Hotel Pinija

So let’s start with the negatives: The hotel is very remote. Petrcane is tiny- 2/3 cafe- bars and a couple of tacky souvenir shops and two small supermarkets. Really nothing to hold you or entertain you for any time. Any taxi to get you anywhere has to start from Zadar- there are no local taxis and so the starting price no matter where you go is €30. The swimming pool is ridiculously small for the size of the hotel. The only “lounge” is reception. There is nowhere to go at night to sit quietly and have a drink. You’re lucky to get a seat - Other than the main restaurant- which I assume is open for a buffet lunch- there is no option to get any lunch other than the à la carte restaurant which opens at 1pm but serves full meals. You simply can’t get a sandwich or toastie. The positives: The room was adequate- dated but clean and had everything need and is cleaned every day and sheets changed often and towels daily. The food both for breakfast and dinner ( both buffet style) is on the whole very good. Plenty of choice, refilled regularly and table service is excellent. The Lido area is very good- plenty of beds and umbrellas. Unfortunately you have to pay €5 per bed but this for some unknown reason stopped half way through our holiday! Access to the sea is easy and it’s a lovely area to sit serviced by a beach bar serving drinks and ice cream but no food. The staff are exceptionally helpful- reception/ waitresses- waiters. The spa is lovely. Great facilities- great indoor pool. You can hire the jacuzzi, sauna, steam room for a private session and the views across the sea are amazing. Worth it. We wouldn’t stay here again but mostly because it is simply too remote without a car. We do like to walk to a town where there is a bit of life going on ( atmosphere- shopping- places to eat and drink) and unfortunately Petrcane absolutely does not offer this. If you simply want to use the lido- indoor pool- and not leave the hotel- it’s a good option. One final thing- the area is subject to heavy rainfall and thunder and lightning which we experienced twice in 10 days.

What can I even say about this hotel? I really can’t find many positive things to say, apart from the genuinely beautiful lobby and the restrooms near the entrance. Everything else is more or less disappointing. I can perhaps also praise the food, which is tasty. The hotel seems to be going through some kind of transition. The lobby is beautiful and renovated, but the rooms are far behind. They are poorly maintained, and it seems that savings were made on the choice of materials when they decided to make some effort to improve and renovate the rooms. You can clearly see from a distance that the hotel is old. They have tried to give it a more modern touch, but unfortunately, it has not been successful. The reception staff are very unfriendly and unprofessional. You ask a question and don’t get an answer. Compared with the rest of the staff, they are really at a very low level. The housekeeping staff are friendly and reasonable, and the same goes for the restaurant staff. Even though many of them are from Asian countries, they are nevertheless very friendly. In any case, the beach is nearby. It is mostly a concrete beach, with part of it covered in gravel. One section of the beach smells unbearably strongly of sewage. There is probably a wastewater treatment facility right there, so if you go to the beach, this is on the left-hand side of the hotel. There are also quite a lot of algae in that area, presumably due to sewage discharge. The animation team does make a considerable effort to provide entertainment for children and activities involving their mascot. Overall, I would give the hotel a rating of 2 out of 5. One star deducted because of the unfriendly reception staff. Another star deducted because of the poor rooms and low-quality materials. One more star deducted because of the sewage and the terrible smell. The two positive stars are for the restaurant staff and the food, as well as for the effort made by the animation team. It is also worth pointing out that during our stay, there were two significant issues in the room: a loose or damaged trim strip in the hallway and what appeared to be a leak. The latter was quite noticeable and will also be visible in the photographs. Neither of these issues was repaired or resolved during our stay, despite being clearly visible.

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.