People who spend a whole winter in Candolim read, watch television and take their morning tea in bed, and a headboard there is leaned on far more than in a weekend let. Make it comfortable: well padded, tall enough to support the shoulders, and covered in leatherette or a tight performance weave that wipes clean of sun cream and hair oil. Villa bedrooms are large and can carry a wide panel fitted with lamps and charging points, placed with the electrician beforehand. On the beach side keep the board off a sea-facing wall and seal its backing. In the humid lanes inland, leave an air gap behind it so nothing turns musty while the house is shut.
- Long-stay villa bedrooms: a tall, well-padded headboard with built-in reading lights, in a cover that can be wiped.
- Serviced apartment rooms: a plain panelled leatherette headboard fixed to the wall, quick to clean between guests and simple to re-cover.
- Bedrooms in the sheltered inland lanes: a wall-hung board with a gap behind, so humid air does not sit against the padding.
Candolim is the beach town south of Calangute, running down to Fort Aguada and Sinquerim. Its long main road is lined with restaurants and shops, with hotels and resorts towards the beach and villas and holiday apartments in the quieter lanes inland.
Candolim is a little more upmarket than Calangute: more villas, serviced apartments and long-stay visitors, many of them retired people from abroad who return each winter. Property is furnished for comfort as well as letting.
The beach side is salty and breezy. Inland lanes are sheltered and green but humid. Anything outdoors needs to resist sun and salt.