Out With The New And In With The Old

Opened in January this year, this century-old, four-bedroom Portuguese villa is tucked away in Morgado Vaddo, the sleepy side of Goa. Managed by the same team as Goa’s famous Ahilya by the Sea, Meg Lambert calls it a boutique lover’s dream.

- Meg Lambert

I have barely left the airport and we’ve already taken the sharp right turn, down a dusty side road that we could have nearly missed seeing. As the wrought iron gates that lie before me creak open to reveal a definitively Portuguese edifice, I feel a sense of nostalgia for the future: I’d rather like to own a house like this.

Matieu greets me with the effortless charm that only the French can muster. How was my flight? Anything for lunch? How about the Caprese salad? Bon appetite. An air of tranquility sweeps its way through the inner courtyard, welcome as an afternoon zephyr. As I sat out on a breezy terrace, watching the Zuari River ebb and flow away, so too does the babble of modern day life. This, I realise, is what they mean by susegad.