Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, Goa

Staff service location atmosphere and pool section

Our Annual Visit

Have just returned from our Happy Place, Taj Exotica Goa and don’t know how year after year we love it more and more. Firstly, big shout out to Sheetal and whoever worked on that pool which is HEATED, hands down the best pool we have ever been in and being in the open, which was windy and cold and being in a heated pool with that view- absolute game changer. I am going to start with the guys who make this happen, Reagan (have been seeing him since my first trip to Exotica), Vincy, Noor and Clato. Siddarth, Akshodhay and Raj at the front desk and always making the entire process so easy for us. Once again, have gotten a few names of the team who made our stay super comfortable and with utmost care given to detail (the names are in no particular order)- At the restaurant, Aadiir’s favourites, Renuka, Vishal, Shabhinath and Ram, given to every whim and request of his and Rohan and Ravi Raj for feeding me all the deserts 😊A big thank you to Shubhangi, Juhi, Krishna, Rashmita, Rashmi, Ambika, Gladwyn, Vashon, Macvin, Ashita, Alina, Prasanjit, Shoheel, Michael, Grace, Anisha and Dhan. Gourang, didn’t get to see you much, but it is always good to see you. The chefs, Ganesh who has always been so graceful and kind to always check in on us. Subroto for the yummiest pasta, Kamal for the lovely desserts, Allam Sheikh for the chaats, Shreyas and Milind for the garlic breads, Vishnu for the best dosas and Abhishek. At the pool side, these guys just never said no- Parvesh, Johnson, Chandramani, Santosh, Kishan, Bipin and Jerry. Your security guys, Hemendra, Sovan, Sunil and Dharmendra. Nilesh, Filomena and Francesco for being so sweet to our son for the many rides around the resort (sometimes just for a joy ride) The ladies at the play area- Sonali, Narmin, Malvika, Niktia and Gaytri who were just exceptional with their care for the kids and the activities. Jomol and Sooraj for the most relaxing massages given to Mansi and me Bhim and Ravindra at House keeping for the lovely décor they did in our room and keeping the room always smelling amazing (one of the best parts about the Taj) Thank you once again for everything, cannot wait to be back to exotica

Great property but too many issues

What a lovely property, it’s huge with amazing gardens and big rooms. Unfortunately it’s dated and old with the most useless service at the restaurants. The most disappointing aspect of the hotel was the food and the service was absent! I have attached a photo of the toaster at breakfast which says it all. The service staff at all the food outlets were trainees and had no idea what was going on - more like headless chickens. There was no senior staff that i could see for over 4 days - No duty manager nor GM of F&B head, it was like kids were running this place. Definitely a miss as there are many many more better options in Goa

Excellent service, bars, restaurants, beach

The service is commendable at this resort. All the front office staff - mentionable are Siddharth and Aksh, Geetika etc were absolutely incredible and went above and beyond to ensure all guests were happy and their needs were accommodated. The lobby isn’t airconditioned but there’s a lovely skylight area which gets quite pleasant in the evening. The balcony offers a lovely view of the beach and sea. Their bars are well stocked and quite popular, they had menus from different parts of the country on different days so the feast was quite extensive and varied. They have a swimming pool, kids play area, gift shops, pool tables and different activities through the day. I would definitely recommend staying here and it is value for money

Food & Property Review Taj Exotica Goa

The property is vast spread around 56 acres, Mr Ganesh and Mr Krishna has been great in providing good food options and served us just great to make our food experience good. We are from North India and requested for a bit spicy food options and they did everything to make our experience great. Thank you so much!

Superb stay, awesome experience, 10/10 recommendee

It was such a lovely and peaceful experience at this resort. The staff is really warm and helpful, food is also great. Overall, it is a great place to visit for people of all age groups. My husband and I also took a cooking class with Chef Subroto Mukherjee and loved every bit of it. He was so accommodating; as we are pure vegetarians and when one of the dishes out of the three we chose had egg, he quickly taught us another dish to make sure we do not miss out on anything. Would recommend it 100% and would be happy to visit again.

5 star hotel with sub 3 star service

Starting with the good: they went out of their way to celebrate my son’s birthday at the main entrance, and they even provided a complimentary pickup from our previous resort, which was a nice touch. The property is huge, and buggies are readily available to take you around. We were on the all-inclusive package, so all our meals were covered at the main all-day dining restaurant. That said, it would’ve been nice to have the option to dine at some of the other restaurants on-site. The Indulgence Pool Villa itself was lovely, but we were constantly dealing with mosquitoes inside the room. When we brought it up, the staff just brushed it off as a seasonal monsoon issue. However, we had just come from Caravela Beach Resort which has a very similar setup and didn't have this problem at all. The buffet food spread was good, but the service really lacked warmth. Food at times were left uncovered and this invited flies in the room to feast. And there was a service personnel carrying a racket to try and get rid of the flies. Customers ordering ala-carte were definitely preferred over buffet customers with strange responses like 'meat might be chewy because its on the buffet for long', 'food is cold because ac is on'. I guess what's hot plates doing there then! Indian hospitality is famous for being welcoming, but that just wasn't the vibe here. If you work in hospitality, basic friendliness and a smile should be the standard and that goes for the managers/ chefs walking around the lobby and dining rooms, too. It almost felt like the team was coasting on the Taj brand name rather than actually earning the reputation. I would fire a good few just for making faces when interacting with customers, you need to be told that you have a job because customers are paying a hefty amount to be at your resort. The one big exception was Mr. Krishna and Mr. Shibi at the dosa counter from the dining team, who truly stood out and gave great service. Honestly, the staff here could really use a refresher course on customer service from the ground up. Taj is a proud brand in India, but this particular resort has some work to do to live up to the name.

Not Good as expected

I recently stayed at Taj Exotica Goa and, unfortunately, my experience regarding the Epicure membership benefits was disappointing. One of the key reasons for purchasing the Epicure membership is the expectation of added privileges, including room upgrades. However, despite holding an Epicure membership and visiting during the off-season, I was informed that upgrades were not available. This made the membership benefits feel limited and did not meet my expectations. Based on my personal experience, I did not find sufficient value in the Epicure program at this property. Guests considering the membership should clearly understand that upgrades are subject to availability and may not always be offered. In comparison, I have had much better experiences at Taj Cidade de Goa Heritage and Taj Cidade de Goa Horizon, where the service, recognition of membership benefits, and overall guest experience felt more rewarding and personalized.

Narmin and Pearl are amazing

fantastic resort. great service by Pearl at Reception and Especially Narmin at the Activity centre. Narmin is especially very good with senior citizens teaching card tricks and new games.