Beleza by the Beach designed by Samiir Wheaton
Discover quietude with breeze, views and comfort galore at this South Goa resort
Laid back but young, electric but inviting, and cool yet warm, the breezy winds of Goa never pardon anyone who visits the land of the beaches and ocean! The coastal city wrapped in a trance of cultural eclecticism and lush nature, all at once, Goa undoubtedly is one of the most preferred destinations to unwind and unload. Honoring this very thought with a generous dash of natural beauty, luxury and comfort is Beleza by the Beach.
An astute design project authored by Samiir Wheaton of Wheaton Design Private Limited Jaipur, Beleza by the Beach spells a slow lifestyle pinned on the needs of modern guests.
Samiir informs, “The design evolved keeping in mind – the use of materials which are easy to maintain by the seaside salinity, the rooms to have a lot of natural light, and the Villas to be connected and yet be private and quiet.”
A meticulous selection of materials meant rendering the resort with a soothing, earthy mood that engages with pops of colors in soft furnishings. Thus, birthed the brief to keep the spaces organic and sober, away from the loudness of design and every element tied together.
Samiir goes on to add, “Extensive plantation has been done with an amalgamation of beautiful flora and fauna to give a Goan feel, which is also very close to the life of the Bahls.”
Sprawling a stunning eight-acre linear area, Beleza by the Beach, goa beach resort sees 200m wide white sand beachfront and endless stretches of paddy field. “This gave us an opportunity for one restaurant and a bar each,” adds Samiir.
Located on the beach front is Nazarè and the one on the paddy field is Tentaçaõ. This seamless romance of the greenery, the sea, azure skyline and of course, the humming of guests keeps the property buzzing with an energy that’s hard to miss!
Art of design at Beleza
Beleza by the Beach is a cradle of 95 spacious rooms across 2,500 sq ft of low lying two-storey tapered roof cottage-like edifices. With a central 40mts pool skirted by day cafe Pavilhaõ, guests can also indulge in a quiet private lap pool, jacuzzi at the beautiful spa Espaço Divino.
The restaurant ‘Tentacao’ remains true to its namelike ‘temptation’ in Portuguese, offering a selection of international and local cuisines; Photographs courtesy Datta Gawage
From its original layout, the resort has gone some structural facelifts, evidently gorgeous and functional in existence. Samiir elaborates, “The outer structure of the buildings was retained and internally everything like the staircase, flooring, spacing and openings was shifted around to create 55 rooms from existing 30 rooms. In the second phase of the project, four new blocks were created with ten rooms in each. So 40 additional rooms came about.”
What’s it like inside?
Sauntering through the main entryway of Beleza by the Beach resort in Goa, an instant drapery of the nature-bound sounds of the waters, greenery, birds and the sheer tranquility of Goa surrounds you.
Inspired by the ocean waves, soft meandering turns leads to the beach on the left and reception on the right, which showcases 25m long row of solid black marble columns, supporting manta-ray shaped roof.
Opening into a pathway splashed with coloured plantation throughout, one can navigate to the individual villas. The nucleus as they call it, the bamboo spiral roof structure Pavilhaõ takes design influences from the shape of a spiral shell.
Ambling further in, a wave-shaped pool greets the paddy scapes. Next comes the Tentaçaõ restaurant with an al fresco sit-out verandah and open kitchen that fires up some super scrumptious wood-fired thin crust pizzas. A wooden slatted roof with hanging lights looks below at the honeycomb tiled flooring, designed in the colours of the environment around from orange to blue.
One must not be surprised to meet the paddy bar, standing at the far end, which embraces a free-floating wooden bench cantilevering on the fields.
Offering some quietude and doses of more aesthetics are the spa and gym. The spa engulfs a traditional clay tiled multifold sloping roof. The aisle of the spa is a row of columns which are 150 years old from a chettiar housing.
A lengthy, curved bamboo plantation in semblance of a tunnel guides one to the beachfront restaurant and bar Nazaré fringed by tall coconut trees, cool breeze and white sand with the catchy design elements of the bar counter inspired by the shipping vessels which beset the sea across.