Aminess Vival Grand Azur Hotel

"The Aminess Vival Grand Azur Hotel is situated in a peaceful location within a bay surrounded by pine forests, right by the sea. There is also a medium-sized hotel pool with free sun loungers. The poolside area can get a bit crowded during peak season but there is a beautiful clean pebble beach right in front of the hotel, as well as several smaller beaches nearby. Although the hotel is not new, its location, the variety of freshly prepared food, and the friendliness of the staff were truly impressive. For excursion enthusiasts, a beautiful seaside promenade connects the hotel to the center of Orebić, where you can take a boat to visit the Old Town of Korčula. I would gladly return and recommend this hotel to anyone who loves a vacation in nature with fantastic location!"

"This hotel is set in s stunning location right on the coast, a short walk from the little town of Orebic. The "beach" area, whilst very picturesque, is situated under pine trees meaning chairs/ towels/ sunbeds are placed on brown sandy soil (not sand.) The beach itself is made of pebbles. We travelled with JET2holidays which, we learned on arrival at Dubrovnik airport, have no representation in the hotel (nor do any other of the UK tour operators.) The guests staying at the hotel are largely Croatian families, and other Europaen guests. I would recommend booking a sea view room at extra cost; our standard room was small and overlooked the car park. Whilst the room was clean, room cleaning during the rest of the week was "hit and miss." Some days cleaned, towels replaced but bins left full. The breakfast buffet was generally good, with a wide choice of fresh fruit and cooked food, cakes and croissants. The fruit juice choice, poor; orange or apple, served from a drinks dispenser. The evening buffet is below 4 star standard. The choice of food is acceptable but is the same most nights. Salads are the same every night. Meat and fish choices are often overcooked and dry. Pasta is "soggy" because once cooked it sits in a dish on a hotplate . It's not cooked to order, unlike other 4 star hotels I have stayed in. The buffet opens at 7.00pm and closes at 9.00pm. No one seems to have a pre-dinner drink in the bar (we appeared to be the only ones to do so!) The guests at the hotel all seem to want to eat a 7.00pm. The buffet becomes a bit of a "scrum," guests pushing and shoving to access the drinks dispensers and buffet. Spaces between the tables are narrow with baby buggies blocking access. The kitchen seems to become overwhelmed and unable to keep dishes full. The staff are unable to supply enough glasses for the self service wine and beer stations. When glasses are eventually replenished they have obviously been washed as they are hot! Surely a 4 star hotel should have enough glasses to maintain the basic requirement of providing a clean glass to every guest without having to wash them? I would recommend planning to eat later than 7.45pm when the restaurant seems to quickly empty and tables become available. The food has normally been topped up so the choice is still there. This is then a much more civilized experience, but all in all the evening meal was completely disappointing. Finally, despite other reviews criticizing the pool area, we always found 4 sun beds together, whatever time we decided to use the pool. The pools and surrounding areas are clean and tidy. (I did observe that at 1.00pm (lunch time) every single sun bed located around the pools was empty! With towels, bags and personal belongings left to reserve the bed for the afternoon.) So, in summary the hotel is OK, but falls below other European 4 star hotels I have stayed in, particularly in the organisation and management of the evening buffet where the food is disappointing."

"Location, very good. Quiet. Beautiful sea to swim in. The beach is open to the public. It is. To large and can get busy. The staff on reception and in the dining room are at best indifferent. They couldn’t really be bothered to help. Anyone can walk in and out of the hotel. No checks are made fit you ask for a second room key. In the dining room, when I asked if one of the dishes which had run low was going to be refilled, I was told ‘ no, and I don’t care’!, There was a wide range of food but It was nearly always Luke warm. If you go down later, you run the risk of dishes being empty. If you go down early , it is a bun fight and there are no rules. Just barge in! You can drink as much as you like, the wine is on tap and so is the beer. The soft drinks were very poor, often just spouting discoloured water. You are not meant to take food or drinks away, but people did so quite openly. The staff really didn’t seem to care. The rooms are dated, Spartan and small. The air conditioning is pathetic. The shower was a dribble. However the beds were quite comfortable and the hotel was quiet. The pool area does. It have enough Sun beds and so you have to get down there by 8am to secure one. However the pool guy opens up anytime after 7:30 so it’s a lottery. The pool and pool area is nice and clean but anyone can walk in there. The pool is not big enough for the hotel. There are rules for the pool, it no one adheres to them or enforces them, so it was full of inflatables, people diving etc etc. the best time to use the pool is first thing while everyone is scrambling for breakfast or after 6 while they all head for dinner. It closes at 7. There is no shop, Orebic is 15 minutes away by an easy walk, but it is very hot. Walking with bottle of water was hard work A 75cl bottle of water in the hotel will cost you £5! The cleaners were helpful and friendly as were the entertainment staff. It is nowhere near a four star hotel"