Park Plaza Histria Pula & Marina Wing

Overall, this is a nice hotel. It’s clean, the food is good and the staff are friendly. Most of the staff we dealt with were very helpful and welcoming. It was refreshing to see the manager also cleaning away tables and helping out. However, there were a couple of things that let it down for us. The standard of the room cleaning wasn’t what we would expect from a 4star hotel. In particular, the beds weren’t made, which was disappointing. The hotel also has a conference suite which was being used during our stay. The conference delegates mixed with the holiday guests at breakfast, and unfortunately we found some of them quite inconsiderate. They also spent time sitting around the hotel working on laptops and having business conversations on their phones. We appreciate that hotels cater for both business and leisure guests, but for us it did affect the atmosphere. When you’re away on holiday, you want to switch off and enjoy a relaxed environment, and at times it felt more like being in a business or conference hotel than a holiday hotel. There are plenty of positives about the hotel, particularly the food and friendly staff, but the housekeeping and conference atmosphere did take the shine off our stay.

Just returned from 2 weeks at this hotel. We had a great relaxing time mixing lazy beach days with trips into the nearby towns of Pula and Rovinj. - Hotel Initial impression was great, modern bright reception area and fast check in. Our premium room was on the 3rd floor with a great sea and pool view, it was in need of some modernisation, but was clean, quiet and comfortable with a great Illy capsule coffe machine (thankfully as morning buffet coffee was poor). The buffet restaurant serves the usual breakfast offerings, and a very varied and tasty selection in the evenings, food was never piping hot but that didn't bother us. There's a great selection of cold meats, cheeses and salad but deserts were dissaponting. Buffet got very busy and was more like a canteen than a restaurant, grated a bit by the end. Staff worked very hard and always got served with drinks quickly, beer and wine were good, hotel prices were as you'd expect. It would have been great to have another table service restaurant to break things up a bit but the Yacht Club they advertised as being part of the hotel has been an independent venue for about three years. We did eat there twice and had a beer or two in the day as views were great. There is a bar in the reception /terrace area, lacks atmosphere inside but terrace was nice on warm evenings. There is also a smaller Luna bar, the lovely waitress here works so hard, as do all staff to be fair. The lovely young man who cleaned our room made us smile with his towel sculptures, and the "knock knock" ladies came round in the early evening to top up towels coffee etc and always had a smile and friendly greeting. The pool area was quite small, beds went quickly, there are loungers on the green areas but again, mozzies were a nuisance. Small beach bar open till 6pm for drinks and snacks. We didn't use the Spa, but the gym was more tan adequate, enough equipment for a few people but not much floor space. -Area The Verudela area has 3 Hotels, the higher end Grand Brioni, a modern 5 star Radisson. The more family orientated Arena and the Histria. There are also lots of apartment blocks belonging to the Arena resort. There is a short avenue with a restaurant, supermarket, coffee shops, ice cream and souvenir shop.(ask reception for a map of the resort). You can use the bars and restaurants in the other hotels too at a cost. Lots of sports activities available, tennis, paddle ball and water sports. Ambrela beach is a nice little beach about 15 mins walk away, there is a cash only bar/restaurant there we went to to watch the sunset. Pula Aquarium is worth a visit, built in the old fort, went on a rainy day and was impessed by variety of creatures, they have a turtle hospital and butterfly enclosure. You can walk around the area along the coast between the hotels which is a flat walk but on uneven ground, and there were lots of mozzies around so we avoided this most nights sadly. -Beach The sunbathing area by the sea right outside the hotel is not part of the hotel, the beach beds down there are for rent, I wouldn't object to that normally, but there was no maintenance and the beds and general area was scruffy and rubish was left around by hotel guests and locals. The sea was still warm and we did some snorkeling, quite a few little fish varieties and calm water though getting in and out was tricky, slippery rocks and ladders. Bus stop is 10 mins away and we went to Pula on a few occasions, got the 3a bus in and 2a back, bought tickets on advance on the promet pula sight and downloaded QR codes. We also went to Rovinj from Pula by bus, that was absolutely beautiful and I would highly recommend, takes about 45 mins from Pula Central bus station (not much info on where to get the bus back so ask when you get off). Overall, we did enjoy our stay very much, but spent alot of time going into Pula as hotel has no entertainment and evenings were lacking atmosphere. Tip: On a Sunday the hotel arranges a free walking tour of Pula, we really enjoyed it and our guide Antonela from Fat Cats Pula was excellent!!

