Book Cheap Hotels in Margao

My wife and I spent a week in Goa, with the first several nights at a friend's holiday flat in Calangute and then the final 3 nights at Taj Exotica. After soaking in the frenetic pace of the Calangute/Baga area for 4 days and then travelling to the Ponda area for a spice plantation tour and then further east an exhilarating and harrowing trek to Dudshagar Falls, the Taj Exotica was a welcome end to our holiday. The grounds are beautiful and every single member of the staff, from Pravin at the front desk, to Sandeep at the one of the several restaurants, to the activity staff, to the grounds crew--- EVERYone there seemed genuinely eager to help make our stay a great one. Since we were staying at the end of Monsoon Season (September), we were able to book a pretty reasonable rate for a villa-type room with it's own private plunge pool. The staff kept apologizing for the monsoon rains, but it usually only rained once a day during our stay-- and usually only for 30 minutes... really cooled things down and made things pleasant. Also having fewer tourists like us around AND the cheaper rate didn't hurt our experience either.. By India standards, the beach at Benaulim and particular in front of the hotel is pristine. The sand is fine, golden in color and nice and firm and flat... which is great for walking, which is what my wife and I like to do. We didn't have to walk very far to be completely alone, either... maybe a fishing boat or stray dog (or cow!) or two. We ate at the Goan restaurant in the hotel and it was excellent. Breakfast in the morning (included in rate) at the Eugenia Cafe was buffet-style and had every conceivable Indian/British/US -style option you could think of. The staff REALLY seemed excited if you showed interest in trying the Indian or Goan specialties... This was also the case in the evening at Eugenia for lunch and dinner. They offered a buffet, but we found the regular menu so full of good Indian and Goan options, that we ordered ala carte. Again, Sandeep, Pave and all of the staff went out of their way to make certain we enjoyed ourselves and even brought us some small Indian dishes we HADN'T ordered for us to try. The main pool is pretty massive and the staff there very attentive. The activity staff is helpful with booking golf (they have a small par 3 course), tennis, cycling (complimentary), spa treatments and several other activities if you require distraction from the beach or pool. I even got to play cricket for the first time one evening at a pick-up cricket match set up by the Taj crew. Oh, Pravin at the front desk, besides answering all our travel questions, helped recover my camera that I'd suddenly remembered I'd left in our room as we were getting in the taxi to the airport. Thumbs way up to the Taj.