hi sydney
i stayed in the uday samadra, really nice hotel, no problem there.
yep its true, there are no beach shacks in kovalem!!! everything is dearer than goa. if you want to buy a bottle of spirit, thats alcoholic spirit of course, you have to go to a government liquor store. not too much trouble though. theres one fairly close to uday samadra. only trouble is, its about twice the price of goa!!!
beaches are not as good as goa, and i would say the sea is much rougher.
you do sometimes get your beer served in a teapot and have to drink it out of a mug. some places give you a bottle of beer, but it will be wrapped in paper or in a brown paper bag. these are usually places that don't have a licence to sell alcohol.
BOB

Hi Sydney we were booked into the Uday but were informed of building works
so had the option of moving, ended up in Lighthouse Beach at the Golden
Sands a small hotel but great and very friendly, did the back water trip overnight
on a rice boat fantastic don,t miss this,have a great time.
ann

Thank you Bob and Ann.

I think we may give Goa a miss this year and have a holiday in Kerala instead.

Kerala is different to Goa. Yes slightly more expensive.
There aren't any beach shacks but in Kovalam all the bars are on a " promenade" walkway along the beach edge.
The beauty of Kerala is it's hinterland. The scenery is magnificent and varied. Backwaters, Periyar wildlife and spices, and the clear clean air in tea growing Munar up in the mountains.
The food is much better in my opinion too. Not like British type curries, which often come as a kind of brown mush. Kerala uses coconut oil as a staple and the food is sharp, spicy and tasty without burning in any way. A leaning towards Thai.
If you want to lie on a beach go to Goa. If you want to see something different, go to Kerala and make the effort to go on tour.
The major drawback of Kerala is getting there. You can only fly from Gatwick on a charter and not many airlines fly there. I think a DIY tour could work out a lot cheaper than you think. In fact, anyone going to Goa on a long stay basis could arrange this as an add on.

sydney,
the building works that were going in in the uday samadra, had absolutly NO effect on us at all. probably be finished by the time you get there anyway.
BOB

Thank you Dave and Bob.

Sheila.