"Having over done Spain and Spanish islands for the last few years, a switch to Croatia for the first time did not disappoint. Stunning scenery, clean honestly didn’t see any rubbish on road sides!
On arrival the hotel reception was spacious, fresh with the most amazing view out to see.
At point of booking we’d upgraded to a superior adjoining twin rooms with sea view and we got that. Owing to large trees guessing some views were quite restricted. We paid more for half board then all inclusive in Spain.
We went half board and found out that the coloured bands (yellow, red and blue) which were all for all inclusive were coloured to show nationality! Which was rather random and not necessary.
The photos on jet2 are out of date were we not expecting a splash park but there is one. The photo of the main pool on their app/site must be historic. So the splash park was an unexpected bonus and the main pool access had also been improved. There was a quieter and warmer pool we frequented also.
Food wise, we usually do ALL inc but this time went for half board so not to be tied to the place, we explored a lot. We grabbed Ubers, visited museums, Dubrovnik twice, boat trip, rocky cove, beaches during our 10 day stay. We ate out a few times and it was expensive for what we got. Soft drinks for kids in Dubrovnik was 6-8 euros each. The hotel food was fine, varied, we eat everything and enjoyed the variety, occasionally had to give it a blast in the microwave but no upset tummy’s or anything. We travelled with two young kids. Breakfast was 7:20-10 and dinner 7:30-9:30.
The entertainment was sadly mostly spoken in French. I enquired about kids club as at check in we were merely handed the two key cards and key for adjoining door that we kept open during our stay. we noticed the food meal times in the key card holder but a warmer welcome would have been nice after a long journey. Yet instead we waited 2 hours for our room as check in strictly 3pm and check out 11am, again handy to have known this prior to booking as our flight was quite early.
The poolside area did get busy with empty paper cups and plastic glasses. This also attracted a lot of bee/wasp type insects which at times were annoying . Smokers tending to drop fat buts where the liked which was disappointing. The pool side is LOUD at times, rave like. Full blown pool party type vibe. There was a big team of entertainers most I’ve ever seen, yet no one employed to collected used drinks glasses.
We managed to get loungers when we wanted them and also didn’t reserve them and not use them for hours like many others did. It was a shame some families were selfish and reserved loungers straight after breakfast yet didn’t use them until mid afternoon.
Dogs are allowed at the hotel which we did not realise, we have a dog so get it but at the same time when on holiday don’t expect to hear noises ones barking a lot each time they are on the corridor. It was obvious a dog had stayed in our room, what if we’d been a family with a dog allergy ?! Likewise above us was a family with a young toddler who didn’t stop crying and woke us up early every morning as they just let it cry on the balcony for all to hear! We witnessed very liberal parenting, kids not watched in deep pool and hostility one night at the park when some young French kids (unsupervised) were refusing to let English kids on a certain part.
For us the location, super short transfer and ability to explore the sea shore, jump in an uber, do a nice coastal walk or just laze around the pools overall was a good place for us. We loved snorkelling and finding both crabs and hermit crabs all safely returned.
The sunsets were the best I’ve ever seen.
No where is perfect and you cannot choose folk that you holiday alongside. Seeing folk leaving the restaurant with plates full of food yet signs saying not too, signs saying be quiet in corridors - yet kids and adults being loud on them.
The hotel could improve things by some simple adjustments….
1) remove towels on loungers not used for over say 2 hours.
2) ditch the coloured coded nationality bands. No need.
3) announce kids club in English, one day my daughter was the only child and I suggested they announce it and they said there was no need!
4) clean up cups more often, provide plastic pool side ash trays. Don’t leave a fully trolly of used drinks next to the place you get drinks as this attracts the wasps.
5) ensure all announcements are fairly translated so every guest has the same chance
6) room cleanliness only when we were packing up and trying to find a toy did we realise how filthy the room was - the mattress was stained and there was other areas left. They did hoover, rearrange the bedding and change towels if left on floor. I did not smell one cleaning product in our rooms during our stay.
7) the framed notice about respecting other guests - to be in each room not on a wall when leaving the elevator
8) ensure there is no smoking and clear access in the entrance and exit to kids club.
This hotel could be so much better, for us it was a pleasant stay overall. We do feel however for what we paid the cleanliness, reception welcome and lack of English communication/entertainment friendliness was disappointing.
We have fed this back to jet2 whom we booked with and supplied evidence."
