take a while to pick up all the other guests but was a lovely day and we saw lots of wild dolphins in the sea and the food onboard was superb. We also had a couple of lovely meals at Mike's Place and the Riverview Restaurant which are both very close to the hotel. The only criticisms of the holiday were the bar shut at 11pm sharp every night and we had a struggle in obtaining a courtesy room to get washed & changed before our flight as the hotel was fully booked. Overall, an excellent holiday, would definitely recommend to others and would love to go back.

We spent two weeks here in January and could highly recommend it. The room was clean, with a good shower. We had a downstairs room, which unfortunately means no windows! Just shutters with frosted portholes, which makes the room a bit gloomy. We also had shared terrace with only two chairs. Food was fabulous! I am a vegetarian and am used to having very little choice on holiday, so it was great for me. Have to agree with other comments about the pool loungers. By 8 o'clock in the morning almost all the loungers have towels on them and a considerable number are hardly used. Despite there being a notice saying that unoccupied loungers will have the towels removed i didn't once see this happen. However, the beach is lovely. The only problem there is the beach sellers, although there are apparently a lot less of them now, as only Goans are allowed to sell on the beach. However, the people who work in the beach shacks all seem to have a shop or a stash of stuff they want to sell you while you're having your lunch, which can get a bit wearing. We went on a couple of trips, which were good, but because you are so far south be aware that you will spend about an hour picking up people from the other hotels before you even get started. Hotel staff were very helpful-special mention to barmen George and Frivon. Make sure to visit Kebabs n Kurries if given the chance-the food there was excellent.
Overall, a lovely place to escape the british winter!

We had such a fantastic time in South Goa, we only stayed 7 days, did not want to go home and dreaming of going back.

The Dona Sylvia is a lovely place. All the staff are genuine, friendly
and helpful. The food is very good, grounds and pool gorgeous
and rooms very comfortable with very large showers.

But you must get out of the hotel and experience the beauty of this area and its people. There are so many things to see and eating out is very cheap.

As previous reviews say the Riverview Restaurant is very good. Cocktails, large beers, starters and huge curry each for approx £10 in total..and that was one of the dearest places!!!

Try and give people a tip now and again, they do not expect it but £1 to them is a fortune and you will make them very happy. The hotel bar staff went out of their way, pouring drinks before we got to bar and bringing extra ones to last after the bar shut at 11pm. I think the odd tip helped but we did not tip them to get any special treatment.

The Cavelossim beach is hugh and lovely, the sea has quite big waves but is clean and great fun. We always sat outside The Silver Sands Beach shack. The lads there were fantastic and felt like our friends. They were never pushy, sat on sun beds all day, food very cheap and Cokes about 20pence. If you go say hello to Ken, Sanjey, Sandju, Nathan, Omesh and the rest from Loraine and Ronnie. All the shacks have a beach party which is great fun-we ended up pole dancing in the sand and the lads from silver sands all joined in.

My favourite holiday moment was sitting watching a beautiful sunset , drinking a Kingfisher beer, whilst my husband played football with the lads from Silver Sands.

Weather was perfect the whole time. We went to Dugshager Falls, a long trip so consider going by taxi as the Holiday companies spend over an hour just picking other people up. Its a great day out, jeep through jungle, swimming in waterfall,monkeys, elephant ride etc.

Would recommend going to Benaulim Beach, 15 mins by taxi-very lovely and Palolem Beach, 1 hour in taxi. Its paradise although quite commercialised as everyone has discovered it.

Taxis will take you out for day and charge about 60p an hr to wait. There is a beautiful river near the hotel. Well worth a trip on a boat, you see all the locals fishing.
We went with Jack's Cruises from the hotel pool area, £3 each

The village seems quiet but there is nightlife if you venture off the main street and explore a few bars behind the shops. The Jazz Inn is great fun. Live music by ex UB 40 singer and disco. Full of crazy dancing russians but good atmosphere and seems to go on all night if you like to party.

I could go on for ever but go and see for yourself although in a way I'd like to keep it quiet so this place doesn't get spoilt.

Hello to Chris and Nicky from St Neots-it was great to meet you and hope you had a brilliant second week. If you are reading this we mislaid your email address so we cannot send you the photos-We have some great ones. Please email me on lorraine.todd@ntlworld.com and we will send them.

Go to Goa with an open mind, you will see funny things like cows on beach, little pigs running across your path etc but thats what makes it special. Its not like here and hope it never will be.