Lonely Planet Review
Set back from the Calangute-Baga road, this place is well-run and popular among a diverse range of travellers. There's a restaurant and TV area in an enclosed courtyard, and easy beach access from the back.
A popular choice among backpackers, but with a range of rooms that extend beyond their budget, Villa Fatima is unabashedly quirky. Bricks are painted bright red and the grouting is accentuated with white to lend a cartoon feel to the facade. There are statues of crocodiles, turtles and life-sized musicians in the garden that can be unsettling when arriving home late at night. There is a sociable courtyard bar, a pool table and an invitingly clean pool out the back. The flag fetish of the Canadian-Indian manager is evident over the entire extent of the long pathway leading to the rooms, and his slightly distrusting character is evident in the library, where books bear the cautionary text 'Stolen from Villa Fatima'.
Review by author
Marika McAdam