It is 4pm, but the party is already underway at The Passport Hotel. I step out of my room as guests check-in, sipping on their welcome cocktail — Cherry Bomb, a pink gin drink with sour cherry, vanilla, and sparkling wine.
I head to Mini Bar, the hotel’s lobby bar and restaurant, where bartenders are in lab mode. In a small cauldron, milk simmers with pandan leaves, the scent wafting through the space, before it gets shaken into a cocktail.
“The idea for The Passport Hotel came from years of travelling across New York, London, and parts of Europe where the lobby feels alive; and the bar is the social heart of the hotel,” says Ashesh L Sajnani, founder – The Passport Hotel.
Ashesh says he wanted to create something rooted in Goa’s evolving cocktail culture. The idea was simple: build a place where the experience starts the second you walk through the door.
The mini bar stocked with pre-batched cocktails
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Special Arrangement
Back in my room, my jacuzzi is waiting, but the hotel has other plans. A cocktail station is set up in my balcony, featuring professional equipment along with seven little bottles of pre-batched signature cocktails. There is a QR code with a module on how to build these drinks. And a bartender on hand to make sure I get it right.
“Are you ready for the masterclass?” asks Gaurav, the bartender. He takes me through the the concept of pre-batching, flavours, and new techniques. “Most of the ingredients are made in-house,” he says pointing to the Turkish Delight which accompanies my drink, Meloni, that has a Bourbon base. “This was made with melons. We also made melon olio. We believe in sustainability and use all the parts of the fruits possible,” he explains.
Cafe Noir (coffee macerated rum in in-house cola syrup) is served with a delicious lemon curd with cookie dust. I enjoy the Hot Sauce Gibson (Martini with house-fermented jalapeno brine) even though it sets my palate on fire. To balance the heat, the garnish is a salted biscuit with pickled jalapeno, crumbled feta, mustard and curry leaf.
Ashesh L Sajnani, founder – The Passport Hotel
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Special Arrangement
This is a “cocktail-forward” hotel, I am told. It means cocktail culture shapes the entire hospitality experience, explains Ashesh. “The cocktail experience extends to the rooms through D-I-Y cocktail setups, into the city through our Stamp Collectors Program, and blends into the overall rhythm of how guests experience the hotel. Most hotels try to keep guests inside the property. We wanted to create a hotel that uses cocktail culture to send guests deeper into Goa.”
A little green passport booklet is handed to me with my photograph in it. The challenge is to visit all the eight bars listed on it and get a seal from each. And as a reward, I get a cocktail on the house at the hotel. The list includes some of Goa’s most popular spaces, including The Second House, Drop Dead Sexy, Juna, Hideaway, Boilermaker, and Slow Tide.
“We selected bars that genuinely represent the evolving cocktail culture of Goa. It wasn’t about popularity alone, it was about identity, consistency, storytelling, and people who are pushing the industry forward in their own way,” he says, adding, “We wanted guests to discover different moods and atmospheres across Goa rather than repeat the same experience eight times.”
The poolside bar
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Special Arrangement
My first stop is Slow Tide for sundowners where I try the refreshing The Who — Flor de Cana, yoghurt, washed pandan, pineapple soda — served with a miniature cone and salted caramel. I also make a pit stop at trendy Stoned Pig, which opened recently at Slow Tide. The chatty bartenders offer great suggestions on ways to explore Goa. Though this bar is not yet in the booklet, they put a sticker in so I remember the good time I had here.
Deciding to call it a night, I head back to the hotel but not without grabbing dinner at Hosa in Siolim. Helmed by Chef Harish Rao, this modern traditional South Indian restaurant goes beyond the usual idli, sambar, and rasam. Here, you find curry leaf pesto snapper, mushroom pongal and even an aubergine steak with ghee rice.
Back in my room, I sleep like a log and wake up fresh with no sign of a hangover. The Passport Hotel makes a mean Ros omelette with poi. I follow it with a delicious Tiramisu latte at Cafe Saint Cloud in Sangolda.(I confess that I also order the Turkish eggs, which are by far the best I have had in a while, and a side of Belgian chocolate salted caramel tart.) Then to offset the guilt I walk around Assagao, admiring its lovely villas with names like Giulietta, Casa Ferrazzi, and House of Arches among others. At some points, it does not feel like Goa, nor does it feel like this century.
One of the rooms
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Special Arrangement
Back at the hotel, I indulge in an afternoon nap that the Goan refer to as matshe aad podta, then cool off with a quick swim on the rooftop infinity pool that overlooks distant hills and Assagao’s greenery. I remind myself of the mission at hand: bar hopping with my little green book. The cab situation in Goa, as we know, is a mess. As I try to figure out the logistics, the general manager of the hotel kindly offers to drop me off at my destination. He recommends Pablo’s Bar.
I overambitiously aim to hit atleast three bars tonight. I start off at Pablo’s in Assagaon. The no-frills bar is housed in what looks like a cute little cottage with a tiled roof and basic seating. It does not have swanky interiors or fancy cocktails but what it serves is meads, infused feni, fun snacks — think poi garlic bread, Southern fried chicken, chorizo chilli fry — and a killer chilled vibe that makes sure I settle here for the rest of the night, under the tungsten bulbs, and a sky twinkling with stars.
Tariffs start at ₹5,000. The Passport Hotel is located at 37/2, Church Road, near Courtyard 2, Badem, Bardez, Assagao, Mapusa, Goa.
(The writer was in Goa on invitation of The Passport Hotel.)
The exterior of the hotel
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
