I'll be honest — when I told people I was going to Goa in monsoon, most of them looked at me like I'd made a mistake. "Goa is a winter place," a friend said. "You'll just be stuck indoors watching it rain." But I'd been burned out by one too many packed December trips, elbow to elbow on Baga beach, paying triple for a room with a view of a parking lot. I wanted something different this time. So I went looking for where to stay in Goa during monsoon, and honestly, I didn't expect to fall in love with the answer as much as I did.
That answer turned out to be asar Upper House, tucked away on Ashwem Beach Road in Morjim, North Goa.
The Drive In
I landed in the middle of a light drizzle, which felt oddly appropriate. The taxi ride up from the airport took me past paddy fields that had gone from dusty brown to an almost unreal green, past little roadside stalls selling corn and chai, and eventually onto the quieter stretch of road that leads into Morjim. No traffic jams, no honking convoys of scooters — just rain on the windshield and the smell of wet earth drifting in through a cracked window. By the time I pulled up outside asar Upper House, I already had a good feeling about the trip.
First Impressions
It's a property — just 21 rooms — and you notice that immediately in a good way. There's no chaotic check-in line, no feeling like you're one of five hundred guests being processed. Someone actually remembered my name by the second day. The staff seemed genuinely happy that I was there in the "off" season, and they had opinions — good ones — about what to do when the rain let up.
My room was a Deluxe with a balcony overlooking the garden, and that balcony became my favourite part of the whole trip. I spent an entire evening there with a cup of coffee, just watching the rain come down in sheets and then stop just as suddenly, sunlight breaking through for twenty minutes before the next round rolled in. The room itself was simple but comfortable — air conditioning I barely needed with the weather this cool, a smart TV I didn't touch once, and a mini-fridge that kept my water cold. Wi-Fi was fast enough that I could work a couple of mornings without any frustration.
The Beaches, Minus the Crowds
Morjim Beach is an easy eleven-minute walk from the hotel, and I went almost every day — sometimes for a proper walk, sometimes just to stand there and watch the waves, which hit the shore with a lot more force than I expected during monsoon. It was moody and dramatic in the best way. A couple of mornings, I spotted what I'm fairly sure were dolphins further out, though I'll admit the rain made it hard to be certain.
Ashwem Beach is even closer, just a five-minute stroll, and it became my go-to for sunset — or what passes for sunset when the sky is a wall of grey and orange. I had entire stretches of sand to myself. If you've only ever seen Goa's beaches packed with tourists and beach shacks blasting music, monsoon Morjim will genuinely surprise you.
One rainy afternoon, I took a drive out to Chapora Fort, about 15 km away. Climbing up in the mist, with almost no one else around, looking out over the Chapora River as clouds rolled across the hills — that's a version of Goa most people never see, and I'm glad I did.
Rainy-Day Comfort Food
If there's one thing that made the trip, it was eating at Major Saab, the in-house restaurant. On the days when the rain simply refused to stop, I didn't need to go anywhere — I just walked downstairs. Their Goan fish curry with rice became something of a daily ritual for me by day three; it's rich, tangy, and exactly what you want to eat while listening to rain hammer on a rooftop. The prawn masala was another standout — properly spiced, not dumbed down for tourists. One evening I tried their catch of the day, grilled simply, and it might have been the best fish I had on the whole trip. I finished more than one meal with their bebinca, which I'm still thinking about.
Having a restaurant this good on-site matters more than people realise when you're travelling in monsoon — you're not always going to want to brave the rain to find dinner, and here, you genuinely don't have to.
The Little Things
What stayed with me wasn't any single big moment — it was the small stuff. The pool area, empty enough that I had it entirely to myself one afternoon between showers. The staff at the front desk who called a local driver for me without being asked twice. The daily housekeeping that somehow always timed itself around when I was out. The fact that nobody ever made me feel like I was visiting in the "wrong" season.
I also noticed a lot of couples staying there — it has that kind of quiet, private feel that works well for a low-key romantic trip. A couple I met by the pool told me they'd specifically picked this stretch of coast for their anniversary because it felt more personal than the bigger resorts further south.
Would I Go Back in Monsoon?
Without hesitation. If you're trying to figure out where to stay in Goa during monsoon, I can tell you that the usual advice about "just visit in winter" undersells the season completely. You trade the parties and the packed beaches for green hills, dramatic skies, quiet mornings, and prices that don't make you wince. And if you pick the right place to stay — somewhere with a good restaurant, comfortable rooms, and a location close enough to the beach that you can dash out between showers — the rain stops being an inconvenience and starts being the whole point.
For me, that place was asar Upper House by Orion Hotels. I went in expecting to be stuck indoors. I left wishing I'd booked an extra two days.
If you're planning your own monsoon trip, I'd book directly through theorionhotels.com — I did, and got a better rate than what I'd seen on the usual booking sites, plus an early check-in that saved me a few hours of waiting around with wet luggage.
Book directly here:
https://theorionhotels.com/hotels/asar-upper-house-morjim-beach-by-orion-hotels
For bookings, call +91 7428555990 or WhatsApp +91 97171 17391.
