We stayed between 27th and 30th 2011. This is considered the peak period in Goa due to it being Carnival season. The reception area is spacious with many places to make yourself comfortable. We reached early by road (7am) and we were the only ones being attended to. We had to wait for our rooms which would only be available by 3:00pm. We could use the facilities while we waited. We freshend up at the spa and headed straight for the beach. The resort is on the beach. The rooms are on two levels, and you will not get a beach view from most rooms on the lower level. However, you will get a pool view from the lower levels. We visited with our kids ages 11 and 3. Our room was on the lower level with our balcony opening directly to the pool, less than 10 steps away. Our rooms were very clean. I don’t know how they manage to do that with so much sand being trekked into the rooms. When room service cleaned out the rooms somehow all the sand disappeared. The only negative was our A/C that could not be turned off. It kept our room at a constant 22 C - which some people may not like - but was perfect for us. The rooms are quite sound proof – but you will hear people in the corridors. The pool is very well maintained and is quite large. Its in a horseshoe shape and one end of the horse shoe is not visible from the other end - that should give you an idea of how large the pool is. The kids pool on the other hand can accommodate about 10 toddlers. Surprisingly, the kids pool was not chlorinated. At night there were about 10 frogs in that pool. No idea where they disappear in the day time. Service was excellent! The staff is polite and courteous. Everyone greeted you with a smile. They even have a doctor on site. We needed him as our younger daughter had a slight fever the first morning when she awoke. Dr. Pradip was available between 9am-5pm. He too was courteous and polite. Prescribed some medicines which we could get delivered by the hotel staff or I could purchase. I opted to go out and buy the medicines from the local pharmacy which was about a mile away. The food in the resort was excellent. The included continental breakfast had quite a variety to offer, from English breakfast foods, south Indian specialties, cereals, fresh omelets bar, fresh fruit juices etc. etc. The Fins Restaurant had the seafood specialties - the food was excellent. Rambooz - the bar by the beach has probably the best bartender in town. He made the best cocktails. Mind you - the food is expensive. Our average bill was about Rs 4K at the resort. They have a restaurant by the pool which serves pizzas and sandwiches – the food here was OK. Just outside the resort on the beach, you will find many restaurants. These restaurants have beach umbrellas and beach chairs for you to relax in. The food is usually 1/3rd the cost of the resort. Skip the cocktails at these places - they are no good - although very cheap. Stick to beer. You will get fenny in these places real cheap. A shot of fenny at the resort costs nearly as much as a bottle of fenny outside. Nearest town is Colva. Go there if you want local food for dirt cheap. Four adults and 3 kids had dinner with dessert for the equivalent of about $25. Goa is chockfull of Russian tourists. The locals even speak Russian to accommodate them. All the menus are bi-lingual - English and Russian. The beach is not a private beach. The resort is in Varca which is in the southern part of Goa. This area is not yet as commercial as the northern areas of Goa. They say the beaches are really beautiful in the north. The beach here is nondescript but un crowded - which is very important for me. There were even a few topless sunbathers who were quite undisturbed. There were exactly 3 vendors who were not very pushy. The beach is patrolled by the police in a Jeep and these vendors are constantly on the lookout for it. They were no awkward gawkers to bother us - this I hear is a problem in other parts of Goa. There are lifeguards a

As a resort it has all the normal features. On the beach, inviting swimming pools, pool bar, beach bar... etc. The facilities are getting very tired. TV reception is crackly, rooms are basic, wooden chairs around the pool are falling apart, food is nothing special. Another issue we had was with the monopoly they have on the local taxi drivers. An example: It cost us 650 R to get from the airport to the resort using the prepaid service at the airport. However from the resort the price was 1300 R? We tried walking away from the resort to find out other taxi costs and all of the taxi's we stopped we using the same hotel price card. Once you are there you stuck paying resort prices. Thank you beachshacks for making our food and drink more affordable.

Good - 1. Good staff and service 2. Nice, clean resort and room and pool 3. Cafe Food and places inside resort are really good 4. Few good places to eat around, Jazz Bar, Noodle Bar etc 5. Nice and quite location 6. Clean beach behind resort, less than 5 min walk 7. Friendly Bar Staff Bad 1. Resort far from Airport 2. Slightly on expensive side if you are local 3. Not much to do around the resort if you are looking to do much, in mycase i wanted to relax so ideal place. 4. Resort has some annoying pets (Dogs and Cats) might bother you while you are eating

Only bad thing is that the reception manager charged extra for dropping, even though it was included in our package, so make sure about the pick up and drop charges before booking. our stay was good, just that the rooms are small. even the food is too costly at the resort restuarents and quantity is very less as well, so its better to eat outside at Rasa or Saffron restuarents. staff were polite, specially Balco staff. pool is good.

The resort was undergoing renovations when my friend and I came, so the outside is not as nice. Either way - it's no resort, just a basic hotel. The rooms were okay - large enough, and the bathroom was fine as well. It sucks that you can't make calls from the bedroom though - you have to go all the way to the security desk to use the pay phone. Breakfast was pretty nice, though the toast is like bricks. The beach was directly behind the hotel, but it was dirty and not the best place to relax. There are some pretty good restaurants not too far away, which was pretty good. I'd recommend Britto's and Florentine's (chicken cafreal).

The Hotel is rated 4 or 4.5 stars. Furthermore you can choose between Superior,Design and Club Rooms. Since I wanted to have a really relaxing holidays I choose the most expensive Club Room. And I checked all reviews before and this Hotel got only nice recommendations. I have to say I was disappointed. The room should be classified as basic,pretty basic and broom closet. Nothing "superior" or "club" at all. Small,old and a little bit smelly but really nothing special. We arrived at 3 am and since it should be an all inklusive resort I was looking forward to have a drink on the balcony after the stressful journey. But again nothing. The refrigerator contained one bottle of water. I asked at the reception but they told me to wait till breakfast - then I can have something to drink. The Animation during the day was a bunch of drunk russianswho had obviously the biggest fun in annoying other people - but no reaction from the staff. The surrounding neighborhood - nothing as usual - ok for a quiet holiday excellent - at the beach you are really alone. Food was also not my style. Only one meat dish every day. So - since I am a strict meat lover I could choose between eating and not. All in all this resort is not at all compareable with the nice resorts in Dominican Republik where I had for the same price real luxury. The only good thing : The staff. Unbelievable friendly and always smiling.

This resort exceeded my expectations. Everything was amazing from the room to the meals, service, food and the amenities. Have stayed at other leading 5 star hotel that charge double, and this hotel was better than all of them! I will definitely be coming back, thank you for an amazing time :-)

Not on the beach - 5 minute walk to beach - past other resorts. Daytime staff at desk were grumpy - evening staff were great. Overall great experience - nice rooms, good location, good restaurant. Would return

stayed at the fern recently for one week. club room was much smaller than pics show, so much that i asked to see the standard room which again looked much smaller than pics. very clever photography!!! no memory foam mattress as stated. rooms and resort maintained and cleaned to a high standard, general staff friendly, less can be said for the management. breakfast was poor. our room was not cleaned on our final day when asked why this was nobody seemed to have an explanation. i would say it was overpriced. despite the few negatives the resort was ok. location good for all beaches agonda,patnem,palolem.