Doing your own thing and other Croatia Hotel/Accommodation Reviews

Self-catering apartments are so easy to find in Croatia's seaside towns and villages. Most towns have a booking agency quite prominently situated on the road into town or you can ask at any tourist office or travel agency. We took our chances everywhere we went apart from Dubrovnik (I always like to have my first night's accommodation booked when travelling) and these local agencies came up trumps for us each time. The apartments we found were all spacious, spotlessly clean and sufficiently equipped for the amount of cooking I'm prepared to do when on holiday. Each one had a wide balcony with a pleasant outlook ( a couple had quite stunning views) in peaceful locations where we could sit outside to eat breakfast and the meals we didn't take at restaurants. All had good showers and plenty of hot water - though I'd bring my own towel along next time, just in case, as I do like something bigger than a teatowel to dry myself off with. Some were airconditioned, one had a washing machine - all had a welcome waiting for us that we couldn't fault - even after the Croatia-Australia World Cup game.

In June, nightly rates varied from just 10 euros per person (in Bol for 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and sea view) to 20 euros in Cavtat (for a 3 bedroomed, 2 bathroomed, airconditioned apartment set in a beautiful garden with a view straight across to Dubrovnik).

Unique Qualities: Without exception we were afforded the warmest welcomes - an invitation to join our hosts for a an hour or so of conversation and a drink (or four) of their own wine. We met children and in-laws, pets and neighbors; had our cevapcici cooked for us and brought back with a big bowl of yummy chips made from home-grown potatoes; found bowls of apricots and a plate of cookies waiting on the kitchen table; washing was taken from the line in the garden and kept waiting for our return, beautifully folded; phone calls were made for us and addresses found - in other words, we were taken in as guests of the families who owned these apartments. Luxury hotels are fine but this was grassroots hospitality of the very best kind.

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Theme: Other
Comparison: less expensive than average

Website: www.adriatica.net

Arriving late in the afternoon and planning to catch a ferry to Brac first thing in the morning, all we wanted for our first night in Croatia was a hotel in Split that offered a comfortable bed, easy parking and access to the ferry port. The Villa Hote BB in Podstrana promised to fit the bill. We know our way around Split and we knew the road from Podstrana back into Split would take us straight to the ferry port. The beach side of the road is lined with hotels, pensions and apartments, some jammed into a very small space between other buildings with very tight access and steep steps down to the beach.

With parking at the front, Villa BB is built at sea level with a long garden leading down to its own beach with a small bar. Our ground floor rooms each had a terrace overlooking the garden. Whilst simply furnished, they were quite large, very clean and the bar was no problem at all - it was very quiet. A sunset walk along the beach brought us to a very pleasant restaurant for the first of many meals of grilled octopus (it is always sooo good!) and a cold beer, and a full moon rising over the sea as we walked back completed a perfect evening to begin our holiday.

Unique Qualities: Hotel Villa BB (BB is the designation given to houses with no number in Croatia - I guess the hotel was numberless once) is typical of hundreds of hotels along the Adriatic coast. Small, family owned, unpretentious - if you're looking for 5 star glamour, the Marriott is just up the road.

I wouldn't choose it if I was intending to stay more than a night or two - but then I wouldn't spend more than a night or two at a time in Split anyhow. I really like the city and love wandering around its ancient streets but the islands beckon me across the water and Split will always be the bookends around an island holiday.

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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$80-120  » Currency Converter
Phone: +385 21 335 165
Address: Grjevacka 14, Podstrana
Directions: About 5km south of Split on the main road
Website: http://www.hotel-rates.com/croatia/podstrana/hotel-villa-bb.html

You don't have many options if you want to stay within the Roman walls of Split's Old City. How nice then to find somewhere as charming as the Hotel Peristil. It's not a cheap option but how many hotels can you stay in that are built inside a Roman Emperor's summer palace? The rooms weren't the biggest hotel rooms we've ever stayed in - but they were comfortably stylish, spotlessly clean and cool.

Helpful staff, the delicious breakfast (included in the room rate) served on the terrace and a peerless location - all in all, certainly recommendable and a hotel we would return to ... in fact we are, this year. I'll have to follow my own advice and book well in advance - there are only 12 rooms and demand is high.

Unique Qualities: Built right into the palace walls (one wall of our daughter's room was actually the ancient stone) and literally a minute's walk from the very centre of the Old City, some rooms have a view of the Peristil and the Cathedral. It's this marvellous location that makes the Peristil special but there is perhaps a downside to it - it didn't worry us but it could be if walking and carrying your bags more than from kerb to door is a problem.

If you're bringing a car, parking can be a bit tricky - the whole of the old city is a pedestrian-only zone - but perseverance should get you a spot in the public car park on the Riva and there's no limit on the time you can leave it there. You can walk pretty well everywhere in Split that you might want to see sightseeing and the ferry terminal is a 10 minute walk at most.

The staff are very helpful and welcoming. The hotel has no lift - and a tiny entrance - but suitcases are quickly whipped upstairs and there's someone on hand to help with bags when leaving if required.

Lunch at the terrace restaurant was excellent - and how nice to have cool room so close at hand to return to for a short siesta after a morning's sightseeing and a long lunch.

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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$180 and up  » Currency Converter
Phone: +385 21 329 070
Address: Poljana Kraljice Jelene 5
Directions: Right beside the Silver Gate into the Old City - walk through the Green Market by the wall and look for the little postern gate just before the main entry or enter by the Silver Gate itself.
Website: http://www.hotelperistil.com/

A green oasis of a huge garden full of flowers, fruit trees and vegetables, a terrace shaded by grapevines, a dog named Basra, and a genuinely warm welcome from Tony, the "concierge" of this family-run guest house - all tucked behind a high stone wall in complete peace and privacy not 2 minute's walk from the busy bayside road of Dubrovnik's main port area of Gruz

The accommodation is simple but spotlessly clean. Rooms are quite small but more than adequately furnished with wide, comfortable beds and crisp white sheets. There were 4 in our party, 2 of us in a small apartment with a private bathroom and a kitchen, the others in seperate bedrooms with a shared bathroom. This arrangement meant we could prepare meals to eat under those grapevines, which was very pleasant. Dubrovnik's main Green Market is just around the corner whilst the Tommy supermarket was a couple of minute's walk in the other direction and whether you have a kitchen arrangement or not, all guests are welcome to bring their own food back with them and use the barbecue and the terrace.

Rates do not include breakfast but you can order this meal seperately.

Unique Qualities: Our stay at the Bokun Guesthouse could not have been more enjoyable. Tony speaks excellent English and was most obliging and helpful, the garden was a delight, the terrace a place where guests felt free to gather and while away the evening eating and talking together. The location is great, the old city is just a short bus ride away - or a pleasant half hour walk. The place is so secluded and yet everything is right on the doorstep.

Booking well in advance is advisable, the place is deservedly very popular, and since getting a mention in a French guidebook things have got even busier.

Just one word of caution - if you like to dry yourself on something larger than a teatowel, find room in your luggage for a bath towel. I don't know what it is about Croatia, but here at the Bokun, as just about everywhere else in the country, the towels were tiny!

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Theme: Pension/Guesthouse
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$20-40  » Currency Converter
Phone: +385/20/357-290
Address: Obala Stjepana Radica 7, 20 000 Dubrovnik
Directions: Bokun is up a small alleyway off the Riva in the main port area, Gruz, a few minutes walk from the main bus station. Watch out for the Privredna bank on the corner
Website: www.bokun-guesthouse.com
Other Contact: bonitokun@yahoo.com