Next to the little Maruti temple in the town centre, this is Mapusa’s best central hotel, which isn't saying much. Rooms are comfortable enough and Ruchira ( GOOGLE MAP ; Hotel Satyaheera; mains ₹90-190; h11am-11pm), the roof garden restaurant, is a decent place to eat.

A lush, plant-filled garden leads the way to this gorgeous family-run guesthouse, located off Fort Aguada Rd. The eight light-filled suite rooms are spacious and spotless, with fridge, flat-screen TV and either balcony or private sit-out; the top-floor penthouse has its own rooftop terrace. This is the kind of place guests come back to year after year. Book ahead.

Huge modern rooms with balconies are the draw at this newly renovated Portuguese home off Sinquerim beach. The top-floor penthouse rooms, with jacuzzi, big-screen TV and balcony sunbeds, are worth a splurge.

D’Mello’s has grown up from small beginnings, but is still family-run and occupies four buildings around a lovely garden. The front building has the sea-view rooms so check out a few, but all are clean and well-maintained. Add ₹500 if you want air-con. Wi-fi is available in the central area.

This beautiful Portuguese villa, filled with antiques and enveloped in a peaceful courtyard garden, is a romantic and sophisticated old-world remnant. Rooms are individually themed, including Moghul, Rajasthani and Bouganvillea. The penthouse suite is a dream of polished tiles, four-poster bed with separate living room, dining room and terrace. The kitchen serves up some imaginative dishes. No kids under 12.

Red Door is a welcoming backpacker place close to Anjuna’s central crossroads with clean four- and six-bed dorms plus a few private rooms. Facilities include lockers, free wi-fi, a garden, good communal areas – including a well-equipped kitchen – and a sociable cafe-bar. There's a laid-back vibe and resident pet dogs.

This quirky backpacker hostel on Anjuna’s Market Rd is themed like a jail with bars on the windows, B&W decor and, strangely, an old bus for a cafe. Clean four- to 10-bed dorms have individual lockers and bed-lights, there’s a good kitchen, and breakfast and wi-fi are included.

One of the better budget places near the beach, Florinda’s has clean rooms, with 24-hour hot water, window screens and mosquito nets, set around a pretty garden. The few air-con rooms fill up fast.

This friendly place is fronted by an old Portuguese home and offers neat, clean rooms with well-decorated options in the newer annexe. The better rooms have TVs, fridges and hammocks on the balcony. Friendly owner Janet and family also run the pharmacy, general store, restaurant, internet cafe, Connexions travel agency and money exchange!

The dome-shaped cottages here are some of the roomiest and best-designed on the beachfront. Set in a pleasant garden they feature huge beds and bathrooms, and air-con to justify the price. It's behind Elephant Art Cafe.

A line-up of timber cabins behind the beach restaurant of the same name, Sea Horse has a good location. The huts are small and get a little hot – go for the air-con rooms if it’s humid. Staff are friendly and accommodating. The same owners have a pricier beachfront set-up called Vista Praia Anjuna.

A slinky 12-room option, tucked down the lane off Market Rd, and lovingly conceived and run by Sumit, a young Mumbai escapee. Rooms are chic and well equipped with AC and TV, and there’s a lovely library and shady seating area beneath a banyan tree.

This heritage hotel is enclosed in lovely plant-filled gardens around an inviting pool, managing to shield itself from the hype of central Anjuna. All rooms have antique furnishings and period touches; like many upmarket places it’s better value out of season, when rates halve.

This new hostel in leafy Assagao is a fun backpacker alternative to the beach. The four dorms are clean, and open out to a very cool garden space. The loungy cafe-bar is very sociable and there are bikes available for cruising Assagao's back lanes.

About five minutes’ walk back from Morjim Beach, Wanderers is a real find for budget travellers. The main building, decorated with original travellers murals, has spotless air-con dorms with lockers, bed lights and wi-fi, full kitchen, cosy communal areas and a pool table. In the garden next door is a tent village with swimming pool and yoga retreat centre and outdoor cinema.

Fronting Morjim Beach, this excellent family-run resort has a fine array of beachfront stilted ‘treehouse’ huts and more solid rooms (some with AC) at the back. The Friends Corner restaurant is good.

This top-notch choice has unusual, stylish, dome-shaped huts – some look like giant hairy coconuts – made of a combination of all-natural local materials, including mud, stone and mango wood, as well as more traditional AC cottages. A host of yoga and massage options are available, and it’s set in one of the most secluded beachfront jungle gardens you’ll find in Goa.

The luxury tents and ‘Spanish-style’ villas at this slick resort are pricey but fitted out like five-star hotel rooms. Even if you don’t stay here, the beachfront cabanas are a divine spot for a drink and for the resort’s thumping Club M (%0832-6450599; www.marbelabeach.com; Marbela Beach Resort; hFri-Sun) parties, till late from Friday to Sunday.

Renowned in these parts, La Plage takes beach shack to the next level with its inspired gourmet French-Mediterranean food. Along with excellent salads, seafood and fabulous desserts (try the chocolate thali), La Plage stocks great wines. It’s usually open from late November to April.

The pretty huts here are peppered around a palm-filled lane leading to the beach; at night, lamps light up the place like a palm-tree dreamland. Huts range from basic to more sturdy ‘treehouses’ (huts on stilts). It’s a friendly, good-value place with a decent beach restaurant, massage, yoga classes and a marked absence of trance.

Mandala is a very peaceful and beautifully designed eco-village with a range of huts and a couple of quirky air-con rooms in the ‘Art House'. Pride of place goes to the barn-sized two-storey villas inspired by the design of a Keralan houseboat. The location, overlooking the tidal lagoon, is serene, with a large garden, daily yoga sessions and an organic restaurant.

The exact location of this heavenly place, on some 500m of beachfront, is a closely guarded secret. Choose from four beautiful beachfront houses, intriguingly named the Piggery, Bakery, Priest’s House and Captain’s House, or from three luxury tents, and revel in the solitude that comes with a hefty price tag and a 60m walk across a bamboo bridge.

Bed Rock is a welcome change from the beach shacks with a reliable menu of Indian and continental faves (pizza, pasta etc) and a cosy chill-out lounge upstairs.

Traveller-painted murals cover the walls in this very chilled backpacker place near the main village. Young owners have worked hard making the three dorms, neon common area, bar and garden into a well-equipped and welcoming budget place to crash. Bikes for hire.

Near the beach entrance on Glastonbury St, this friendly canary-yellow place is one of Arambol’s better nonbeachfront bargains. There are 10 decent, no-frills rooms, all with attached bathroom, fan and a hot-water shower. The top-floor apartment with AC and TV is good value. Owner Derek hires out motorbikes and scooters.

The sea-facing timber cottages here are among the best on the cliffs, with attached bathrooms, fans and verandahs.

The fanciest place on Arambol's beachfront has a series of bright rooms in a quirky two-storey building and cute individual timber cottages facing a garden-lawn setting. The restaurant-bar features live music.

In a quiet space at the end of a lane, on the southern end of Arambol Beach, the Surf Club is one of those cool little hang-outs that offer a bit of everything: simple but clean rooms, yoga and a fun bar with live music.