Stayed here for 2weeks. The welcome is warmish. The rooms in Marina are tiny. The bathroom smells. The bed is uncomfortable.The aircon didn’t work for 2 days during my stay. The pools tiny. They charge you for a sun lounger next to the sea. The restaurants are average and expensive. Bit of a trek into town for more average restaurants. The Gelato shop is expensive and they hit the tip button without your consent when paying. The breakfast is okay,a lot of machines dispensing stuff.Don’t expect a top notch buffet Weathers nice. The supermarket is okay. Best coffee is in the lobby bar. Best part of the stay was leaving. Nb:If your part of a group your passport will be laid out on the lobby desk overnight to check in which isn’t great security for your personal information. It’s needs a facelift as it looks a bit tired. These are just my observations feel free to take them or leave them.

I always start with positives and write factually. The hotel covers extensive grounds with beautiful gardens well maintained. The reception area doubles as lounge with modern sofas, tables and fabric chairs. The dining hall offers buffet style arrangements at both breakfast and evening dinner. There is no full board option available. We experienced a good range of food choices that suited most dietary needs, food was always hot but as per most hotels, the only single toaster was a disaster which never worked properly. Staff were extremely efficient, polite and professional. The hotel has a very large terrace featuring very comfortable sofas. Approximately 31 steps leads down to the pool area. Pool towels are available at no charge. There are ample sun loungers around the pool with many more dotted around grassed areas and into to the woodland for those seeking shade. The pool and terraced areas were kept spotlessly clean. Park Plaza has extensive facilities _ massive modern indoor pool, full sized gym, hair salon, spa- (the treatments are very expensive}, pedicure salon. There appears to be a large nightclub but which was locked and unused which we found a great shame.. Accommodation is in two halves at park plaza - rooms are both in the main block and a short walk from reception up 2 flights of steps to the Marina Wing in which we stayed. We had a fantastic view over the marina. So here are the factual negatives. On booking this hotel it outlines various onsite entertainment and leisure facilities. Daytime games and evening entertainment. During our stay, there was absolutely nothing at all. No daytime games and no evening entertainment. Outside the hotel, there is nowhere to even walk apart from a very short path after walking down from the pool. If you walked to the main road, there was nothing there at all- only more road Ahead! Put simply if you didn’t have a book, a pack of cards or some travel board games you would have nothing to do. The hotel sits on a peninsular with nothing there at all. The nearest town of Pula is approx 17 mins in an Uber at a return cost of approx 20€. The nearest bus stop is approx 10/12 minute walk away. Effectively the hotel has a captive audience with having so little to do. There is a small onsite shop for any purchases you need but which is very expensive. There is no other shop/ supermarket anywhere around. The major negative is disability facilities. The Marina Wing is totally unsuitable for anyone with mobility issues as there are approx 14 steps to climb and there is No Ramp! . Furthermore, and whilst anyone with additional needs and mobility issues could access the pool area via a lift, for anybody needing a hoist to get into the pool there was no such thing at this hotel. It feels very unsuitable for young children as there are no facilities for them here. . There is no mention on travel company briefs that this hotel cannot adequately provide for individuals with mobility disabilities. Hotel has so many pluses, yet the absence of any entertainment, together with the isolation of where its situated and with barely anywhere to walk made us feel rather captive during our stay.

To begin this hotel is mostly excellent. The outside pool is big with more than enough sunbeds and umbrellas. The inside pool is massive and the gym is probably the biggest and best kitted out I have ever seen in a hotel. The food was generally good with lots of variation. Staff friendly and helpful . Now the not so good. There was supposed to be daytime entertainment by the pool, there was non. There was also supposed to be night time entertainment but this was just on Sunday.. As the hotel is in the middle of nowhere this was a letdown. Also we stayed in the marina wing, the only way in was via 13 steps, no lift or ramp for cases or disabled access. This could be advised in advance. However all in all would definitely recommend this hotel and would return.