Casa Jaali

Casa Jaali holds the southern edge of Patnem Beach from a rocky peninsula, its rooms, huts and beach house built into the landscape rather than placed on top of it, with the Arabian Sea thirty-five metres away down a wooden walkway. The name is the design brief: the jaali, the perforated stone screen of Mughal tradition, filtered here through hand-block-printed fabrics and custom-built furniture.

Ten rooms, all facing the sea

The whole place is ten rooms, every one sea-facing: snug Sea View Rooms and slightly larger garden Sea View Huts, two 48 sq m Grand Sea View Rooms with king beds, a family room for four, and the 55 sq m Heritage Seaside Cottage at the top. Garden seating nooks look across the bay to Rajbag, and the local fishing village is 150 metres away (staff shepherd luggage and parking through it, which is part of the charm rather than a flaw).

Breakfast until 5pm, dolphins off the beach.

Jaali Kitchen, the waterfront restaurant, is open to non-guests: Head Chef Rajesh Pandi of Tamil Nadu runs a menu that hops from mezze and shakshuka to pao bhaji, dosa, seafood risotto and ramen, with breads and cakes baked in-house, antibiotic-free eggs and Maverick & Farmer coffee. Breakfast is served until 5pm, which tells you what kind of holiday this is.

The south Goa that stays quiet

Dolphins are frequent visitors off the beach; boat trips run to Butterfly and Honeymoon beaches and up the Talpona river, and Galgibag (Turtle) Beach, a designated nesting site, is among the excursions the house arranges. Spa treatments (massage, cold plunge, dry sauna) and yoga retreats live at the sister property, Jaali River Sanctuary. Casa Jaali is one of three houses in the Jaali Collection, all in South Goa, all working the same seam: Goa before the crowds found it.