The Hotel
Hotel Mimosa, Rabac (http://www.hghotels.com/en/croatia/rabac/complessodeifiori/index.php)

This hotel was the base for our 7 night tour. It is situated at the far end of the resort of Rabac and has a supermarket, pizzeria and bar on the complex but it only takes 10 mins to walk into the heart of the resort if you want more choice. Rabac is quite a small place – you can walk from one end to the other in under an hour – but it had everything we needed (including cashpoints and a pharmacy) so we were quite happy staying there. Our favourite place to drink was the Vinoteca bar, which is signposted up some stairs, just before you reach the main harbour area. 30p for a small glass of wine - bargain!

It would be fair to say that the hotel is a bit of a blot on the landscape – a vast expanse of concrete painted in lurid pastels – but once you’re in your room then all you can see is the beautiful view of the sea, the surrounding hills and Cres Island in the distance. Based on negative reviews of the standard rooms overlooking a noisy road, we paid extra for a balcony room. This only cost an extra £35 and was well worth it for the views and outside space. There was certainly no road noise at the front of the hotel, but we were sometimes woken up by the dawn chorus or the sound of Croatian karaoke emanating from the Conca d’Oro. Nothing a good pair of earplugs couldn’t fix though!

The room itself was fine given its 3 star rating. We were on the top floor (floor 7) and had 3 single beds in our room – staged to look like a double and single – so we had loads of room for all our stuff. The bathroom was also fine – it could take a while to get the shower pressure and temperature right but there was certainly plenty of hot water. We weren’t planning to watch much tv but it was nice to have a couple of English channels along with some entertaining German versions of MTV.

A lot of previous guests have complained about the food but, for £5 each per night for dinner including wine and water, we were really happy with what we were given. I would consider myself to be a fussy eater but I didn’t have any problems finding stuff to eat. It would have been nice to have had a wider variety of desserts at dinner and the breakfast selection was very repetitive but we managed fine. The staff were always very pleasant, despite often being rushed off their feet, and they were very flexible with start and end times when our group arrived back late or had to leave early.

The staff on reception were also always helpful and it was useful that they would display printouts of the weather forecasts. We actually ended up spending a lot of our time out of the hotel but the pool seemed well used and it was handy having a supermarket on site. Overall, this is not the best hotel we have ever stayed at, but it’s also not the worst by a long way and we would be more than happy to stay there again.

The Tour

Although this holiday is advertised as a tour, there aren’t actually any included excursions. You have the option of pre-booking the Istrian Discovery, Opatija & Island Cruise and BBQ either individually, or as a package, which will save you about £5. There are also other excursions available to book in resort. The problem was that the pre-departure info from Travelsphere gave different days for the excursions to what was actually available when you arrived. This annoyed quite a few people on the tour as they had pre-booked excursions based on the original info so they could have a day off on the first/last day etc. It all worked out in the end but it would make much more sense for Travelsphere to not specify days if they are likely to change so easily. You don’t save much money by pre-booking anyway so I’d recommend waiting until you arrive in resort – trips can be paid for in Sterling or Kuna – either cash or card. The prices given in resort were:

Island Cruise & BBQ - £23/Kn200 – advertised as Fish Picnic but Meat option also available.
Istrian Discovery - £40/Kn360
Labin - £12/Kn100
Lipica Stud Farm & Postojna Caves – Transport £30/Kn270 plus optional entrance, lunch and guide package £40/Kn 360/€45 – paid in cash. Euros also needed for any purchases made in Slovenia.
Venice - £60/Kn550
Plitvice Lakes - £55/Kn495
Opatija - £20/Kn180
Farewell Dinner - £25/Kn225

The trips that we went on were as follows:

Island Cruise & BBQ – This was a really enjoyable day out thanks to the weather and the crew of the ship. We set sail at 10:30am in brilliant sunshine and were lucky enough to keep the sun with us right until nearly the end of the trip. Do make sure you take plenty of water and sun tan lotion, plus a cardi/jacket in case it gets cloudy. If you want to go swimming then ideally you need some flip flops/sandals at the beaches are made of shingle and can be very painful to your feet! Also, it’s best to move to one of the covered tables during lunch otherwise you risk being a target for seagull poo (like one of our group was)! Despite being advertised as a ‘Fish Picnic’ they did serve pork as well as fish.

Istrian Discovery – This is a whistle-stop tour of the peninsula and is a really good way to see some of the main sights. We visited Pula, Rovinj and Porec and had a short guided tour plus some free time in each place. We liked Rovinj the best but the others were nice too. On the way back we stopped at a tavern where we were able to try local wine, cheeses, ham, bread and cakes, accompanied by some ‘interesting’ keyboard music. There was quite a lot of food so no need to have too much lunch earlier in the day.

Plitvice Lakes – This was the trip we had been most looking forward to and was also the best trip of the holiday. Make no mistake, it’s a long day – 4 hrs each way by coach with a few short stops (including an early lunch before you reach the park) – but it was well worth it. Even the best photos cannot do this place justice – it’s just beautiful and the time you spend there on the trip only gives you a chance to see a fraction of it. We were lucky enough to go on a warm day as you spend the whole time outdoors – you definitely need suntan lotion on a nice day or a waterproof on a wet one. We will definitely go back there for a longer visit at some point. Do make sure you stick with the group when you go though – one person got lost for over an hour on our trip, leading to a very hungry and grumpy coachload of people who didn’t get back to the hotel until 9pm!

Opatija – this trip only lasted a morning but was worth doing as Opatija is a very nice resort with plenty to see. We walked along the Lungomare to Volosko and back, which took longer than we expected so we had to run to get back to the coach in time.

In addition to these organised trips, we also spent a morning in Labin, wandering round the old town and visiting the museum. You can get the bus there easily from Rabac, but taxis are very cheap and much more convenient. There is also a walking path you can try – it starts behind the main tourist office in Labin and finishes in the campsite behind the hotel. We also had an enjoyable morning going to the other end of Rabac on the Tourist Train and then walking along the coast and in the surrounding hills. All in all, a great holiday and definitely one we would recommend!

Thanks for the review. There is a lot to see and do in Croatia. I would highly recommend the Lipizzaner horses and the Postojna caves as well as the opportunity to visit Venice.

Thanks for the review, it is the type of holiday we enjoy so made interesting reading, Plitvice lakes on on our list to see so glad you enjoyed it

Hi Corrine many thanks for your interesting review. I've haven't been to Rabac as we stayed in Cavtat so was good to read about another area

When you have the time would you add your hotel and review here please:-

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/write-review/

Many thanks