Taj Fort Aguada Resort & Spa

The first luxury hotel in Goa is still at it, under the banner of India’s most famous luxury-hotel brand: Taj Fort Aguada Resort & Spa, Goa. There’s no beating its setting, on over 40 acres of lush hillside gardens, overlooking both Sinquerim Beach and the ramparts of the 16th-century Portuguese-built Fort Aguada. And while the Taj shows plentiful Portuguese influence of its own — a stylistic thread that’s inseparable from Goan architecture — it’s far more elegant, even delicate, than the word “fort” might imply.

The bulk of the rooms occupy the main building of this low-slung compound, with others contained in outlying cottages and villas. They come in a wide range of sizes and layouts, but they’re uniformly spacious, comfortable, and perhaps more stylish than you might predict, each one decorated in a single saturated color, with antique-style furniture and modern-style amenities.

No Taj hotel would be content only to offer luxe accommodations, of course. This one adds a gym, a spa, a stunning infinity pool, and facilities for both tennis and squash. Meanwhile three restaurants specialize in seafood, pan-Indian cuisine, and Italian fare, and there’s a seaside lounge as well as a martini bar. If there’s another way to see Goa in such high style, we’d love to hear about it.