Croatia Travel Blog

Archive for the ‘Istria’ Category

This week’s Telegraph has a wonderful article about Croatia’s Summer Festivals. Sure, everyone’s heard of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival. It’s great but how about something less, ahem, touristy? The article suggests a number of great festivals where you can enjoy the arts and avoid the mobs. For example, there’s the Rapska Fjera in Rab Town, a startlingly original medieval festival. A film buff? Try the Motovun Film Festival in beautiful Motovun. Foodies flock to the October Truffle Festivals in Istria. Music lovers are serenaded at Groznjan (contrary to the article, it’s not only jazz available) and the Lubenice musical nights in Cres Island.

See more about when to go to Croatia.

So you’ve been to Istria and you want to set up house there? The Financial Times has a highly informative article covering all aspects of buying a house or apartment in Istria whether for a residence or a rental property. From feuding families to bureaucratic hurdles the buyers profiled in this article managed to overcome it all to build their dream houses.  Unlike the fevered buyers that swept down from the UK a few years ago, today’s buyers are more likely to be Italians and Slovenians than Brits.  Russians are also entering the picture even though non-EU citizens must obtain government approval of a property purchase. It’s true that the property market in Croatia has cooled down this past year but Istria remains a good investment as well as an extraordinarily good place to live.

Go to article.

Read more about buying property in Croatia or about Istria.

If you build it they will come–play golf in Croatia. Except ‘they’ haven’t yet been flocking to play golf on the 18-hole course just opened by the Kepinski Hotel Adriatic in Savudrija. The Istrian coast is not exactly balmy in winter so the Kepinski folks may have to wait until spring before the greens are full of golfers. Still, the mammoth spa and wellness centre attached to this luxury hotel should attract guests throughout the winter.

Now Dubrovnik wants in on golf tourism. Golf legend Jack Nicklaus helped design the Kepinski course? Today, golf legend Greg Norman is presenting his design for a golf course atop Srd Hill overlooking Dubrovnik’s Old Town. The project would be worth nearly 900,000 euros if accepted and Mr. Norman would stand to gain significantly as he is one of the investors.

As in Istria, the golf course would be part of a vast luxury resort targeted at the most well-heeled travellers. Golf courses are heavily dependent on the tourism that they are designed to attract because, as it turns out, very few Croatians play the game.

Read more about golf in Croatia or more about the Kepinski Hotel Adriatic.

As the Washington Post recently reported, the Croatian economy is facing dire problems. Once the summer tourist season ends, “Croatia’s unemployment will rise and living standards deteriorate”. The unemployment rate which currently stands at 14% will rise to God-knows-what level while labor unions are gunning up for massive demonstrations in September.

Is that a reason to put the family jewels on sale? The Croatian government apparently thinks so. Rumors are that the Brijuni Islands, a Croatian National Park in Istria and former hideaway of late Prez Tito, are on the block.  Do you have an extra billion or so euros? These delightful islands could be yours.  Actually, the price is a bargain; a couple of years ago the asking price hovered around two billion euros but the property market in Croatia has gone into a serious decline. As the New York Times just reported, prices have fallen 20 to 25% this last year and most real estate professionals expect prices to fall even further.

Under those circumstances, raking in a billion or so euros for the Brijuni Islands is probably not a bad idea. Unlike other Croatian islands, there’s no regular ferry service to the islands as hardly anyone lives there. Although of great historical and even archaeological interest (traces of Roman settlements and dinosaur footprints) the islands have not been a great performer on Croatia’s tourism scene. It could be a prestige location but the hotels need serious work and private accommodation is non-existent. A deep-pocket investor could turn a nice profit.

Once a humble Istrian fishing village, Rovinj has been quickly moving up in class.  The old town remains an appealing jumble of stone streets and pastel houses but head just a little out of town and you reach Istria’s first five-star resort, the Hotel Monte Mulini.

Once a glum package-tour complex, the Monte Mulini has been completely overhauled by an international design firm. The newly opened resort is now a showcase for how a luxury hotel can blend with rather than defy its surroundings.

The white stone is entirely consistent with the stone used in building old Rovinj but the look is entirely contemporary. The hotel is set into a wooded hillside and features a dramatic glass wall that highlights the breathtaking sea views. Each one of the 109 rooms and ten luxury suites boasts a sea view.

The hotel is ecologically-correct as well. The curved roof was designed to take advantage of the shade to minimize the need for air-conditioning but still allow in plenty of light and sea breezes.

I predict that the new resort will soon win major national and international awards for luxury and  fine design.

Read more about the Monte Mulini resort; check prices and availability.

See more about Croatia’s best hotels and more accommodation in Rovinj.