# @kirstenalana on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/BNWoYrkhCnR
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/2430545-kirstenalana-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/8b728ccbe5.jpg
- **Posted:** 2016-11-28T12:20:33.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Kirsten Alana (@KirstenAlana) — https://gondola.cc/KirstenAlana

## Caption

Of all the places I visited, or stayed in, during #escape2goa the @forttiracolheritagehotel was my favorite. A boutique hotel owned by a fascinating German expat named Rainer who has called Goa home for many years now, Fort Tiracol is unlike anywhere else I've stayed anywhere in the world! We arrived under cover of darkness late into the night and my first memory is of falling into a cloud covered in a haze of mosquito netting in a suite that seemed like something out of a fairy tale decorated by Restoration Hardware. Complete with a bathroom that rivals million dollar condos! The next morning I awoke to church bells and remembered that as a historic place with protected status, the church in the middle of the Fort-turned-Hotel is still operational. We'd arrived in the middle of the night and awoken on Sunday. Like so much of Goa, the Fort's church is Catholic. Dragging myself from my cloud and stumbling down to the courtyard I witnessed mass unfold in front of the facade, under the sun, while the melody of the worshippers dressed in every color of the rainbow echoed off the ancient stone. I'm not Catholic but it was still beautiful and I felt privileged to be part of local tradition even if only by observation. On any other day of the week, the church is just another preserved historical element inside what was once a Portuguese fort, just another fascinating element in a place with endless details to discover that Rainer has helped to restore with the expertise of decades in hospitality and design on multiple continents. In the mornings, a view of the ocean and dolphins jumping in the distant waves is enough to distract from fresh pressed juice and the best coffee you can have in Goa (from an actual espresso machine, not powdered!!) -- but only barely. Fort Tiracol's food and beverage program is amongst the best I've had in any hotel on any continent. During a candlelit dinner with a tropical breeze stirring the palms, I had the best Indian Paneer I've ever had and when we finally had to check out, it took everything I had not to cry like a spoiled child. 🇮🇳

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## Tags

escape2goa

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