Built in 2006 on a forested hillside in the sleepy village of Parra, opened to guests in 2012, ranked consistently in the top 1% of homestays worldwide on TripAdvisor — Capella is what happens when someone builds a house they love, fills it with books and animals and art, and then invites the world in. Ayesha Madon has been hosting since 2010. Guests keep coming back.
The word susegad is Goa’s own. It comes from the Portuguese sossegado — peaceful, content, unhurried — and it describes an attitude toward life that the state’s culture has maintained, across colonisation and independence and the decades of tourism that have transformed its northern coast, as a kind of foundational operating principle. Susegad is not laziness. It is the cultivated art of being exactly where you are, without urgency about being anywhere else.
Capella Forest Retreat & Homestay in Parra is, among all the homestays in Goa, the most complete expression of this quality. It is not the most luxurious. It is not the most architecturally dramatic. It is the place where time slows down as you go about exploring how everything — from the small artefacts to the posters to the lamps — is so meticulously in its place, and you gradually understand that this is what it means to be at home.
The House
Capella was built in 2006 as a private home on a forested hillside in Parra, a quiet village in North Goa’s Bardez taluka. Even before construction was complete, friends and relatives were visiting and saying they never wanted to leave. The house was opened to paying guests in 2012, and Ayesha Madon — who had been opening the doors to friends since 2010 — formalised a hospitality that had always been her natural condition.
The building is tropical in style: open, airy, with multiple sit-outs, verandahs, a central courtyard with a traditional swing, and a terrace. It is situated on a hill, and two of the four bedrooms, along with the front verandah, have views of the surrounding countryside — the forested hills of Parra, the village below, the particular quality of light that North Goa gets in the mornings before the heat establishes itself. The large infinity pool overlooks the tree canopy and has become, in the testimony of guests, the defining feature of a stay: mornings with coffee, afternoons with a book, evenings with birdsong and the sky changing colour above the trees.
The gardens are alive with trees that attract a remarkable diversity of birdlife. The property runs birding trips with knowledgeable experts into the surrounding area and further afield — to Chorao Island, Carambolim Lake, Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary, and Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary — for guests who want to engage with Goa’s extraordinary avian heritage rather than simply sit near it. A monkey, in the words of one guest, might be watching from the trees. Almost certainly is.
The Rooms
There are four rooms, each named for a flower of the Goa countryside. All have private bathrooms — the Heliconia bathroom is specifically, repeatedly mentioned in reviews as an experience in itself, “truly a room, not just a suffix to the word bath.” All are spacious, beautifully appointed, spotlessly clean, and furnished with the particular care of someone who has thought about what it means to make a room feel genuinely welcoming rather than merely comfortable.
Frangipani is on the ground floor, opening onto the garden and offering direct access to the outdoor spaces. Magnolia, consistently the most requested room by returning guests, is upstairs — large, with king-size bed, sitting area with sofas, abundant storage, views of the countryside, and the particular quality of light that makes this floor the favourite of repeat visitors who invariably request it by name. Heliconia is the most celebrated room for its bathroom, which is an architectural statement in its own right — large enough to qualify as a sitting room, with vintage touches and modern fixtures. Jacaranda is the fourth room, equally considered and equally loved.
Each room has a work desk, in-room tea and coffee facility, king-size bed, blue glass bottles as the signature decorative detail, and the overall vintage aesthetic that runs through the house — old wood furniture, red tiled floors, vaulted ceilings with wooden beams, window seats, steps leading to the garden.
The whole property can be booked exclusively for groups wanting the full house. The honesty bar — a fridge stocked with chilled beer and a bar cabinet in the living room, where guests note their consumption in the Honesty Book to be added to the tab at checkout — is among the most celebrated features of the Capella experience and has been mentioned in reviews consistently since the property opened.
The Team and the Food
Ayesha lives on site. This is not a management detail but a character detail: Capella works because Ayesha is present, warm, attentive without being intrusive, and possessed of the quality that the best hosts share — the genuine interest in who is staying, combined with the restraint to let guests be alone when that is what they need. Her son Zal, a fitness enthusiast and avid animal lover, is part of the extended Capella family.
The staff — Seema, Chand, and Maria — have been with the property for years and carry the same warmth as their employer. Julie, the cook, has become something of a legend: the seafood lunches are spoken of in terms of genuine reverence, the chapatis are described as “just the way we make them at home,” and the breakfast pancakes — recommended by the house — are apparently perfect in both taste and texture. Cooking classes with a local Goan lady can be arranged for guests who want to understand the cuisine from the inside.
