Hotel Pinija

It’s ok. Doesn’t live up to photos which implies a luxurious destination. It’s more of a mass volume hotel. Fine, but not luxurious. Dated decor in the rooms. Old TVs without modern connectivity. They said they’d help with bags but nobody came. “You can park where you like” i.e. do it yourself, no valet option. Like I say. All good. Just not great.

We had a wonderful month here. There’s no need to go into detail about the location—the sea is beautiful at any time of day, it’s never crowded, and the lounge chairs are included in the price—with the wonderful pine trees providing natural shade. Another thing we really liked: since the entire tiny peninsula belongs to the Hotel Pinija, there are lots and lots of “hidden nooks.” A bench here, a beanbag there, mood lighting everywhere, couches—there are plenty of places to retreat to, and you can find a great cocktail anywhere :-) The restaurants are excellent; even on the half-board plan, they served high-quality dishes: sushi-grade tuna or rump steak, for example. Fish was on the menu every day: monkfish, mackerel, calamari, swordfish steak, tuna tartare.... The events were perfect, too. They were quite spectacular and entertaining. Our wedding anniversary also fell during this time, which we celebrated with private spa and enjoying a head spa treatment—so we got to try out the wellness area as well. We played mini-golf and petanque, and we never missed out on the artisanal ice cream either. :-) Special thanks to our smiling “Dobro jutro” housekeeper for making our beds fresh every day, and to the waitstaff—Anastasia, Sally, Nikola, the bearded waiter at the Golden Bar, and the new guy (Damian?). We’re also grateful to the Event team for the daily workouts :-))) ; the midday Aqua Aerobics sessions were always fun (and intense) and were led brilliantly by the two blonde girls and the team’s only male member. Since we stayed for such a long time, we can say that the number of families with young children varies—but we were never bothered by the many children or the abundance of children’s activities. Hotel Pinija stays one of our best vacations. A month that was never boring, and for which the hotel provided the perfect location, setting, and support by Hotel Pinija.

Hotel and room were beautifully decorated and immaculate, however, if you book this hotel be aware of the drinks service and hidden costs. There is no all inclusive option at this hotel , drinks at lunch and dinner are served by table service only. However, there were only 1-2 staff members max at each meal who served drinks. We stayed at peak summer time and they simply did not have enough staff working to cope with demand for drinks - there were 3 meals in which we didn’t have a drink as staff simply could not make it round to us. Further to this, once served they will ask if drinks are to be paid via cash, card or billed to the room. The first night we opted for cash. They do not take payment at the time they serve you the drink. This left us waiting for 15 minutes trying to pay for the drink at the end of the meal. We asked several staff members if we could pay but they advised their role was only to clear tables and they could not take payment. We charged all drink to the room after this in order to have smoother meal times. This worked well but if you do not keep track of what you have spending be prepared for a hefty bill. Drinks in the hotel are extortionate for context 300ml water is €5. Further to this there are hidden costs with sun loungers. The hotel pool is not big enough the accommodate all guests and has max 25 sun loungers around it. However the hotel is situated on a large beach front with ample space for everyone. The catch is, if you sit at the beach you have to pay €5 per sun lounger daily. They sun loungers at the beach are hotel branded. They cannot accommodate many guest around the pool but if you sit on the exact same sun lounger on the beach front ( which is on hotel grounds) they charge you. Depending how many are in your party and how many days you wish to use the beach this again can add another hefty fee to your trip.

It was a very good trip and I recommend this hotel specifically if you have kids and toddler. It is really family friendly. If the weather is not good enough to swimm outdoor pools,there would be many other options to do indoor. Nice indoor swimming pools,indoor playground and spa. The personnel were very kind. Specially thanks to Mr.Ali who helped me alot to find my lost gold earring. Enjoy!

The Pinija hotel sits right by the water. They have a small outdoor pool and a heated indoor pool. The rooms are very smart and clean, although I would have preferred a walk in shower than a shower over the bath. My shower lead was leaking heavily from the connection with the shower head so my water pressure was not great. The room had its own aircon but this was not working. Apparently everything is controlled centrally. Maybe because it was only May and the temperatures were not very high. I thought it odd that there were no free plug sockets in the room. If you wanted to charge anything you had to either unplug the kettle or the bedside lamp. Tea and coffee provided, but despite there being a fridge in the room there was no milk. Eventually sourced at the breakfast buffet in a cup and stored in the fridge. The food in the buffet was excellent with a huge choice, although my tip would be to get whatever you want to drink from the bar before you go in as ordering drinks once you were at your table was incredibly slow (around 10/15 minutes), there only seemed to be one waiter doing this among around 150 people. Prices in the bar were standard eg 2.50 for coffee, 5-6 euros for a beer, 8 euros for a G & T, wine around 25-30 euros a bottle. All in all an excellent place to stay