Croatia Travel Blog

Archive for the ‘Rovinj’ Category

Hotel Lone

Don’t you love hotels with sleek, new amenities and facilities? Now that Istria has been annointed must-see-must-go-destination-of-the-year by a swarm of publications in 2011, local hotels are scrambling to present the finest accommodation experience. Millions of kuna are flowing into the coveralls of builders and architects to get Istrian hotels shiny and ready for this year’s expected influx of visitors. Here’s a look at some of the changes:

Hotel Histria: Pula‘s finest hotel will be even better after a 185-million-kuna investment by Pula’s Arenaturist. I stayed there last September and liked it as is but starting around May when the renovation is complete the hotel should be extraordinary. It will have four stars and be known as the Park Plaza Histria Pula.

Punta Verudela: Also on Pula’s woodsy Verudela peninsula, this two-star hotel and apartment complex needs a renovation and will get one. The exterior won’t change but expect more modern and spruced-up apartments.

Hotel Lone: Staying in this five-star wonder in Rovinj was one of the highlights of my trip to Istria last year. There’s not much to improve here but the hotel will get a new swimming pool.

Valamar Club Tamaris: This four-star all-inclusive resort near Porec is one of Istria’s best family hotels. Soon more will be able to enjoy it with the construction of 37 additional family suites.

Hotel Sol Garden Istria: Here’s another great family hotel in Umag, ready to improve with the construction of a whole new pool, water slide and entertainment area for kids. I can tell you from experience that this is a very lively kid-centric resort.

Hotel Melia Coral:Ready to leave the kids at home? This hotel is Croatia’s first for adults only. Enjoy the renovated night bar, beach club and the new sports playground for adults. It’s also in Umag.

Mobile Homes Park Umag: This luxury four-star camping resort will receive 22 new mobile homes. Stay here and avail yourself of three swimming pools and free internet access.

Hotel Neptun-Istra: This is the premier hotel on Veli Brijun, the inhabited part of the Brijuni Islands. It is currently receiving a six-million kuna upgrade and should be good to go for the summer season.

Hotel Velanera: Located in Sisan, only 8km from Pula, this brand-new four-star boutique hotel is surrounded by a huge landscaped park. The decoration reflects the latest in Italian design and of course you can expect a swimming pool, jacuzzi and fine restaurant.

See my choice of the Best Hotels in Istria

Learn to salsa? Practice your groove moves? The Salsa Festival in Rovinj will be the center of salsa on the Adriatic for seven days this summer. Beginning on the 19th and ending on the 24th of June, the ancient, hilly streets of Rovinj will throb to a Latin beat for the eighth edition of the Croatian Summer Salsa Festival. In ten venues around town, there will be workshops in Cuban salsa, Mambo, Rumba, Cha-Cha, Linear salsa and other forms such as Zouk and Bachatango. Instructors and artists from around the world will be on hand and nearly every night there’ll be a party, concert or show culminating in a party boat trip on June 25. Rovinj is one of the most delightful towns in Istria at any time but now with this Salsa Festival, who would want to stay at home? For information and online reservations click here.

What is a “design hotel” anyway? I know that was my first question before checking into the Hotel Lone in Rovinj. Will I need a user manual to turn on the faucets? Will my eyes open each morning to garish and puzzling paintings?

The answer to both questions at this remarkable new hotel is a resounding no. As the Hotel Lone explains on their website, a design hotel “nurtures the concept of interesting and functional spatial design”. Put simply, the Hotel Lone  is beautiful in every way and its beauty encompasses ease, comfort, and the simple  luxury of exquisite good taste.

Located within the Zlatni Rt forested park, a few minutes from Rovinj’s town center, the Hotel Lone is surrounded by old growth pine trees with the Adriatic glimmering a few hundred meters away. Now how do you create a thoroughly modern hotel in harmony with a wooded landscape? Why, you think of a cruise ship floating on the sea of course. The curving lines and stacked white balconies recall the prow and decks of an ocean liner floating on a sea of green.

For the interior of this 248-room hotel, the designers turned back in time for inspiration. The Croatian coast is dotted with massive but somewhat bland hotels built in the 70s to cater to package tourists.

The Hotel Lone design team used the spacious lobbies from that era but replaced the boxy look with an exciting and contemporary organization of space. The public areas incorporate three restaurants, a conference center that can seat 600 people, a night club, children’s club and a wellness center all organized around an atrium that stretches up six floors. Despite the size, the clever arrangement of furniture and decoration makes the lobby a comfortable place to relax.

The white, black and lustrous oak of the lobby area is carried over into the rooms each of which has a park or sea view and a balcony. Sure there are all the bells and whistles of a five-star hotel: plush bathrobes, top-end toiletries, flat-screen TV, free WiFi, separate tub and shower. But what really stands out is the sheer beauty of the design. Floor to ceiling mirrors are placed to reflect the outdoor scenery. A fabric wall covering illuminated from behind softens the bed area. Oak shutters separate the bathroom from the room which allows natural light to penetrate the bathroom while preserving privacy. The effect was soothing and I didn’t need to stress about how to regulate the AC, make a phone call or change channels on the TV. Everything was logical, well-explained and un-fussy.

Chain hotels have their place, but when I’m away from home I want to experience the country. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the Hotel Lone is that it showcases the very best of Croatian artists, designers, architects and materials. The oak is from Slavonia; the architectural team is Zagreb-based 3LHD working in conjunction with the design team, Numen/ForUse; young Croatian artists Ivana Franke and  Silvio Vujčić contributed sculpture and decorative elements. Even lamps, chairs and desks are designed and manufactured in Croatia.

I could have spent a week in the Hotel Lone. Soaking in the wellness center, swimming in the pools (outdoor and indoor) strolling the grounds, sampling the restaurants or just gazing at the view from my balcony would have been enough even without nearby Rovinj and the magnificent Zlatni Rt park. Alas, it was time to move on and all that was left was a memory. But what a memory.

Find out more about the Hotel Lone and book a room.

Rocky coves abound on Maskin.

Only a 20 minute boat ride from Rovinj is the wooded Crveni Otok or Red Island and what a gorgeous day we spent out there. I hadn’t been for years and was surprised when some locals told me that there was no more “FKK”, that is, that it was no longer an official naturist site. Red island is actually an island and an islet separated by a causeway. The main island is  Sv Andrija island a hub for water sports. The islet Maskin,  is utterly quiet and peaceful. Paths run through the pines, making it beautiful for walking. Even though not an “official” naturist site, the secluded coves are perfect for getting that all-over tan. A pair of rubber shoes comes in handy for getting into the crystal-clear water.

We were delighted to eat at the one restaurant on the island. Lavanda served up perfectly respectable pasta, seafood and salad.

This gorgeous peninsula, Zlatni Rt, is a protected park about a kilometer from Rovinj‘s old town. I highly recommend renting a bike as the easiest way to explore the park but make sure you take your bathing suit so you can plop down on one of the many pine-fringed coves! There are beach showers, but make sure to have a 2kn coin handy to get about 15 seconds of fresh water. There are also plenty of snack bars dotting the peninsula. Typical of Croatia: you’re never too far from sustenance.