Breakfast is complimentary and offers both Indian and continental options. For lunch and dinner, Capella is ideally positioned: Parra is well connected to the restaurant belt of Assagao and the surrounding North Goa villages, and Ayesha’s recommendations are described uniformly as excellent — the kind of local knowledge that only comes from someone who actually lives here and has tried everything.
Where Capella Sits
Parra is one of those villages that makes the case for interior North Goa over the coastal strip. It is quiet, genuinely local, forested, and close enough to everything — Baga, Anjuna, Vagator, Assagao, Mapusa — that none of the things Goa visitors want to do are inaccessible, while being far enough from all of them that the house on the hill feels entirely removed from crowds. Ten to fifteen minutes by car takes you to most of North Goa’s famous beaches, restaurants, and markets.
Manohar Parrikar International Airport at Mopa is approximately 40 minutes away. Dabolim Airport is approximately 45 minutes. Mapusa Friday Market, one of Goa’s most atmospheric and locally oriented markets, is about 15 minutes.
Why It Stays With You
Capella’s TripAdvisor ranking in the top 1% of homestays worldwide is the statistic. The review that captures the spirit better is this: guests who have visited ten times describe their repeated Goa trips as being “solely a result of the fact that we discovered this place.” Guests who stayed once describe wanting to come back. A French guest was welcomed beyond her check-in window without complaint, and described Ayesha as “simply charming, attentive, generous and full of good advice.”
This is the Capella quality: a house built with love, tended with consistency, and hosted by someone who understands that the best thing a homestay can be is a home. Come as a guest, leave as a friend — which is, with some accuracy, the Capella tagline. It appears to be borne out by everyone who has walked in the gate.
Plan Your Visit
Address: 376/1 Bokachi Aradi (Boqueachi Arradi), Parra, Bardez, North Goa — 403510 Phone: +91 99234 59488 (call between 9am–2pm and 4pm–8pm) Email: capellaingoa@gmail.com Website: capellagoa.com Instagram: @capellagoa Facebook: Capella Forest Retreat Booking: Direct via website · Also listed on Booking.com and TripAdvisor
Host: Ayesha Madon (on-site) Team: Seema, Chand, Maria (housekeeping and service) · Julie (cook) Resident animals: Cats (Muffin and Simba) and dog (Echo) — numbers and names may have changed; the animals are a constant
Rooms: 4 — all with private ensuite bathrooms, king-size beds, AC, in-room tea/coffee, Wi-Fi, daily housekeeping — Frangipani — ground floor, garden access — Magnolia — first floor, countryside views, most requested by returning guests — Heliconia — celebrated bathroom (see all reviews) — Jacaranda — fourth room, equally thoughtfully appointed
Whole house available: Yes, for exclusive group use Honesty Bar: Beer fridge + bar cabinet, Honesty Book, tab settled at checkout Rate: Approximately ₹8,000/night + GST (seasonal variation) Meals: Complimentary breakfast (Indian and continental) · Lunch and dinner by arrangement · Cooking classes available
Experiences: Infinity pool · Garden birdwatching · Guided birding trips (Chorao Island, Carambolim Lake, Cotigao WLS, Bhagwan Mahavir WLS) · Cooking class with local Goan host · Dolphin watching boat tours (via local operators) · Day trips throughout North Goa
Getting There — Manohar Parrikar International Airport (Mopa): approximately 35–40 km — around 40 minutes by road. The most convenient airport for most visitors. — Dabolim Airport (South Goa): approximately 50 km — around 45–60 minutes depending on traffic. — Tivim Railway Station (Thivim): approximately 10 km — around 20 minutes by road. Well-connected from Mumbai and other cities. — Mapusa: approximately 8 km — 15 minutes. — From Calangute / Baga beach: approximately 8–10 km. — From Anjuna / Vagator: approximately 10–12 km. — Parra village and Bokachi Aradi are accessed via quiet village roads from the Mapusa–Calangute axis. Coordinate the exact approach with Ayesha after booking.
Nearby — Mapusa Friday Market: 8 km · Assagao restaurant belt: 5 km · Anjuna Beach: 10 km · Baga: 9 km · Vagator: 11 km · Chorao Island: 20 km · Mopa Airport: 38 km
Best Time to Visit: November to February for the classic North Goa season — cool, dry, festive · October and March for the shoulder season when the property is quieter and more intimate · Monsoon (June–September) for the lush, green, rain-drenched Goa that Ayesha specifically loves and some guests return for
