Goan heritage hotels are a big tourist attraction

The trend of converting old mansions into hotels is not new. Although restored centuries-old manors do not provide any of the facilities that traditional hotels do, they are still favoured by tourists visiting Goa. Take for instance Siolim House in north Goa, a 300-year old manor which was home to the governor of Macau in 1996 is a heritage hotel quite unlike a hotel - there is no reception, liveried waiters, air-conditioning or piped music.

What attracts tourists to such spots is an earthy charm. Secluded and antiquated, the manors provide privacy, quaint charm and an aristocratic feel - an alternative to the monotony of standard star hotel fare. Realising their commercial potential, inheritors of the properties and a few entrepreneurs have converted them into heritage hotels.

Another similar destination is the Solar Souto Maior in old Goa, a manor built in 1585, which belonged to a Spanish royal family that in Goa in the 16th century. Built between 1745 and 1824, the baroque mansion once had British and German charter tourists as visitors. Its east wing has a ballroom and a minstrel gallery. A piece of furniture in the mansion has a carved sideboard depicting scenes from the Ramayana - the only piece of furniture indicating the Hindu origins of the Colacos. The USP of the house is that it faces the Mandovi, which flows past old Goa, Ribandar and Panaji. There used to be a floating platform across the house for passengers to disembark from canoes. Today, tourists arrive by boat to dine at the Solar dos Colacos.

The huge Loutolim mansion facing vast green rice fields has also been partly converted into a five-room hotel. It offers visitors guided porcelain tours - there is a lot of furniture from Macau, chandeliers from France, glassware from Belgium and Chinaware.