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...Your Holiday Reviews 4...

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Holiday Reviews:
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Grand Park Hotel, Dubrovnik
Submitted by:
Geoff and Wendy Wilding from Polegate, East Sussex, UK
Email: geoffwilding@hotmail.com
Visited in: September 2004
Organised: Tour operator First Choice
Type of accommodation: Grand Park Hotel

(Out of 5, best = 5)
How would you rate the town/city you stayed in? 5
How would you rate the accommodation? 4
How would you rate your holiday overall?
5

Comments:
One of the most relaxing and enjoyable holidays we have had. People are so friendly and helpful. The scenery beautiful, we hired a car for 2 days, roads were very good. The Old City is like Venice without the canals. We only hope it can remain unspoilt.

Would you go again? Most definitely
Submitted October 14th 2004

Milna, Hvar
Submitted by:
T Johnston from Berkshire, UK
Visited in: August 2004
Organised: Organised it myself
Type of accommodation: Hotel, The Tudor Family Guest House, Tudor Jurica and Josko

(Out of 5, best = 5)
How would you rate the town/city you stayed in? 5
How would you rate the accommodation? 5
How would you rate your holiday overall?
5

Comments:
Beautiful family hotel, right on the small pebble beach in the fishing village of Milna. Superb food, nice accommodation with sea views, restaurant 2 steps away from the beach. Ideal for families. Owners Jurica & Josko together with their staff are really welcoming. Hvar town 4 km away, buzzing with night life. Fantastic place for a holiday!

Would you go again? Any time!!!!!
Submitted October 10th 2004

Dubrovnik & Korcula
Submitted by:
Nel Palmer from the UK
Visited in: August 2004
Organised: Organised it myself
Type of accommodation: Camping

(Out of 5, best = 5)
How would you rate the town/city you stayed in? 5
How would you rate the accommodation? 3
How would you rate your holiday overall?
5

Comments:
Spent three days in Dubrovnik - quality of environment fantastic, food great, wine lovely, being able to swim off the city walls - incredible.

Toured the islands on a boat we hired when staying on Korcula - most relaxing days ever spent. Island very friendly and relaxing - great place for a holiday.

Would you go again? Yes definitely
Submitted October 5th 2004

Hotel Kvarner, Opatija
Submitted by:
Stephen from Swansea
Email: stephen49uk@yahoo.co.uk
Visited in: September 2004
Organised: Tour operator
Type of accommodation: Hotel Kvarner

(Out of 5, best = 5)
How would you rate the town/city you stayed in? 5
How would you rate the accommodation? 4
How would you rate your holiday overall?
5

Comments:
I stayed in the 3 star Kvarner Hotel. Meals were on a buffet basis, and you could make a real pig of yourself if you were so minded. The staff in the hotel were friendly and helpful and I found the hotel very comfortable. It never fails to amaze me how good linguists people are out there and how bad we Brits are. The guide on the two tours I went on spoke fluent German, English, Dutch and Italian. People in Opatija spoke very good English and I didn't have any difficulty in communicating. It made me feel guilty I hadn't learnt more Croatian before I went - I only know a couple of words.

I didn't think pictures did Opatija justice - it really is stunning. I went on two trips one around Istria - this stopped at Pula, Rovinj and Porec - actually managed to climb up to the church in Rovinj!! The other trip was to the Plitvice Lakes. That included walks, a boat ride and a train ride.

It was interesting to see the Italian influence particularly in the western side of Istria, where the place names are in Italian as well as Croatian (Rovinj/Rovigno). Evident in the food as well.

The trip I don't think I'd recommend is the trip to Venice. You start at 6.00 am and back at 10.00pm and if any rep thinks I was going to miss breakfast and dinner at the Kvarner they've another think coming! Besides - you've come to visit Croatia - haven't you? Venice is a holiday in itself.

I think I liked the Lungomare best in Opatija. Bring your camera with you and loads of film!

Foodwise there seemed to be no unpleasant surprises in Croatia - the Italian influence seems quite strong here and possibly Austria as well. Nothing like a bit of Sachertorte to keep the wolf from the door...!!

Considering the war has not long been over, I think Croatia has done very well to put it's tourist industry back on its feet again. I had a lovely time out there.

