After a week of staying in three-star hotels complete with bugs, weird smells, and strange room service dishes, it sure is nice to walk into the five-star Park Hyatt Goa Resort and Spa and relax entirely in the lap of luxury.

This hotel is something else. It lies across 46 acres, is right on the beach, and overall just super-freaking beautifully designed. The myriad pools are all connected with water slides or bridges and have been thoroughly enjoyed by Michael and I. I am clearly less than coordinated even when it comes to water slides. The bruises are already coming in.Speaking of Michael, he picked this hotel and unbeknownst to me, also booked the “Romance in the Park” package. Such a sap. We got coconuts upon arrival, a fruit platter and a bottle of wine in our room, and also spa treatments that we haven’t selected yet. Very cute and sweet of him.

Our room is uber-comfortable, but it’s our bathroom that had me ooh-ing and aah-ing. We have a sunken bathtub cum shower as well as an outdoor rainfall shower. Romantic and refreshing all at once. This Hyatt has integrated outdoor/indoor living spaces really well and everything flows into everything else seamlessly. Just so good.It’s monsoon season right now so it’s been raining off and on, but there’s something unique about swimming while the rain comes down in stinging sheets around you. It’s not quite as fun trying to keep raindrops from falling into our french fries and cocktails, but we made do. I have been looking forward to trying feni, a Goan specialty fermented liquor that’s made of either cashew or coconut, this entire trip. We got a shot of the cashew feni on ice. It tastes like slightly sweet kerosene with a whiff of nuttiness. Maybe the coconut one tastes better, but ick, kinda foul.We’re just going to eat, play in the pool, maybe go for a beach run at some point, and enjoy the facilities. Sightseeing might be on the itinerary, but it’s up to Michael. He’s calling the shots here in Goa.

xoxo,

Jenn