Be selective with wallpaper in Palolem. The monsoon here is long and very wet, the air is salty, and many rooms stand shut for months, which is the hardest test a papered wall can face. Seasonal huts are not candidates. In a permanent guest house or small hotel, a tough vinyl, on plaster primed against fungus, will serve on an inner wall, ideally the one the bed backs onto, where bags and chair backs do not rub, and that one wall gives a plain room character. Walls facing the bay, or any that show salt bloom or damp after the rains, should get PVC panels instead. Keep a spare roll, since a matching repair is otherwise hard to make.
- Guest-house bedrooms: vinyl wallpaper on the bed wall alone, and only if that is an inner wall which stays dry while the room is closed.
- Reception areas of small hotels: a wipeable vinyl in a lasting design, with a roll kept back for repairs.
- Bay-facing and damp walls: PVC wall panels, not wallpaper, as the long wet season will lift seams there.
Palolem is a crescent-shaped bay near Chaudi in Canacona, with a wooded headland at each end. It is the busiest beach in the far south, lined in season with beach huts, cafes and guest houses, and with homestays and small hotels in the lanes behind.
Much of the accommodation is seasonal: huts are put up after the monsoon and taken down before it. Permanent buildings are guest houses, small hotels and family homes that let rooms. Furnishing is simple, bright and has to be easy to store or wash.
The bay is sheltered from the heaviest surf but not from salt or humidity. Sand gets into everything, and the monsoon is long and very wet.
Sea-facing homes
Sea-facing walls take in salt and moisture, and paper lifts at the seams if the wall is not sealed. Use vinyl-coated wallpaper on an anti-fungal primer, and keep it to inner walls or walls that do not face the weather. Check for salt bloom on the plaster first.
Holiday lets and guest houses
For a let property, choose a hard-wearing vinyl in a design that will not date, and use it where luggage and furniture will not scrape it: behind the bed, not in the corridor. A spare roll kept back makes later repairs possible.
Can you supply curtains and cushions for guest houses in Palolem?
Yes. We make washable curtains, blinds and cushion covers in quantity, and can quote for a set of rooms together.
What can be stored through the monsoon and reused?
Blinds that roll up, curtains that are washed and packed dry, and outdoor fabric cushions. All are made to be taken down and put back.