Would you go again? Absolutely - like tomorrow?!!
Submitted September 29th 2004

Hotel Albatros, Cavtat
Submitted by:
Keltarz from Ireland
Visited in: September 2004
Organised: Tour operator Concorde Travel
Type of accommodation: Hotel Albatros

(Out of 5, best = 5)
How would you rate the town/city you stayed in? 5
How would you rate the accommodation? 5
How would you rate your holiday overall?
5

Comments:
Stayed at the Hotel Albatros in Cavtat in Croatia for 1 week in Sept. Four star hotel and it deserves its four star rating, big room, and bathroom very modern and very very clean, small balcony with fantastic view. Excellent food, staff very helpful and friendly, Cavtat resort 10 minutes walk, great restaurants, great walks great bus tours to take. Very little tourist shops which I found a blessing. Very child friendly.

Would you go again? Yes! Yes! Yes!
Submitted September 27th 2004

Hvar, Sibenik, Split, Pula
Submitted by:
Rosie from the UK
Email: PM littlesaint (in the forum) for info
Visited in: September 2004
Organised: Organised it myself
Type of accommodation: Private accommodation, various types ranging from student halls to private apartments

(Out of 5, best = 5)
How would you rate the town/city you stayed in? 4
How would you rate the accommodation? 3
How would you rate your holiday overall?
5

Comments:
We used Ryanair's cheap flights to Italy and travelled between there and Croatia, using ferry and boat. That seemed to work out well. Once in Croatia, we travelled from South to north, landing in Hvar town and travelling to Trieste in northern Italy.

We found Hvar to be the most backpacker friendly place. We found more people there doing the same kind of thing as us and there were a couple of hostels/pensions in the town, one of which we stayed in. Our hostel, was clean, in a quiet suburban location, although still handy for town. Unfortunately, our room was next to some very loud Australian women, which meant that our 6am start the next day was even hard after a night of interrupted sleep. I would definitely recommend the restaurant Papa Teresa, in Hvar town. Great service, friendly and matronly restaurant owner, who will give you lots of tips about the food, which is excellent. The beaches are great too.

Sibenik, surprised us. We expected it to be relatively free of tourists. The guide books try to make out like it is not a tourist destination, but we found it quite popular. It seems especially popular with Italian families (still summer holiday for them), who drag their kids around town until quite late in the evening. Not great if you want a quiet meal. This surprised us, because there didn't seem to be much in the way of family accommodation, but a lady in a shop we visited told us that most stay in Solaris (a bid out of town holiday complex) and drive into town for the day.

Sibenik itself in quite nice. It's a former industrial town that seems to be in the process of reinventing itself as a destination. We got a well position, private room next to the Cathedral. It has a great historic core, which makes it a good place to spend time. But it doesn't quite have the infrastructure needed to support tourism yet, and it often seems quite crowded and there are not enough restaurants at the moment, though the ones we visited were good.

Sibenik's main selling point is its location we makes it a good place to explore the Krka and Kornati national parks. For the Kornatis we went on an excursion run by Atlas, which was pricy, but well worth it. Krka, however was a bit of a disappointment. We went on a bus, packed to the gills with tourists up to the town at the part's entrance. Once there we had to stick to the heavily touristed paths and without our own transport we weren't able to escape the crowds. Once we were there and had a quick look around Skradinski But, there was no time to go on an excursion further into the park, before having to get the infrequent buses back. Our trip to one of the Islands close to Sibenik was much more worthwhile.

Split seemed a nice place, with a great atmosphere. We stayed in a student hall, which was a bit out of town but quite nice all the same. The highlight of our 36 hours in Split was a walk up the Marijan peninsular, which was lovely.

We got the ferry up to Rijeka to reach, Pula, our next destination, where we stayed in a apartment, about ten minutes walk from the town centre. Unfortunately the amphitheatre was closed for a concert, while we were there but there was enough to do in town to keep us amused. While there we made a trip to Rovinj, which I definitely recommend and walked to the peninsular south of Pula.

On the subject of service, which I notice has cropped up on this board, on balance, we found it to be much better in Istria than in Dalmatia and the islands. In Istria, which the exception of the rather rude people at the James Joyce Bar, waiters are much more efficient and attentive. In Dalmatia, you can pop into a cafe for a drink, and spend ages waiting for a waiter to return to you for another order or to give you the bill.

My recommendations would be:
Go swimming in the sea, and wear a mask because there is lots of sea life.
Rovinj - popular but still enchanting.
Krka - if you go there, go early.

Sorry this is so long, but I hope it helps.

