The founding grande dame of Goan resort luxury, opened in 1991 as The Leela and rebranded a St. Regis in 2022. Mediterranean villas, navigable lagoons, a 12-hole golf course, and one of the longest stretches of private beach in the state, on the Mobor sandbar between the Sal River and the Arabian Sea.
The short answer: The St. Regis Goa Resort (formerly The Leela Goa) is a 5-star, 206-room beach-and-lagoon resort on the Mobor sandbar at Cavelossim in South Goa. Its anchors are one of the longest private beaches in the state, the only 12-hole golf course inside a Goan hotel, three pools, and St. Regis butler service.
"The grandfather of Goan luxury, now flying a St. Regis flag: pink-tile villas, navigable lagoons, the only golf course inside a Goan hotel, and the most reliable South Goa beach holiday for the family that wants the children handled and dinner served on the sand."
The resort opened in 1991 on the Mobor sandbar at the southern end of Cavelossim Beach, where the Sal River meets the Arabian Sea. It was the founding property of the Leela Group and one of the first internationally credible five-star resorts on the Goan coast, and it traded as The Leela Goa for three decades. In October 2022 it was rebranded The St. Regis Goa Resort under Marriott. The bones are unchanged: a network of low Portuguese-Mediterranean pavilions arranged around a chain of navigable lagoons, laid out across a large beachfront estate, with guests moved between villa clusters and public spaces by golf buggy or, on the long axis, by boat. The 12-hole par-3 golf course still runs along the river side and remains the only golf inside any Goan hotel.
There are 206 rooms and suites, including 46 suites and villas, several with private pools. Entry-level rooms sit in low clusters around the gardens; lagoon-facing categories occupy the inner water edge with terraces; and the top villas have walled gardens and private plunge pools. Under St. Regis, the property added the brand's signature butler service on every category, so each stay comes with a dedicated point of contact for unpacking, reservations, and the evening rituals. The Mediterranean shell, the lagoon network, and the original landscaping were kept as designed through the transition.
Dining was reworked under the new flag. Miri is the all-day restaurant; Oliveto handles Italian fine dining; Riverside, on the Sal River bank, is now Pan-Asian; and Susegado remains the Goan-Portuguese seafood grill, relaunched in 2025, open seasonally. The Drawing Room runs the St. Regis afternoon-tea and champagne ritual, and Aqua is the entertainment lounge; a poolside restaurant and a beach snack bar operate through the October to May season. The spa is now the St. Regis Spa, in the same two-storey pavilion, running massage and multi-hour wellness rituals. The kids' club, complimentary for ages five to twelve, keeps the property firmly in the family-luxury tier. Note that the casino from the Leela years no longer operates under St. Regis.
The position is a working part of the case: Mobor is a sandbar between the river and the sea, which gives the property one of the longest stretches of unbroken private beach of any Goan five-star, good monsoon protection, and an immediate boat connection across the Sal to the southern fishing villages. The trade-off is distance: Mobor is about forty kilometres from Dabolim Airport, a sixty-minute transfer rather than the twenty-five of the Majorda properties. For the South Goa beach holiday at scale, with children, a golf afternoon, and dinner on the sand, it remains the obvious answer, now with a butler attached.
For the multi-generational South Goa family booking, this is the obvious lead. The kids' club runs a daily programme with its own pool; connecting rooms and the villas accommodate three-generation parties; and the 12-hole golf, the river kayaks, and the long unbroken beach mean every member of the party has somewhere to go. The beach barbecue dinner is the easiest end-of-day crowd-pleaser in Goan five-star, and butler service takes the friction out of a big family stay.
The private-pool villas are the Goan honeymoon answer here: walled gardens, plunge pools, and direct access through the resort to the beach. A Riverside dinner on the Sal River bank is the headline night; the St. Regis Spa runs a couples' programme; and the beach is long enough that a private sundowner set-up at the southern end is genuinely private. Multi-night minimums are standard for the villas in December and January.
A Goan anniversary here calibrates cleanly across categories: a lagoon-facing suite for a quiet milestone, a private-pool villa for a major one. The Oliveto or Susegado menus run as the dinner; the St. Regis Spa's couples' programme runs as the day. For the milestone where the children are coming too, a villa plus an adjacent room is the cleanest configuration in South Goa.
Mobor Beach, Cavelossim
Salcete 403731
Goa, India
Goa Dabolim International Airport 60 minutes (40 km); Manohar International (Mopa) about 2 hours; Madgaon railway 35 minutes.
206 rooms and suites (46 suites and villas)
Rooms from about US$220/night
Suites and villas considerably higher
Villas and the top suites book six months ahead for the December to January peak.
Check-in: 3:00 PM
Check-out: 12:00 PM
Opened 1991 as The Leela Goa; rebranded The St. Regis Goa Resort October 2022 (Marriott)
Susegado (Goan-Portuguese, seasonal)
Riverside (Pan-Asian), Oliveto (Italian), Miri (all-day)
The Drawing Room afternoon tea
St. Regis Spa
Three pools incl. a 45m main pool
12-hole par-3 golf course
Kids' club (ages 5 to 12) and butler service
From about US$220 per night. Private-pool villas and the top suites book six months ahead for the December to January peak; the September to November shoulder is the best rate-and-weather window for families.
Check Rates →Yes. The resort on the Mobor sandbar at Cavelossim opened in 1991 as The Leela Goa and was rebranded The St. Regis Goa Resort in October 2022 under Marriott. It is the same beachfront estate, lagoons, and 12-hole golf course, now operated as a St. Regis with butler service and a reworked dining lineup.
There are 206 rooms and suites, including 46 suites and villas, several with private pools, and three swimming pools: a main 45-metre pool, a children's pool, and the Manor pool.
It has a 12-hole par-3 golf course overlooking the Arabian Sea, carried over from the Leela era. It does not have a casino under St. Regis. Facilities include the St. Regis Spa, a complimentary kids' club for ages 5 to 12, and St. Regis butler service.
Mobor is at the southern end of the Cavelossim coast, about 40 kilometres and a 60-minute transfer from Goa Dabolim Airport, roughly two hours from Manohar International (Mopa), and about 35 minutes from Madgaon railway station.
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