Around India In 80 Trains

I can't lie, nothing is less appealing than a jaunt to Candolim - home of the tattooed, sunburnt Brit - but our stay at Coco Shambhala in Nerul was evidence enough that you can go to Goa and not feel like you're in a classier version of Benidorm.

After an hour's journey by taxi from Madgaon station (at Rs.1000 a pop) you'll reach a gated compound completely hidden from the road. Once through the gate, the track opens onto a large curved swimming pool surrounded by four large villas with heavy wooden doors. Ours, Ashwini, had a huge air-conditioned bedroom downstairs with an oversize double bed, a Samsung flatscreen TV and DVD player and swinging wooden doors that lead through to a twin-sinked tiled bathroom with a walk-in shower that certainly did the business. Upstairs housed another double bedroom with tiled floors and a beautiful high wooden bed with a similar en-suite bathroom.

Given that they sleep two couples quite comfortably, the villas are a great place for a group of friends to enjoy a week-long getaway - if flopping around, reading books, cooking your own grub and hiding from the masses is what you want.

But come equipped.

A long kitchen with a microwave, gas hobs, utensils, crockery, and a couple of packets of salt, coffee and sugar opens onto a beautiful terrace – but you will need to stock up on all other food. Finding meals out of hours isn’t easy, but there are a couple of dhabas down the road that should be open late.

An open living and dining area overlooks the pool and is just idyllic for early risers who can curl up with a book and cup of coffee in the morning sunshine. In fact, it's so comfy that a poor pigeon - who flew in one night straight into the glass doors - chose to spend his last hours curled up on the edge of the couch even though we moved him into the trees.

Last but certainly not least, each villa has a private hot tub that you can stay in until 2am, although it didn’t seem to get hot when we tried it. It’s not unusual for all four villas to be hired out by a group, including film crews and wedding parties, but even if you do choose to come here alone, you won’t notice another soul for the peace and quiet. And the beach is only a ten-minute ride away if your craving for egg and chips gets too strong.

Villas start at £1294 per week in low season and go up to £1797 in high season.