Hotels Hedera Narcis And Mimosa Reviews

Hotel Mimosa, Hedera, and Narcis,are all basic 3 star hotels,not all rooms have A/C,some have no view only the sky.
Good swimming pools, ideal for familys,the coast of Istria is all rock no sand you MUST buy shoes(£5) if you venture into the sea it is full of sea urchins with barbed spines,you can buy a mattress for the rocks for £6-10 at resort, chairs and umbrellas are £2: 50 each per day.
Once in Rabac you are a little isolated,you can only get from there with excursions from Hotels,as busses are very infrequent.
You can get to Labin and walk back through the trees to Rabac the path starts at the end of the cobbled road towards Rabac on the right,a plan of the walk is on the wall near the tourist office,not for high heels some parts are a scramble,takes about 45 mins down.

Really pleasant hotel. French seemed to be at the Mimosa next door and Russians at the Narcis. Good choice of meals, plenty to eat. Rooms cleaned and fresh towels every day. Only down side was that there was only one way to stroll each evening.! Rovinj was absolutely beautiful to visit. Opatikja was disappointing. Would go to the country again. Very pleasant people. Local taxi driver would take 4 people anywhere for the same as bus fare.

Hedera Narcis and Mimosa Hotels, Rabac, Istria.

June 2005

Holiday in general:

This 8 day half board holiday was booked in early 2005 with Page and Moy, a Travel Company with a good reputation who advertise regularly in the quality press. Rabac, pronounced 'Rabach', is a small village on the Eastern side of The Istrian Peninsular in Northern Croatia. Most of the other larger and more popular resorts such as Pula, Rovinj and Porec lie on the flatter Western side of the peninsular. The Hotels are situated at the head of the beautiful Maslinica Bay, (named presumably after the company that owns the three hotels).

This is a beautiful spot that looks out to the Island of Cres, pronounced 'Tres'. Our short flight of 105 minutes was from Gatwick to Pula, Istria. 2005 is the first year that British tourists have returned in any number to this part of Istria. Istria region borders Italy at Trieste and the Ljubjana region of Slovenia. This area was hardly touched during the civil war that took place with the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

More info can be found at these websites:

page-moy.co.uk/specialoffers/tourlists/croatia.htm
travel.guardian.co.uk/readeroffers/europe/page/0,12302,1393886,00.html
maslinicarabac.com/

The Hotels:

In early June all Page and Moy guests were accommodated in the Hedera. The Hotel was multinational with German and British guests in the majority. Mimosa was occupied by non- British guests and the Narcis was empty, but was being prepared for use later in the season.

The three Hotels are of 3 star standard and have been improved in recent years by the Italian owner. They appear to have been built in the 1970's and externally have quite an austere appearance. This is why the hotels are not depicted in the brochure. They are quite comfortable and clean inside however.

The hotels sit side by side at the head of the bay. It is well worth spending the extra small supplement for a sea view, preferably with a balcony, as there is no view from the rear of the hotel due to steeply rising ground. Much has been spent on the hotels' swimming pools and external areas, which are excellent and are pictured in the brochure. The gardens were extremely well maintained and we have never seen so many roses in a garden anywhere. There were ample sunbeds available around the pools and in the gardens, however umbrellas had to be hired from reception. Inside the hotel was not at all austere. It was kept scrupulously clean by the hard working staff.

The hotel company appears to own and run a large campsite adjacent to the hotels which was occupied by caravans, camper vans, chalets and a few tents. This was not a problem at all. Safes were available in all rooms free of charge, so long as a returnable deposit was paid to obtain a key. Drinks prices in the hotels were reasonable and free tea and coffee was offered to guests each day from 4.00 to 5.00 pm. A cake was also offered but this was a bland piece of puff pastry and not worth bothering with. It was possible to run a 'tab' and pay the total bar bill at the end of the week via credit card.

The only real downside to the hotel we felt was the standard of food, which was generally below the expectations of other guests as well as ourselves. We also felt that the atmosphere was akin to eating in a works' canteen. As a result we twice ate at the outside grill restaurant on site. You receive 40 Kuna (£4) per person discount if you eat there, rather than in the main Hedera restaurant. You get a voucher from reception for the 40 Kuna and then pay the difference (you can not add this to your hotel tab). This represented reasonable value for money and is fine unless you are on a tight budget. We also ate out in Rabac (an easy 10 minute walk away along a flat coastal path) on two other occasions which meant we only had to use the ";works' canteen"; for breakfast and three evening meals. Expect Mediterranean type cuisine at restaurants away from the hotel, with plenty of fish available on the menu.

Outside the Hotel / Touring with Page and Moy and Kompas Travel:

We can highly recommend Restaurant Capitano, which is right around the bay in Rabac, Restaurant Terasa, up some steps near the supermarket in the harbour corner and Restaurant Miramar, which is one of the first you come to when you walk to Rabac. For a lunchtime snack sandwiches are hard to find so we ended up sharing a Pizza between us most days, which is standard practice, so two plates are provided! The lager beer and ice creams are excellent all over Istria. We caught the public bus to the nearest inland town of Labin, on top of the hill. There isn't much there to see, but we enjoyed a lunch, a walk around and then took a woodland path back to the hotel. It is about 3 miles downhill. Good shoes or trainers are essential. Very safe and easy to find if you ask at the Tourist Information Office or ask one of the café waiters. Almost everyone speaks English.

Kompas Travel is a local company which has a partnership arrangement with Page and Moy and provides an excellent guided travel service. The trips, which are available at extra cost, we would highly recommend. The guides speak good English and are extremely knowledgeable. We took the catamaran day trip to Venice, including coach at 490 Kuna each (£49). The fast boat trip took 135 minutes each way. We also undertook two other coach tours around Istria that were excellent and very educational.

We enjoyed good weather apart from a thunderstorm which ruined about half a day. We enjoyed the holiday and the region very much and will be returning to Croatia for another holiday within the next few years. This was our second visit - we went to Dubrovnic in 2001. Although the food in the hotel was below expectations the holiday still represented good value for money and we think it highly likely that the food will improve as the hotel company realizes from the guests' questionnaire comments what standard is expected. Remember to budget for the extra cost of the trips, they are very worthwhile! Good Luck.

Phil and Judy Catterall, North Yorkshire.

Page and Moy have only started going to Croatia this year I believe but the holiday was excellent and the reps very helpfull.
Rabac is avery pretty village with wonderfull views,The hotel apeared to have been completely refurbished inside and the
staff were all very pleasant.
Highly recomended for value for money.