The Astor way
Susegad, and What It Means Here
A Goan word for a settled, contented, unhurried way of living. We built the hotel around it, in ways you can actually feel.
Susegad is a Goan word, borrowed from the Portuguese sossegado, for a settled, contented, unhurried way of living. In Goa it’s less a mood than a value: do things well, but don’t do them in a hurry.
We built the hotel around it, in ways you can actually feel.
- Breakfast is served until 11:30 AM, because a holiday shouldn’t start with an alarm
- The beach drop runs between 07:00 AM and 07:00 PM, 900 metres to the nearest beach
- Suites, not rooms. Space to slow down in
- Curated local experiences that show you the Goa locals live in
Etymology
Where the word comes from
Sossegado entered Konkani through four and a half centuries of Portuguese presence in Goa, and it changed meaning on the way. In Portuguese it describes something calm or settled. In Goa it became a way of describing how a person lives rather than how a room feels.
It is often misread from outside the state as laziness. Goans generally do not mean it that way. It describes an unhurried relationship with time, not an absence of work, which is a distinction that matters if you are trying to build a hotel around it.
The test
What it costs a hotel to actually mean it
Most of what follows from Susegad is inconvenient to operate, which is a reasonable test of whether a property means it.
Breakfast until 11:30 AM means the kitchen runs a four-hour breakfast service instead of the usual two and a half, and the changeover to lunch gets compressed. Most hotels in Goa close breakfast at 10:00 or 10:30 for exactly that reason.
Suites instead of rooms means fewer keys in the same building. A complimentary beach drop running twelve hours a day means a vehicle and a driver committed to it. None of these make the property money directly. They are the things that make a stay feel unhurried, which is the thing people actually remember.
Astor Experiences
Things to do without hurrying
The experiences programme is built the same way. It is grouped into three, and the workshops are the ones that hold attention longest.
Explore
Learn something
Goan culinary masterclass, cocktail crafting sessions, cupcake and artisanal sourdough workshops, origami and creative craft sessions, and walks through the streets of Candolim and Sinquerim.
Laze
Do very little
Guided swimming sessions, relaxed lounge evenings, and spa or in-room spa treatments.
Fun
For the family
The wishing well ritual, kids’ tent experiences, movie screenings, PlayStation 5, magic show evenings, and live music and karaoke.
Ask the Astor Experience Team on +91 90280 59410. Most of these run on set days, so it is worth booking before you arrive rather than on the morning.
Unhurried, by design
Late breakfast, a beach drop on your schedule, and a suite to slow down in.
