Thursday, 23 February 2017

5-Star Dubrovnik: Boutique Hotel Kazbek

Thursday, 23 February 2017

5-Star Dubrovnik: Hotel Rixos Libertas Dubrovnik

This luxurious hotel is located 2 min walk from the beach and a 15-minute walk away from the Old Town of Dubrovnik. A 5-star experience starts with featuring a large spa with a year-round indoor pool and seasonal outdoor pools offering panoramic sea views, the 2-storey spa centre with a Turkish bath in addition to numerous rejuvenating treatment areas. Very distinctive selections of the International and Dalmatian cuisines coupled with a wide wine selection are available at the Champagne bar, Lalezar a la carte restaurant. Halal and Kosher meal options upon prior request.
Seasonal amenities include aqua aerobic, diving centre and tennis courts.
For the business and conference inquiries, there is a conference hall with a capacity to host 950 people, as well as 7 meeting rooms equipped with advanced technology.

Liechtensteinov put 3, 20000 Dubrovnik

For more information, and to book, click here.

 

Thursday, 23 February 2017

5-Star Dubrovnik: Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik Hotel

A few steps from the entrance to the Old Town, the Hilton Imperial hotel is a UNESCO World Heritage Site built in 1897. It was the first superior class hotel in Dubrovnik and it has maintained its reputation in the decades since. Most rooms offer picturesque views of the old city or the sea while visitors enjoy a harmony between the modern equipment and historic charm. The most popular city beach, Banje, is only 10 minutes walk from Hilton Imperial Hotel and the cable car lower station can be reached in only 5 minutes walk. Plenty of the facilities include glass-roofed indoor pool, fully equipped gym, full-service spa, and the sauna/steam room.
In addition, Hotel Imperial ballroom and 5 flexible meeting and event rooms with space for up to 250 attendees make the hotel a great venue for a wide range of large-scale meetings and conferences. Mediterranean-inspired menus are complemented by a selected list of Croatian and international wines at the Porat restaurant, while the Lobby bar is a perfect setting for informal meetings or evening cocktails before you head out to the Old Town.
 
Marijana Blažića 2, 20000 Dubrovnik
 
For more information, and to book, click here.
 

 
Thursday, 23 February 2017

5-Star Dubrovnik: Hotel Bellevue Dubrovnik

 
 
Thursday, 23 February 2017

5-Star Dubrovnik: Hotel Palace

Thursday, 23 February 2017

5-Star Dubrovnik: Hotel Excelsior Dubrovnik

Wednesday, 24 April 2013

Midrange Hotels in Split

Although more and more luxe accommodation is popping up in the city, there are still affordable stays available as most hotels in Split are still in the mid-range category. Please see below a list of preferred mid-range hotels in Split and click read more for further information.

Hotel Park****

(Hatzeov Perivoj 3; +385(0)21 406 400; www.hotelpark-split.hr)

Hotel Park is the flagship hotel of Split; opened in 1921, it is the oldest hotel in the city with over 90 years of tradition under its belt. It has 57 small rooms, many of which have sea vistas over the ever-popular Bacvice beach where it is located….read more.

 

Best Western Art Hotel****

(Ulica Slobode 41; +385 (0)21 302 302; www.arthotel.hr)

Situated 1.5km north of the city center and only a 15-minute walk to Diocletian’s Palace, this business hotel has 36 rooms and unlike its name suggests, there are not so many artsy features in the hotel, if any…read more.

 

Hotel Slavija ***

(Buvinina 2; +385 (0)21 323 840; www.hotelslavija.com)

The newly renovated Hotel Slavija has been around since the early 20th century so their experience in hospitality certainly dates back. The hotel is housed in a Renaissance-Baroque palace and sits above Diocletian’s ancient Roman baths from the 4th century…read more.

 

Hotel More***

(Šetalište Pape Ivana Pavla II 27; +385 (0) 21 462 112; www.hotelmore.hr)

More, meaning sea in Croatia, is a small eight room family-run hotel situated on the first row to the sea on Žnjan beachread more.

 

Hotel Bellevue***

(Bana Jospipa Jelačića 2; +385(0)21 345-644; www.hotel-bellevue-split.hr)

Located right next to the stunning red neo-Renaissance arches of the imposing Prokurative with open views to Riva’s seafront promenade, Hotel Bellevue is a Split institution although the interiors are a little chintzy…read more.

Wednesday, 24 April 2013

Hotel Luxe: A Violet Design Marvel

(A. Kralja Zvonimira 6; +385 (0)21 314 444; www.hotelluxesplit.com)

The ruins of a 100-year-old factory caught the eye of a local business couple that completely transformed this dying structure into one of the swankiest lifestyle hotels in the city. The innovative restoration of the space resulted in a 30-room design marvel with trendy furniture, hip wall deco, and warm fabrics, mostly accented in violets and white.

Sitting on Split’s main street leading down to the harbor front and Riva promenade, the building’s grey façade doesn’t reveal much however; you are sold as soon as you realize that this city hotel provides the best vantage point to the harbor and the islands with most rooms provide uncompromising sea views through panoramic windows.

Hotel Luxe has certainly brought something fresh to the hotel scene of Split, having developed a reputation for its top-notch service and attention to detail, and providing swanky facilities to match. The hotel has a swanky Cigar Lounge, lobby lounge, wellness center, and a restaurant with breakfast (even to-go) and local-Asian fusion business brunches. 

Tuesday, 2 April 2013

Hotels in Split: Hotel Split, An Eco Hotel in Podstrana

The new and swank Hotel Split is nestled at the edge of the water in Podstrana, just 8km from Split. This modern boutique hotel is “green” and has a certificate of energy efficiency meaning they are predominantly powered by solar energy, they practise recycling, use LED lighting, and encourage guests to save energy where possible without compromising the comfort of their stay. 

