Dalmacija Hotel

We have just returned from a week on the island of Brac and a week staying in the Dalmacija Hotel. Makaraska is beautiful and an excellent base to see the best of Croatia from Split to Dubrovnic and beyond. The hotel is set on the shore within a 10 min walk of all amenities and the beautiful harbour. The hotel is about 20 years old but is in good condition and is very good value for money. We stayed in a triple room which was well worth the upgrade to get more room. All bedrooms have a balcony and good facilities. We were on bed and breakfast basis as we like to eat out at local restaurants.The staff were friendly and efficient. We recommend this hotel for value for money in a good location

My wife and I stayed at the Dalmacija for 2 weeks in July 2007 and we both had a great time. The entrance hall was very nice and always well air-conditioned (which was welcome as there seemed to be a mini heat-wave on at the time). The rooms are compact but there's everything you need including a mini-bar, a hairdryer/dressing-table and a decent sized balcony (again, air-con that actually works well). The rooms are cleaned to a very high standard and the maid service is very good so no faults here at all. The location couldn't be better as the pubs are a short walk along the promenade and the hotel is set back enough to have a relaxed feel. Also the main clubs are at the other end of the promenade so the nightlife was there if you want it but never in your face. We didn't eat dinner in the hotel as we enjoyed the walk into the main area each night but the breakfast was very good. Very close to the beach as well (i.e. less than 50m). If I had to be critical there were maybe 2 minor faults with the hotel: there were 2 lifts and they seemed to be constantly working overtime, quite often with people waiting. The hotel seemed to be full though and there was always the stairs (which were more difficult by the end of the holiday I have to say!). Also there was the usual "towel bags the sunbed" scenario at whatever time in the morning but I suppose you'll get this anywhere. There were loads of chairs in the pool bar area though so you could always get a seat. Very minor faults in an otherwise excellent hotel. Worth noting as well that a top professional goalkeeper was staying at the hotel with his family while we were there and is apparently a regular guest, preferring it to a number of the more expensive hotels along the promenade. Sort of speaks volumes!

We have just returned from a trip to the Dalmacija Hotel in Croatia and had a great time. The area this hotel is in is stunning and everything you need is in walking distance. There are so many lovely walks to do and the beaches and sea are beautiful. The harbour for Makarska is also a lovely area and a great place to relax and watch the world go by. Now the hotel - It is worthy of its 3 stars - the rooms are clean and the service good. Maid service is daily with towels changed daily. We had a room looking out away from Makarska and on the 5th floor. My opinion is the rooms on this side have the best views of the mountains and sea so if your room number ends with 10 - 19 then you will be pleased. I would also try to go higher than the first couple of floors for the best views (as long as you are not afraid of heights as some floors are rather high!). Beware though of a couple of things (that are outside the hotels control): There is smoking everywhere so if you’re a non-smoker look out for this. Although the hotel rooms are all smoking, you cant really tell, but you can smell smoke from other rooms when on the balcony or even sometimes creeping under the door to the hallway. Put a towel down - this worked for us! Also, don’t put sweet pastries or anything else like this in the bin in the bathroom. We found a little friend (cockroach) after doing this running around but when we removed the food there were no creepy crawlies seen again. Another to look out for (within the hotels control!) is that the airconditioning is new and they haven’t fitted the coolers yet. So early in the season you may not get the promised air-conditioning and you will need it! Apart from this everything else is good. The breakfast has a good selection, though it’s the same every day so maybe eating out for breakfast would be a nice treat. Excursion wise I would recommend visiting Omis for the river cruise and local food at Radmans Mill (absolutely delicious!). We hired a car and went to Dubrovnic. An 8 hour round trip in one day but well worth it. Also recommend driving to top of Sveti Jure (mountains) - though if your easily scared by winding narrow roads on cliff edge then take a tour and do not drive yourself). All in all we had a wonderful holiday and I hope you enjoy the experience also.

We stayed at this hotel in July during a particularly hot spell. Don't let the look of the outside put you off as the inside is lovely. The public areas are spacious and air conditioned, the staff are friendly, and the food was wonderful. The rooms were air conditioned and all had a view of the sea and the mountain at the same time!! We were on level 4 and our room overlooked the pool and terrace area. (The lifts are on the small side so we only used them for going up!!) There was some noise at night if you left the balcony doors open, but as it was too hot for this, we closed the doors, left the air conditioning on and the double glazing blocked all sound from outside. The beach was seconds away and it was just a short stroll to the older, much busier part of the town. We travelled with Thomas Cook and the courier was excellent. Very knowledgeable and helpful. We found the excursions a little on the expensive side so we hired a car and did our own which included white water rafting and para-sailing! Makarska is well placed about half way between Split and Dubrovnik, with the stunning Krka National Park about two hours away. The trip up the Biokovo mountain is a must. (Stop half way and talk to the guides in the information hut.) We were intending to walk up one of the several paths but the weather was too hot and we are only holiday walkers. Walking to the top takes several hours and several litres of water and we were told "only an idiot does it in this heat!!" by one of the mountain rescuers. I have to say that I didn't know what to expect before we got to Croatia but it is the most stunning country and we had a great time. Go before it becomes too commercialised.

