"Visited the Hotel Plaza Duce with my mum for a 3 night break. It was fantastic from the minute we arrived. The staff are so friendly and knowledgeable of what's around the area and the excursions etc especially Steven.
I like to give a detailed review as this is something we always look at ourselves before choosing where to stay so I hope this helps
Room- The room (806) was on the second floor, it lovely, spacious, clean and very well thought out with exceptional views from the balcony. The beds get made and bins emptied every day unless you dont want them to be and on our third day the towels were changed, possibly the bedding too although we couldn't be sure. Bathroom had bath and shower with two sinks which was nice. All towels, robes and slippers included. Safe is operated with your room key card. We only ever heard noise if the next rooms were on their balconies, other than that the only thing you hear is the pool. The curtains are great blackout curtains and automatic too!
Pool/Spa - It is freezing. I did wonder why no-one was in the pool as it looks so inviting but I got my answer very quickly when I got in, it was so cold I didn't stay in very long although I can imagine in the middle of summer it is very refreshing. The jacuzzi was nice and warm. Inside there is another pool (also cold), jacuzzi, infrared sauna, Finnish sauna and steam room. We also both had a massage which was lovely (€55 for 25mins).
Beach - Across the road is the hotels beach, there was obviously no beach bar open or seats out as we visited out of season but I can imagine it would be lovely in season. The beaches are a gravel kind of sand and not the kind i am used to, not the kind you walk along barefoot (i tried, it hurt) But lovely nonetheless. The water is crystal clear, beautiful.
Location - The hotel is quite far out from anything but we went out of season so expected things to not be open, however it was a good hour walk to get to a shop to buy some snacks & drinks etc as we didn't want to use the minibar as were on a budget. Split was easy to get to on a bus (60) just outside of the hotel and took around an hour, easy to navigate, the stop coming back to the hotel is Duce, cost was €3 each single trip.
Food - We were half board so had breakfast and dinner. There was a great selection of food, hot and cold to cater to all tastes. I am super fussy and I managed to eat every night just fine. We were provided a breakfast bag on the day we left early for a trip which was a nice touch (you do have to pre-order and comes with a baguette, apple and juice). Cocktails were delicious! If going out of season i would recommend going half board so you don't have to find somewhere to eat as we didn't see any places open locally on our walks.
Trips - We did Krka National park with boat trip and Trogir organised with the hotel via email before we travelled. Was €41 each and included transfer from hotel to Split (ours forgot us but the hotel quickly arranged a taxi) I highly recommend this, was incredible and well worth the money for what's included, transfer coach, guide, boat, trogir, skradin, waterfalls (entry paid on top €16) but overall a fantastic day out. Our guide Dario was amazing.
We also did a tuk tuk tour from Split (€40 each) which was great. The driver was good, friendly and knowledgeable and you get to see things you perhaps would get to do on foot without spending hours walking etc. It ended with a short walking tour of the centre of Split and we found it fascinating. Marko was a great guide.
Our only negatives would be that we did get a kick up of sewage type smell quite often from the bathroom, it wasn't pleasant but it didn't ruin our stay. And the fact not even a local shop was open but we kind of expected this.
Overall its been a lovely stay, would I stay at Hotel Plaza Duce again. Absolutely 💯. We chose this hotel out of season because we wanted a nice relaxing break, in a nice hotel without too many people. We were very well looked after and the hotel is a great choice. Croatia is beautiful and very safe. Everyone is so passionate about their country and their families, its lovely to see."
