Island Hotel Istra

What a beautiful place to stay. The hotel was absolutely lovely. The island is beautiful. Downside for our experience was the restaurant and food situation. The restaurant was vey busy at times. We decided to dine late in an attempt eliminate the madness of it all. The food I ate was never very warm. In actual fact it is fair to say that only once over a six night stay I found something hot in temperature to eat! A tasty carbonara which had come straight out of the kitchens. I dropped lucky that evening!!! Because of this, my overall rating is marked down. The dining experience did not match the experience of our lovely stay on the island.

This hotel is a wonderful place to stay, my partner and I stayed here for 10 nights and had absolutely no complaints. The staff were lovely, all common areas spotless and the room was perfectly fine. The ferry to Rovinj was always on time and we loved Rovinj. We will absolutely return.

We are a family of two adults and one child aged 4. We spent 7 nights at Istra Island Hotel this July via TUI. Location Location is absolutely beautiful, scenic wherever you are on the islands. There are two small islands that you can walk between, one with the hotel and pools and the other with an additional restaurant. Not only are there gorgeous sea views and swimming on both but peaceful pine woodland. I enjoyed going for strolls around both and sitting peacefully to read my book. We liked spotting the lizards and swallows. You can only get to the hotel via ferry so this can be limiting if you are looking for more things to do however, the ferry does run every hour to the mainland. On the day we arrived it was stormy which meant that the ferry was delayed and once we got on it was extremely choppy (one person was injured). I believe that TUI had arranged alternative accommodation on the mainland in case we could not travel over. Amenities and entertainment There are a few pools outdoors and an indoor pool and jacuzzi. All were well maintained and there was plenty of space and loungers. There are no lifeguards on duty. You can access the beach/sea at various points around both islands. There are additional water activities you can pay for. There is a small gym. There was an animation programme, but I only really noticed aqua aerobics and drone flying lessons. There is a kids club for 4+ yrs where you can leave your kids. It was running 10-3pm during our stay but I think the hours vary depending on the amount of people staying. My daughter stayed at the kids club one morning on her own, she had no complaints. We didn’t see any entertainment, there was a mini disco for kids most evenings. I think there might’ve been a band one night and maybe we missed it. A lot of people seemed to go into Rovinj by ferry in the evening. Room The room was modern and well maintained. We didn’t feel the housekeeping was as good as it could’ve been. We only had 1 toilet roll for 3 people for a week and had to ask for more. There was no TV remote so we had to ask for that too. It was hit and miss with bed making and I actually cleaned the floor twice myself. We usually leave a tip at the end but didn’t this time. Food and dining The main restaurant is buffet style breakfast and lunch. As others say it can get extremely chaotic, with some people being quite aggressive with shovelling enormous food portions on their plates leaving nothing for others. The staff clearly work very hard to try their best but the cafeteria doesn’t seem able to accommodate everyone at peak times. That being said, we have stayed at similar places and as long as you can be equally pushy you’ll be fine. We are pretty good at standing our ground. My main gripe about the food is that I would not recommend staying here if you have allergies or dietary requirements. A lot of foods aren’t labelled at all or are labelled incorrectly. I mostly eat vegetarian food and don’t eat fish at all so it was quite challenging for me. I think my favourite instances were trying to get some ‘vegetable soup’ which had hot dog pieces floating in it and the ‘four cheese pasta’ which was spaghetti with ham pieces mixed in. Things aren’t really cooked separately either e.g. they’ll just put out the plain cheese pizza slices with meat and fish pizza slices on top of each other. I asked about some things being vegetarian but I don’t think the cooks understood me very well. The actual quality of the food was good though, if you like seafood then you’re on to a winner. You have to venture out to get lunch, I recommend the pizza/pasta restaurant as you can get a takeaway pizza to share. Overall The location is fantastic and if you want to take it slow and relax this is for you. I think some of the kids were bored, there were a lot of people there without children. I would’ve liked a more personal touch. We have stayed in other resort hotels and developed good relationships with certain staff at dinner or reception and it made our stays feel that bit more special - and made us tip more! I would stay again but as a couple. I imagine our sunset walks around the island would’ve been far more enjoyable!

