Latest Reviews for Hvar

We've just come back from a week in Hvar.
The flight was delayed a couple of hours but very pleasant when we did get away.
It was very well organised the other end and we were through arrivals very quickly. Outside the Rep was waiting to direct us to our coach..

We had a short bus ride to the harbour and then a 2 hour trip on a cat to the island.

The hotel was basic but very clean and the staff were helpful. The hotel is currently being refurbished but as we were on the third floor our room hadn't been done but still very acceptable.
The food was quite repetative but acceptable. Quite a good variety.
The drinks in the hotel were not overpriced as often happens.
There is table tennis and crazy golf available for a small fee.
We didn't bother with the swimming pools as they didn't appeal to us.

The island of Hvar is beautiful, very picturesque, an ideal place for a relaxing, chill out holiday.
We would defineately go back but a couple of weeks earlier ie: end of August beginning of September as a few of the trips we fancied were not running as it was the end of the season.
The Island of Brac is easy to get to and well worth a visit, nice beaches although vey stoney.
We found the food in the restaurants excellent and very reasonably priced.
Alcohol on the Islands is about half the price you pay on the mainland.
It was easy to make phone calls to the UK, the best place is the post office where you go into a booth, make all your calls and then pay on the desk when you come out.
I made three calls lasting a few minutes each and they cost about £2.40.

Overall a fabulous holiday and we would certainly like to go back.

Hotel mina is an older hotel, but none the worse for that. Only problem was that all rooms have revolving toilet seats! Small swimming pool approx 15metre square well kept.
Good tennis courts, table tennis, and crazy golf. Evening entertainment is provided but not rivetting! Kids club free to hotel residents.

Restaurant is well run, buffet style, but dinners are bland.
Beach does not exist, there is almost no sand in Croatia, sunbath around pool on free sunbeds or walk (5 mins) to the Mina beach, it's really an extensive patio that gets quite crowded, sun beds are £2 each for the day, or buy a cushion bed from Jelsa town and lie on the patio most people do.
Swimming is good, water very clean and clear but use swim shoes as there are spiney Urchins everywhere. Don't let it put you off, £3 for shoes problem solved. take a snorkel and swim with fishes.

There are virtually no locations of interest for trips, Go to Hvar for half day on local bus. Catch the water taxi to Bol beach. We went to Dubrovnik, £75 each on the hydrofoil including all travel, entry fees,and a good guide for first hour on foot. Cheaper on ferry/bus but the journey is long and you only get three hours in the City. in Dubrovnik forget the Aquarium there are more fish to be seen in the sea.

Jelsa town is actually a very nice harbour, not crowded, bars, restaurants etc have good service. Walk the back streets, very intersting history, at night little doors open to show lots of excellent restaurants, Meal for Four was between 400 Huna and one night 1000 Huna, including all drinks. English is not well understood, our request for milk coffee produced lemon tea, just laugh.

I went to Hvar for a one-week holiday with my sister, who was very keen to go to Croatia. After much deliberation we chose Hvar, one of the Dalmation islands, as our destination. The holiday was a huge disappointment, mostly due to the fact the apartment was so awful:

- As soon as we entered our apartment (no. B3) we were taken aback by how depressing the decor was and how claustrophobic and 'prison cell'-like it felt.
- The kitchen was poorly equipped. There was no oven (as stated in the brochure), no toaster (which would have been especially appreciated as there was no oven) and no kettle or kettle pot. The fridge made frequent rattling, mumbling sounds that kept waking us up at night. In addition, the kitchen units were in poor condition: old and deteriorating.
- The bathroom was tiled from floor to ceiling in dark brown tiles, which aside from being very unattractive, probably made what was already a dark room even darker. Showers could only be taken in daylight as the shower was in a corner, separated from the window and electric light by a high wall, and the shower area was very dark even in daylight.
- There was no hot water in the apartment after the first three days of our holiday.
- On some days during our stay the weather was rainy and windy, when the apartment was very chilly as there was no heating.
- The depressing ambience extended to the outside area, which consisted of a plain paved area, furnished only by a plastic table, chairs and umbrella, and surrounded by high walls on all sides: on three sides the walls of our and the adjoining apartments, and the front, facing side, an imposing, tall stone wall. The entrance was a tall dark gate. There were no plants or any other objects to distract from the closed-in and stark feel. Sitting in this area, even with the gate open, felt isolating and claustrophobic.
- The layout of Trim Apartments is isolating for all guests: there is no opportunity to meet and talk to other people staying there. There was a bar and a shop, but the bar was closed all the time and the shop was very rarely open. In addition, the reception was very rarely open.
- There were very few English-speaking TV channels - only CNBC and CNN - which would be very frustrating for families with children as neither of these channels are really suitable for children.

We told our representative of the problems and said we really wanted to move to other self-catering accommodation, and were willing to move to any other part of Croatia if necessary. They were unable to offer us alternative self-catering accommodation, only hotels, for which we would have had to pay extra.

The Arkada Hotel nearby, at which Trim guests can use the facilities, is also a very strange place. It felt very institutional, with darkened brown windows throughout and an unmaintained, scruffy, plain central garden area inhabited by noisy peacocks.

The representative's local knowledge was very lacking. For example, when we asked about walks in the area she claimed there weren't any, but we subsequently found a few paths that were both established and well-marked.

We also suffered significant travel delays in both directions, on the flights, boats and buses, though had our accommodation been better we wouldn't have minded too much!

After deciding to go to Croatia, we chose to travel with Holiday Options because we thought as a specialist holiday operator they would be more reliable than a bigger company, but we certainly did not receive 'the highest standards of holiday quality, personal service and value for money', as their brochure asserts.

The brochure said that their 'team of travel professionals have personally selected the resorts, hotels and apartments in this brochure for their comfort, facilities, location and ambience'. We are very puzzled how they can possibly have visited Trim Apartments and thought it was up to the required standard. The description of Trim Apartments in their brochure was very misleading: they are certainly neither 'attractive' nor 'well-maintained', and we feel either knowingly or otherwise Trim Apartments were misrepresented in the brochure, leading us to book a holiday that we would definitely not have done had we known what they were really like.

On a more positive note, we enjoyed exploring the island of Hvar (in rather inclement weather!). The island is lovely, though personally I did not find it as beautiful as the Greek or Balearic islands. Hvar town itself is lovely - well worth exploring. However, Stari Grad, though clean and well-kept, was quite down-at-heel and I think you can sense the lack of opportunity and freedom that people there have had over the years. In addition, we came across a nearby village that was almost deserted, with many properties becoming derelict - we don't know what had happened there, but pondered whether perhaps they were holiday homes of people from mainland Croatia who had been killed in the war in the nineties. The war being so recently in Croatia's history felt a little 'too close for comfort' for me, so I wouldn't recommend Croatia as a place to 'get away from it all'. It is, however, very interesting. Most people we met were friendly and helpful, and Hvar's bus service was very good value and reliable.

We complained about our holiday to the tour operator (to no avail) and pointed out the health and safety issues with Trim Apartments. We suggested that if they do offer Trim Apartments again in future brochures, they should describe it more honestly, to save other holiday-makers from suffering the same disappointment we did.