Riu Borak Reviews

It was looking down on Croatia's green Dalmatian Islands from a flight to Corfu a couple of years ago that planted the idea of visiting its Adriatic coast. Having stayed in Rovinj in Istria last year, we opted to move further south and decided to try Bol on the island of Brac.

First comments about the hotel

We elected stay at the Riu Borak as we had used a Riu group hotel in the past and had an expectation of a good quality of accomodation.

We were not disapointed. Our room was compact but comfortable. We found the air conditioning a little too fierce and turned it off at night, but it kept the room as a cool retreat during the day. Our ";partial sea view"; turned out to be a glimmer of water through the trees, but a room with the full sea view would have put us over the pool which would not have been as restful as we would have liked.

Food was to a good standard and in buffet format there was plenty of choice (2/3 meat dishes, 2/3 fish dishes, 2 vegetarian options) and quantity was not a problem.

The hotel facilities were fine and we never had a problem finding space round the pool unless we'd tarried for extra coffees during a morning stroll round the village and harbour. The animation team seemed very capable at keeping youngsters occupied. Overall the staff were polite and friendly

And on to Bol town/village.

An elegant, polished stone, tree lined avenue passes by the hotel leading west to the Zlatni Rat beach and east to the town/village about 15 minutes away with another 15 needed to reach the farthest point of the harbour quayside and where the most relaxed cafes can be found.

It might have been the height of the season, but we found it not as busy as we'd expected. There's a small selection of shops but its not a major retail centre by any means. There's a lively buzz to the place.

As we were on half board and often settled by the pool at lunchtimes, we dropped down to the beach immediately in front of the hotel where we found the Restraunt Plaza Bora more than reasonable.

Excursions.

We chose to go on three, island hopping to Korcula and Mjlet and to Hvar and a largely coach based trip to Dubrovnik. All very enjoyable.

In conclusion, a good hotel and pleasant location. One we'd return to if we weren't set on exploring more of Croatia!