Would you go again? Yes
Submitted September 26th 2004

Hotel Neptun, Porec
Submitted by:
Charlie Ross from the UK
Visited in: September 2004
Organised: Tour operator Holiday Options
Type of accommodation: Hotel Neptun

(Out of 5, best = 5)
How would you rate the town/city you stayed in? 5
How would you rate the accommodation? 5
How would you rate your holiday overall?
4

Comments:
Porec great little town, plenty to do or just idle your time by sunbathing. Hotel neptun very good, food excellent, rooms clean and staff very friendly. A chat to Ivo and a day trip on the delphin is good value (he stands down the bottom end of the sea front). Would advise that holidaymakers give the Venice trips a big miss, personally I found the trip to be a massive rip off and if you do go dont buy meal and canal trips that they sell when on the ferry these are very expensive and the meal is absolute rubbish.
All in all Porec was a very good centre to base the holiday from and I was totally pleased with it.

ps just be aware of the motor scooters that tend to shoot around the town.

Would you go again? yes
Submitted September 13th 2004

Vrulje, Karin, Zadar
Submitted by:
Tony from London
Email: on_the_out@hotmail.com
Visited in: almost every year since 1983
Organised: Organised it myself, went by car again
Type of accommodation: Private accommodation, our house

(Out of 5, best = 5)
How would you rate the town/city you stayed in? 5
How would you rate the accommodation? 5
How would you rate your holiday overall?
5

Comments:
Vrulje is just a wonderful, peaceful, safe, beautiful place to have a house. I love it there.

Would you go again? always
Submitted September 9th 2004

Hotel Astarea, Mlini
Submitted by:
Sophie from the UK
Visited in: August 2004
Organised: Tour operator Holiday Options/Elite travel
Type of accommodation: Hotel Astarea

(Out of 5, best = 5)
How would you rate the town/city you stayed in? 4
How would you rate the accommodation? 3
How would you rate your holiday overall?
4

Comments:
I stayed in the hotel Astarea in Mlini for a week late in August 2004.
Overall we enjoyed this holiday because the setting was beautiful and the weather gorgeous.
A few points could be improved however:

The hotel has one main building, 2 annexes, and plenty of "bungalows" which range from 2 to 8 room blocks. I stayed in one of these, which was lucky because we were right on the sea front and from our balcony had a fantastic views on the bay (ask for bungalows from number 950 onwards). However, the room was really small and fairly basic, we could not go around the bed without asking one another to move out of the way first! Similarly, the bathroom was a tiny and the shower attachment was broken.

During our stay, we were half board, which means buffet breakfast and diner. The food was OK-ihs, fairly basic but tasty. The restaurant was huge and very canteen like. It was also very busy and as the customers left the tables, the staff did not put any new plates/cutlery on the empty tables which restricted the number of seating spaces. One piece of advice: go early, on a couple of occasions some people ended up sitting at our table because they could not find space elsewhere, not much for a romantic diner! We also found the service (for the drinks) was quite slow and not particularly friendly. We ended up go out on a few occasions to enjoy a "proper" diner!

Every night, in front of a bar on the sea front, a man and a woman set up some keyboard and sound music system, and sang some crappy eighties' s songs until 23h30. It was very loud and meant that could not sleep until they stopped singing, which annoyed us because some morning we were getting up at 6 am to go on excursions. When we complained to the hotel we were told there was nothing they could do about it!
There was a general lack of concern for customer service, a "not my problem" attitude, which we also encountered with some of the Elite travel reps (the Croatian company that deals with Holiday Options customers).

Would you go again? no
Submitted September 8th 2004

Laguna Park Apartments, Porec
Submitted by:
Lynn Geldart from Leeds

(Out of 5, best = 5)
How would you rate the town/city you stayed in? 5
How would you rate the accommodation? 3

Comments:
Porec I would rate as 5, the food is lovely and the town is lovely. The Croatian taxi driver we had to take us from Trieste to our hotel and to the airport at the end of our stay was absolutely brilliant, a real dude.

The apartments I would rate as 3, basic but comfortable, the one thing it lacked was a kettle. The food at the hotel was not all that good and at 85 kuna each a bit on the expensive side.

The restaurant Spadici just over the road from the hotel was lovely though. A really good choice in food. A great view of the wonderful sunsets every night.

The town of Porec is an absolute delight, a jewel in the adriatic. The best and most relaxing holiday for many a year.

We went to play tennis and the facilities at Hotel Laguna Materada were excellent.

Would you go again? I intend to return to Croatia next year.
Submitted September 6th 2004

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