Shirgaon · Palghar · Four private aules on the sand
A walled courtyard of your own, an open-air bath, a hammock between two palms, and the Arabian Sea at the far end of it. Made for two. Room for four.
Two guests · any auleAll meals includedNo payment online. We confirm on WhatsApp
The property
Four walled courtyards on the sand, each with an open-air bath and a gate that locks from your side. Four aules, and nothing else on this sand.
GAIA is a Greek name, and so is this one. An aule, pronounced ow-lay, is the courtyard at the centre of a Greek house, the outdoor room the household actually lives in. Ours are walled on both sides, open to the sky, and end in sand. The rooms were put among the coconut palms, not the other way round, and the sea starts where the grove stops.
Nobody walks through it. Nobody looks into it. Food comes to the hatch at the time you set. The only thing you share with anyone is the sea.
From the bed, first light. The courtyard is beyond the glass.
The room. Full-height glass onto the courtyard; the sand is beyond the courtyard.
You will lose track of the day. That is the point.
The house ruleYour aule
Outdoors, walled, under the sky and facing the sea. Nobody can see it but you.
Between two of your own palms. The trees lean toward the water; so will you.
Locks from your side. Food, towels, anything at all is left at the hatch.
In every aule
Made for two, with all four meals included. Up to four to an aule. Two-night minimum on weekends.
All four are built to the same plan, the same room and the same walled courtyard, so there is no wrong one to choose. Stoa Helios is the larger of the four. Tell us which you'd like when you write, or leave it to us and we'll give you the quietest one free that night. All four together, for four couples, on request.
Couples, always
One aule, no questions. Staff never enter unless you ask. Housekeeping happens while you're out, and if you are never out, it doesn't happen.
Nobody enters your aule unless you ask. Everything you need is left at the hatch.
Couples, always welcome. Friends, up to four. You'll be asked what time you want dinner, and nothing else.
The gate locks from your side. The latch is yours.
The table for two. Dinner comes to the hatch at the time you set.
The kitchen
Breakfast, lunch, high tea and dinner are part of the tariff, not a bill at the end. The food is Maharashtrian and it is cooked fresh on the day you eat it, which is why we settle the menu with you a day ahead. Chicken, fish and mutton on request. Tell us what you don't eat when you book, and what time you want to eat. It arrives at the hatch.
Nothing is cooked ahead and nothing is wasted, so the kitchen needs a day’s notice to do it properly. We will ask you the day before.
The day
Light comes through the trees in bars and lands on the bed. Coffee is already at the hatch.
Out of the gate, across your own sand, into the water.
Salt still on you, and lunch already waiting. The afternoon does not require you.
Hot water, the sun going into the sea, nobody looking.
Dinner at the hatch. One lamp in the courtyard. The sea does not stop at night.
Getting here
The coast north of the city, past the point where most people turn back. The turn-off is easy to miss, so we send the exact pin on WhatsApp with your confirmation, along with the one good place to stop on the way.
Shirgaon · Palghar · MaharashtraThe place
Everything here was photographed on the property. No stock, no borrowed beaches.
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We reply on WhatsApp and confirm there. No payment is taken online, and nothing is charged until we've confirmed your dates.
