Hotel Plavi Plava Laguna

We kregen een fantastische aanbieding inclusief diner, overnachting en ontbijt. We konden niet geloven dat het mogelijk was maar het klopte inderdaad. Eten en drinken genoeg maar je moet wel van een zeer nette “vreetschuur” houden. Voor de rest prima hotel, kamer niet groot maar wel met uitzicht en de douche is wat krapjes.

Uredno, na sjajnoj lokaciji. Velik izbor hrane za svakoga po nešto i dobra kvaliteta hrane.

The room was small but the bed comfortable. It had some form of automated climate control. I don't think it was air conditioning but it kept the room cooler than the hallway. Really I only have two complaints. It is somewhat confusing on where to park. There are two parking lots, you park your vehicle and then bring your luggage in. Then you get a parking pass for the dashboard of your car. It is a pretty good walk. Not a big deal. My bigger complaint was that the elevator was out of service. We were on the top floor, which is 5 flights above the lobby. I have a heart condition and didn't love that. But I lived. The area is beautiful. I didn't have enough time to explore the bay, the many many activities that I could see from my window. It rained after we got there which cut short the walk-around which of course wasn't any fault of the hotel! I would stay there again, but I would either make sure the elevator was working or get a room on a lower floor. I had half board, which was breakfast and dinner. No need to go anywhere else, the dinner and breakfast were both very good.

A few people complain about the rooms/showers being small. I had an economy room with french bed, park side for single use. I was actually quite pleased with it and thought there was plenty of room. No balcony but I knew that when booking. I thought the food in the evening buffet was exceptional with lots of choice and the added bonus of soft drinks, wine and beer. The breakfast offering was fine but could have been improved by having some of the fresh fruit that was available in the evening buffet. The decor in the hotel is perfectly acceptable and the swimming pool was fine. Not a lot of sunbeds for the size of the hotel but I never struggled to get one mid afternoon. Loved the location, it is about an hours walk around the bay and through pine trees to get to Porec with fantastic views all the way round. If you don’t want to walk both ways (or either way) there is a small land train that costs €4 each way. I paid around €60 per night half board in the second week in June which I thought was very good value for a single traveller. Don’t bother with packages, get yourself a cheap Ryanair flight into Pula, hire a car and book a hotel directly on the Plava Laguna website. I stayed a few nights in Umag and then drove down the coast to Zelena Laguna to spend the last few nights at the Plavi.

Pros: Very good breakfast and dinner. A wide selection of food. Drinks incl with dinner. First line to the beach. No street with cars in front of the hotel. Pleasant early season prices. Cons: The hotel was built many decades ago. Therefore, there is no elevator in it and you will have to drag your suitcase up the stairs. First from the reception to the lobby, then depending on the building where you were settled. If in building C in second floor, then 3 more floors on your own with all the luggage. I do not know the reason, but the smell at the reception and in the lobby is very bad: periodically it smells of sewage. The lobby looks very nice with new and good furniture, and we would really like to sit there, chat, maybe play something, but the smell of drain forced us to leave this floor as soon as possible. The same smell is observed in other places on the peninsula when you walk around the pools of other hotels. Maybe the reason for the smell in the lobby is the pool, which is located on the same level behind the wall? Well, knowing that doesn't help with the smell. Dear management, please fix it. The rooms are VERY small. I've never been in such a small bathroom before. I've never sat on such a small toilet. I've never showered in such a small shower. Well, but everything was clean and seems to be recently refurbished. It is OK for short or business stay.

Prime example that a picture can lie a thousand words.. Hotel from outside is looking alright, of course it’s a old building, but it holds up okay. At the lobby we were a bit surprised that the reseption took our passports and they were just in a open locker behind them… (if anybody wants to make an ID scam and steal someones identity, thats the place to rob some passports…) they gave them back when we signed out. The whole hotel gives a bit too much negative ”eastern europe vibe” if you know what I mean.. Staff never smiled and they seemed to be in a bad mood. About the room, they were SMALL, after we opened our suitcase to the floor (cause there were no other place to it) the room was full. Bathroom was also small, as well as the shower. Room was very out-dated, no renovations had been done and you could hear everyhing what was happening outside the room, no noice-cancelling at all. Breakfast wasn’t so great either, also no gluten free food but rice cakes... I used one of the upstair lobby’s bathroom and it was very filthy!! 2 of the 4 toilets were clogged with feces and paper still on there.. and the one ”clean” i used had the most disgusting toilet cleaner brush I have ever seen.. Only pros that I have to say about the hotel is that it is located extremely well. The lagoon outside is stunningly beautiful, water is crystal clear, there is clean and showers everywhere outside as well as chairs to take sun. But still, I will not be staying here again.