Goa holiday accommodation, self catering

A financially poor single mother helps with cleaning. A previously unemployed artist is our manager/host. Local villagers provide scooters on rent. Our taxi man is from the next village. A village family offer traditional Goan dinners and chef services. We use the local shop constantly. We buy bread from the local bakers and use labour services for building work from local contractors.

In the info pack, we encourage people to sample different locally grown fruits and spices, shop regularly at markets, and generally not be afraid to explore. We encourage people to sample traditional, healthy Thali meals and rice plates and advise on what to expect to pay. We also advise to not buy teakwood or some of the imported tourist souvenirs probably made by child labour, but encourage buying gorgeous handicrafts made out of earthenware and bamboo and matting and silks. Furthermore we suggest alternatives like drinking coconut water as an alternative to carbonated drinks.

The house is run with as much sensitivity to environmental impacts as possible. We encourage guests to use our compost heap and canvas shopping bags, and to conserve water. We offer a bucket shower (in addition to the regular one), special clothes washing powder that needs minimal rinsing and only change bed linen once a week. Although we have an on demand hotwater tank, we encourage guests to satisfy themselves with cool sun warmed water. We use energy saving light bulbs and a grey water system for the garden. We also familiarise people with the outstandingly cheap and efficient public transport available.

Rubbish disposal is a huge problem and we are still figuring out the best way to advise our staff on non-degradable disposal. All the villagers burn their rubbish. No official recycling facility yet exists nor is there a public collection. Generally fresh produce is wrapped by shopkeepers in newspaper, but plastic bags are increasingly given. We insist that no plastic bags are to be brought onto the property. Bottled water is the biggest issue, so we buy large mineral water 20 litre containers and pay a refundable deposit for the container, so that when you buy another you must return the container.

The washing liquids that we use are biodegradable; they are made from a local disinfectant made from bicarbonate. No pesticides or artificial chemicals are used on the garden. It is as organic as can be without certification.

Also we have oil burners (coconut oil)  for lighting in case of powercuts or as an alternative to electric, which are what locals use anyway as they are more energy efficient than candles and of course cheaper than electric.

The house provides employment for local people and we provide business to villagers as much as possible. 5% of all booking fees goes to an inspiring local Goan charity providing refuge, education and hope for orphan boys from the slums of Mumbai and Chennai.

In the house welcome pack and information guide we give information on how to use the house (e.g. certain cooking pots are only for meat cooking in respect of vegetarians, where to dispose of rubbish, how to cope with any insect life without killing, hygiene procedures for tropical living, using the toilet hand spray instead of using toilet paper). Also we have provided a guide on the villagers’ religious and living practices and what a guest may encounter, such as hosting practices (e.g. offering and making traditional chai) and also how to be a guest (e.g removing footwear at door). We ask people to keep their wild parties within the confines of nightclubs and keep noise disturbance to a minimum in respect of neighbours. We also explain how to use the buses and suggest the use of the local tailor for having clothes made.