So this holiday was a bit of an experiment for us. I use a wheelchair so we normally go to familiar flat resorts like in the Canaries. I knew this area and hotel would have the odd challenge but decided to give it a go! We picked the Island Hotel Istra as liked the novelty of being on our own island. Also, importantly I had a very positive experience on the phone with them before booking, where they advised me on the best room and reassured me about getting around the hotel. We booked the executive suite as we have two grown up children, wanted to be together, and the space was great for an adult family...the boys had their own room and we had ours. As a wheelchair user it was tight but worked, note tho that my chair is only 15". I can also manage a couple of steps with support. You would not be able to get around all sides of the bed otherwise but I knew this after talking with reception first. There was also a largish lip to get on to the balcony. The hotel may have been able to provide a little ramp but I didn't worry about asking. The bathroom in this suite was not accessible (again I was made aware of this before booking) but I did request a shower stool, and this appeared within 10 minutes. We were on the 2nd floor and the view was amazing...out over the sea towards Rovinj. We thought the buffet breakfast and evening meal was great with lots of choice....it does, as other reviewers have said, get a little hectic at certain times but we never had a problem finding a table, and the crowds quickly thinned to nothing by 7.30/ 8pm in the evening. The ferry to and from the island has a rolling gangplank that comes down on to the concrete jetty with a kerbstone like drop. I was able to stand with help from hubby and boat staff to step up on to ramp and then it had strong handrails either side. You would not be able to just roll on to this with a chair, even popping a wheelie because of the way it free rolls with the movement of the waves. My kids then rolled the empty chair behind me, which fitted on the gang plank. If you can't stand/step for a moment this could be tricky but the boat crew never rushed me so it went pretty smoothly. Once aboard there was plenty of room to park up in my chair inside the cabin. The hotel was pretty reasonable for accessibility....there are ramps and lifts, though only one lift to get down to the bottom floor with the dining area, so this sometimes needed a short wait as it was often full...but there was a disabled toilet at dining level, which was the same level as the pool just a 10m walk away...you have to go back into the dining area from the pool patio (moving a lightweight plant pot or two which was easy) but the staff never minded me doing this and often helped me. Otherwise, the only direct pathway from the hotel to the pool bizarrely had ramps all the way down....except at the bottom where there were two random steps after them all at the bottom?! It was actually fine though...we found the right route using the lift! Using a wheelchair I expect there to be challenges, and part of the fun is trying to get around them! The pools were immaculate and have ramps between them (depending on your level of strength you may need help to get up them), and the paving is lovely and smooth...so I could happily 'bumshuffle' across it without getting grazed! As someone else mentioned there was no pool hoist or ramp point to get in to the water that I could find, but they allow pool inflatables (I use a swim ring to stay afloat) and the water was flush with the edge which helped with sliding in. The outdoor pool doesn't open until 9am and while we were here in mid July, very slowly fills so there was no rush to get to the pool to find a lounger. We think because there are many loungers around the sea, it takes the pressure off the pool area so it always seemed pleasantly quiet. We never tried the indoor pool. We also managed to get around the island perimeter paths in my chair. They are covered in fine white angular gravel, but it's mostly a very thin layer and (as an active wheelchair user) fine to roll on even with small 4" front castors. There were a couple of stony or slightly steeper short lengths of path but I had my family with me to give me an extra push or help me brake, so it could be a challenge depending on your own level of strength. We managed to get to all the other restaurants and bars with my chair (we didn't try the lovely posher restaurant through the church building - La Serra), and the path connecting the two islands was smooth concrete and easy to travel on. I didn't attempt to get into the sea...there were only concrete steps and it was very rocky everywhere so knew I couldn't get over them to get to the water. I did spot a steep concrete ramp but It looked too hairy, and definitely not one to attempt on a chair 😆! It was still really nice to sit and look out over the water though. The staff were lovely, and helped make our stay a positive one.

We have had an amazing holiday. Sadly we have moved from island to another hotel for the night due to storms and early flight tomorrow. Our room was perfect . The grounds are fantastic to walk around. Plenty of sun-beds and bean bags. I read reviews about restaurant my tip is get a wine find a seat then choose from either the pasta fish or meat bar.! We have had fantastic time. After dinner we would go for drinks and wander in mainland on the ferry included on your stay . I believe the world is a big place and like to explore other places. If it was not for my beliefs I would definitely return .