Verudela Beach And Villa Resort Reviews

WE flew direct from Edinburgh to Pula, a small airport, we were the only plane in the airport which made getting through very quick. Half hour transfer to Punta Verudela and our accomodation. Umag is another 2 hours up the coast!. The resort is huge and was busy but then again it was high season. There are two parts Punta Verudela and Beach and Villa. Where we were was more shaded and quieter but a good 10 -15 minute trek to the shops and most of the restaurants, all uphill.

ACCOMODATION
Recently refurbished and very good indeed, clean ,new and with fittings that did not come from Ikea, therefore they actually work and do not collapse when you look at them. Plenty of storage space and a good shower room. The hot water is in a tank and once it has been emptied it takes a few hours to refill.. get in the shower first. Cooking facilities do not include a microwave, toaster, kettle or oven but you can cook and eating out is so cheap. There's no AC or fan but just open a window and let the coolbreeze of the sea flow in. We did not have a sea view but we were literally 20 yards from the beach. There is SAT TV but we could only find one English Language station and that was CNN Business. Still the kids got used to Spongebob Scharmkoft.
FACILITIES
Plenty of sports, tennis, five a sides, mini golf(which is rubbish), table tennis and you can do all sorts of water sports at the Brioni Hotel, trampolines and bouncy castles galaore for the kids. You have to pay for all of these but they don't cost much. How anyone can want to play tennis in temperatures of 90+ is a mystery to me.
SHOPS
Not a lot on site, one not bad supermarket, prices were about the same as here and unless you have a car that is your only choice. We found ourselves shopping there most days for essentials like bread, juice and beer. There's also a couple of tourist shops, an beach inflatable and tack shop, a wee laundry and bizarrely a tattoo parlour and a Bhuddist souvenir shop.
Plenty of shops in Pula and it's only about ten minutes away in the bus.

BEACHES
All are either rocky, shingle or concrete, don't let that put you off, the water is so clear and warm, loads of fish to see and easy access. You do need to buy some swimming shoes, they sell them in the inflatable shop for a fiver and they protect your feet from sharp rocks and spiky sea urchins. They got very crowded by lunch time but take a tip from the locals, in the heat sit in the trees and let the mad dogs burn in the sun. The beach by the giant waterslide was good, as was the Ambrella Beach, the others were good but the one by the Park Hotel is dominated by huge gangs of very loud and very rude teenage Italians and Germans.
You can hire umbrellas and beds for £3 for the whole day and Pedallos for £7 for an hour.
Swimming Pools there are three you can use. The main two are busy but big and kids love them, big water slide near by at £2 for 12 goes. All pools are salt water. The pool at the Park Hotel is much quieter and is nice at the end of the day.
JELLY FISH-A Warning
If you hear the cry of Medusa, get yourself and your family out of the water. There is a small pink jellyfish which does now and again drift into the beaches here. Our six year old daughter got badly stung and had to be pulled from the water. No one seemed to know what to do, some locals suggested rubbing a stone from the sea on the sting and applying ice. Later I found out that you need to scrape out the stings and apply vinegar to the stings, this stops them injecting venom. We did not know this and had a screaming child for two hours until the Nurofen and ice kicked in. Later we had to seek medical help as they got infected. Sadly after that she was very wary about going in the sea.

RESTAURANTS
As we didn't have a car we ate in most of the places in the resort, a few in Pula, one in Fanzan and one on Brijuni.
BOSKARIN BISTRO-Next to the mini golf. Quiet and shuts at 10pm. Food was ok we paid about £23 for three meals, salads and wine.
BISTRO OLIVA
The restaurant at the pools. We had lunch and dinner here and both were fine. Great staff who seem to work about 18 days. We paid £33 for dinner for all of us but we did have a £9 bottle of wine.
PIZZERIA
Big , brash and next to the Terrace show bar, actually very nice food, great service and even a free plum brandy at the end.
JAPANESE BAR
Splendid views of the sunset and Ambrella beach. Decent food and drink, nice staff.
We paid £44 here for three meals, including Bream and a £15 bottle of wine.
The LIGHTHOUSE RESTAURANT
Right on our doorstep and excellant food, prices and staff. Splendid views of the sea, we saw dolphins twice right in front of us in the bay. Whole sea bass and veg for £7!!
RIBARSKA KOLIBA
PLease go here, it is superb. Down by the marina and splendid views of the boats and the sea. Luxurious seating and wonderful food. In the UK it wpould be a snotty MIchelin Star place with prices to match. Here, it is a lovely place with great staff, who made us feel very welcome. You'll pay a bit more but it is well worth it. WE paid £50 but we shared a huge fish platter, our daughter devoured a whole steak and we had some very nice wine as well
You'll find that most places offer very similar menus, grilled meats,fish,pizza, pasta and salads.
The beer is nice but try the bottled stuff and the wine can be very poor if you go for the cheap house stuff sold by the litre. Istrian wine is superb, so please splash out on the top wine in the list, it will only be about a tenner, here it would be £40.

TRIPS
WE went to Brijuni on the organised tour, you get to see the island from a little train and get a whistle stop tour. You get wizzed past the Roman Ruins and the animals and then get dumped for an hour on your own. WE skipped the boat back, went to an amazing beach just five minutes walk away and caught the last boat back to Fanzan and then the service bus back to Pula.
The Fish Picnic to Jerolim was also very good, well worth the cost.
The Glassboat trip in the evening was frankly crap, we saw nothing and a diver had to go down with a bucket of sea things and pretend to find them on the sea bed. A dolphin did just about jump into the boat but apart from that I'd say give it a miss, you can see more snorkling.
Pula is worth a few visits and the Amphitheatre id amazing and only £2 to get in!.
Some other people went to Rovinj and Porec and even Venice but we were happy with what we did. I found the Croatians to be without exception, polite, welcoming, helpful and almost all spoke English.
I would go back to Croatia tomorrow, it is a lovely country with a lot going for it, things may change when they join the EEC and take on the Euro but go now or next year.

Apartments were very basic. Sea was clear, warm and beautiful. Swimming pools were suitable for all ages. The shared facilities were within easy walking distance of each other eg. tenis, squash, football pitches, vollyball, trampolines, bungee jumping, basketball, supermarket, cafes, restaurants and bars. The open air cocktail bar provides live evening entertainment.

Local buses into Pula are 2a and 3a. Kids travel free. Fantastic, cheap pizza available at Jupiter Restaurant in Pula, and cheap, cheap, cheap meals available at Splendid Self Service near the fruit market.

Only complaints: Towels were only changed once during two week holiday and bedding not changed at all. NO shade at all poolside, except in Cafe. Sunshades few and far between.

Basically, the kids were happy so we were happy. Very good family destination.