The hotel’s 40 rooms all have unobstructed sea views and offer Nordic-inspired interiors with light wooden tones matched with colorful feature walls. Hotel Split has a smashing rooftop pool deck where you can soak up the sun as you glare over the shimmering Adriatic before descending to the pebble beach for dip in the sea. On the rooftop and ground floor, Chef Vice cooks up modern Mediterranean fare in the Vagabundo Restaurant & Bar

 

A: Strožanačka 20, 21312 Podstrana

T: +385 (0)21 420 420

W: www.hotel-split.hr

Friday, 14 June 2013

Restaurant Goldcode: Perfected Gastronomy in Duće

(Poljička cesta 11A; 21310 Omiš; +385 21 735 557; www.hoteldamianii.hr) 

In the past few weeks, quite a few eateries have popped up in and around Split as the summer season kicks off and rumors of new openings keep spreading. I have been on eating duty to find out what’s new, hot and tasty in Split and I was particularly excited to be visiting a restaurant out of town that more and more friends in my foodie network were praising as THE gastronomic gem of Split!...even though it isn’t even in Split! 

Just before sunset, two friends and I ventured 25-minutes south of Split to the coastal village of Duće. Duće is, well, just a coastal settlement dotted with holiday homes popular amongst the Splićani for its beaches. The deluxe four-starred Hotel Damianii is located in Duće along the coastal highway and houses Restaurant Goldcode, our destination for the evening. The boutique hotel’s interiors are Fendi design-inspired with swanky fittings and upholsteries in cream and black tones.

The prim and proper restaurant interiors put you right into a fine-dining mode with plush booths, deep chairs, designer lamps, and panoramic windows that lead you onto a wide terrace with pool and sea views. Although the building is set back on the land plot from the road, the sound of traffic disturbs and throughout your visit, you wonder WHY would anyone with a sense of business place such a luxe product in a destination without any tourism offer other than a nice beach and a noisy road.

 

Despite the hotel’s rather odd location, our jaws dropped when we skimmed the tasting menu; the dishes sounded so tempting and original that I once again had to double check whether I indeed was in the Split-Dalmatian county! I then learned that Chef Špiro Pavlić who once worked in Dubrovnik’s famed Restaurant Nautika and trained in the world-renowned Noma in Copenhagen, conquered the Goldcode kitchen…in Duće! Ok, enough about Duće and on to focusing on what matters, the food!

Goldcode will launch their a la carte menu in late June but we had the pleasure of being presented with two tasting menus; one of three courses for 220kn and the other of five for 330kn. Skimming the wine list I spotted many of my favorite Croatian wines but I found that the prices were indeed much higher than in the city; for instance, Pošip Čara was priced at 260kn where in town the price averages 160kn. We opted for a versatile rosé, the sassy Dingač St. Heels from Saints Hills Winery. As the friendly and perhaps slightly over-formal waiter took care of all the details, he informed us that we could combine any courses from either of the menus according to our liking so we all combined a varied menu of three courses each. 

As we waited for our starters of cuttlefish salad, a trio soup and a tortellini, we devoured the warm breadbasket of hearty buns with truffle, bacon and onion in the mix and the amuse bouche, a cold vegetable soup with Parmesan sticks.

My cold salad of cuttlefish with mango, olive oil, honey and citrus emulsion was light, sweet and acidic; a refreshing early summer combo to open up my appetite.

My dining partners in crime enjoyed a trio soup and a tortellini. The waiter poured a shellfish cream soup over julienne vegetables and apple purée at the table. Otherwise slightly reluctant when it comes to creamy soups, this was a winner, a soup for the senses that was not over-creamed; hearty and smooth, this was an Adriatic flavor bomb! The veal-stuffed homemade tortellini came with an intricately spiced mustard sauce which won the heart of my foodie friend.

 

As a main course, two opted for the Best of Veal, a wintery dish of veal fillet with sherry sauce, potatoes dauphinoise, mashed peas, and beetroot. Although the waiter didn’t ask how well done we wanted our meat to be prepared, Chef Špiro’s execution of an otherwise classic dish was spot on.

The table’s third diner went for the Macaroni and Shrimp, a homemade tri-color pasta, indigenous to the island of Korčula, in a flavorsome (thankfully non-creamy) shrimp sauce topped with a shrimp skewer. Although wholesome, this rustic plate was a little out of place and could do with some added flair or re-interpretation…perhaps a deconstruction.

 

The moment we had all been waiting for, dessert! We all opted for the Tonka, a milk chocolate cream with tonka (a rare bean similar to vanilla but distinctly fruity and spicy rather than floral) topped with Amaretto jelly and gold-leaf on a macaron. This naughty little dessert blew our socks off; the sweetness of the macaron and chocolate were well contrasted with the tang of Amaretto…and it all just melted in your mouth.

We were so thrilled about the dessert that we just had to try the other dessert also on offer, the Caramel Mousse with almond and hazelnut cream covered in a chocolate glaze. This creative semifreddo re-interpretation is something I urgently need to have on stock at home; Špiro! I am ordering a batch!

 

Before drifting back home to Split, the humble chef came out to greet us with a sweet platter of lemon jelly, homemade Rocher, and choco-cornflake bars; the perfect icing on the cake after a spectacular experience for my taste buds. 

Restaurant Goldcode truly offers a unique gastronomic experience however, its odd location is a pity as it is out of view and out of the way for customers; there was actually only one other table of guests in the restaurant. I look forward to my return when Chef Špiro Pavlić launches his a la carte menu so I can flavor some of the things he has in store for us this summer.

 

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