Don't be put off by the rather angular look of the hotel from the exterior if you are thinking of booking. Inside, the public areas hotel has been extensively (but not completely) refurbished and are spacious and comfortable. The pool is large enough and has "jacuzzi style" jets and fountains! There are 20 rooms on each of the 10 floors. As the hotel is perpendicular to the sea you are guaranteed a sea and mountain view! I would recommend rooms 10 to 13 on each floor as these are larger and looked westward which is fantastic for the stunning sunsets (the 2nd floor was high enough for a panoramic view and avoided us having to use the rather small lifts). Although the main part of the room had modern furniture the bathroom had not been refurbished and was looking rather dated. The location is excellent, seconds from the beach and a lovely 15 minute stroll along the front through the pine tree lined promenade to the old town (where the best restaurants are situated). All in all the Dalmacija will give you a good platform to have an excellent holiday in the attractive Markarska Riviera.

My husband and I stayed at this hotel for two weeks commencing the 7th July 2007. On arrival we thought it looked like a multi sotrey car park but once inside it was excellent and immaculate. We were on the 5th floor, side view. The views of the sea and mountains were breathtaking. The hotel staff were extremely friendly and helpful and the food was good (especially the breakfasts). Rooms were not large, but plenty big enough and towels and bedding were changed every other day. There was also a mini bar in the room. Lifts were a little slow, but be patient when on holiday. The hotel was about 15 mins walk into the main resort, near to the harbour, but along the way there were many many bars right on the sea front. To the left or right you could take many walks to other villages -absolutely perfect for us who like walking. For the adventurous you can walk up into the mountains - well worth it if only for the views. On the whole a wonderful holiday and we would definitely recommend the place and hotel. By the way - extremely cheap. Pint of lager £1.50 and large glass of wine £1.30!!!

We stayed here with some friends on a package deal in July. We weren't sure what to expect but were pleasantly surprised by the modern, clean rooms. Meals in the dining room are reasonably good, but don't get there too late as the best-looking food always seemed to run out fairly quickly. Nice clean pool, and although it was busy it was never horrendous. The little reception bar sold some great plum brandy - unfortunately we thought it would be representative of the quality of all Croatian brandy and spent the rest of the week quaffing all sorts of awful stuff. Staff were on the whole friendly and spoke enough English to understand.

We wanted to see major Croatian travel sites, but also wanted to relax on the beach. Makarska is the ideal place to do both. Our stay at the Dalmacija confirmed what others have said about it. The views from the rooms are stunning, but rooms are somewhat small; the clientele is more to the older side, but then, many of the people vacationing in Makarska were to the older side; the elevators were somewhat inadequate. The balconies are also small and would probably be a little spooky to people afraid of heights. The travel agency we dealt with only offered a half board plan at the Dalmacija meaning that we had all you can eat buffets in the morning and in the evening (food was reasonably good). On days when we travelled, we got boxed meals for either or both of the meals that were of marginal value. Since the dinner meal adds about 12 euros per person, we would have preferred just having a breakfast meal as part of the plan and eating out in the evenings. The beaches and views are wonderful except the beaches are rocky with no sand. Swimming is a pure joy since there are few waves and the water is normally quite clear. Swimming out to the ropes about a 100 yards or meters out was easy since floating was so easy and many people did this. Exiting the hotel and walking to the right about 300 yards or meters brought us to the beach with the smallest rocks near the "fitness centar" sign and was our favorite beach. If spending a lot of time on the beach, one might spend 50 Kuna or about $9 on beach slippers to take away the pain of the rocks. Our favorite excursion was to the Plitvicka National park with the beautiful turquoise lakes and magnificent waterfalls. Atlas Travel was one of the few agencies offering tours in English for about $100 each which was cheaper than renting a car. They also threw in a free lunch and were just a little cheaper than other agencies that we checked on. We took intra city buses to Dubrovnik and Split for about 40% of the cost of excursion buses. If one takes a bus to Dubrovnik, there can be limited tickets on the morning bus departures. In essence, they sell the tickets in Split and if there are any left over seats, they are sold on a first come, first serve basis after the bus arrives in Makarska. (Stand in line at the ticket counter, the bus driver and ticket man do not sell tickets in Makarska) If one takes a bus to Dubrovnik, one passes through about 10 miles of Bosnia and passports are usually checked. Bus tickets to Split (to see the "Palace" old town) are easier to come by. We also went by bus to Trogir--another UNESCO World Heritage Site. Trogir was a bit of a let down after seeing Dubrovnik and the Palace. Also, finding a bus back to Split from Trogir was more difficult. We ended up on a local bus instead of an intra city bus, which stopped every few blocks. The local bus also left us off in Split a couple of kilometers or a mile plus from the intra city bus station.

Our room was on floor 8(there are 10 floors)and the stunning views made our stay really memorable.Cleanliness was excellent,up to the usual high standards which we have found in Croatia.Rooms are a little bit small.Hotel seems to have been recently refurbished.Lifts could do with being larger, I think it would be a long wait for a lift in peak season!Good choice of food at breakfast and dinner,staff friendly and helpful.Some noise at night from street,but quiet when balcony doors closed.Hotel is about 15 to 20 mins walk from town centre,bars and restaurants are 5 mins away.Excellent value for what we paid for our package,would definitely go back!

We stayed in this hotel for one week in July 2005. The Hotel was better than expected as our package deal was reasonably cheap. The rooms seemed to have recently been refurbished and were very clean, but a little small. Our room had a balcony and over looked the pool and sea. The breakfast was very good; there was a great variety of choice. The staff were friendly and helpful. The hotel is in a good location, although the main street below can be a little noisy, once you close the balcony doors you can't hear anything.