Sveti Benedikt Hotel

Choosing a new holiday destination requires something of a leap of faith. You’ve read the brochures, and travel guides, but how can you be sure what it will be like until you actually get there?
In the past we could only moan at the tour operator if things weren’t right, but now the internet makes it possible for you to plan and book your own perfect combination of accommodation, destination, and travel and maybe save a few bob in the process.
This summer, planning for our family of four, seemed simple enough; we were to aim for somewhere hot (my wife Amanda’s insistence after last summer’s dismal week in Ilfracombe) and there must be a pool (Lauren, 13 and Cameron, 10).
I wanted to avoid big hotel complexes and experience some true local colour on a minimal budget.
We would be travelling in mid August and the Mediterranean would be fine climate-wise. For the ultimate deal a combination of budget flight with directly booked accommodation looked a better bet than the package deals.
On the Ryanair website you can pick your preferred departure airport and then choose a destination from the drop down menu. Put your dates in, but always try a few days either side too, as flight prices can vary dramatically from day to day.
I found a cracking £35 return per person from Stansted to Trieste in North-east Italy travelling out on a Monday and back on a Sunday. This of course bumped up to £65 with charges and taxes plus £2.50 for each suitcase! The flight times were very civilised though and came with the option of car hire via Hertz, (a Fiat Punto Grande was supplied at £230 for our 13 days).
From Trieste it’s a short drive to the Slovenian border and only a few miles across Slovenia to the north-west of Croatia, the Istrian peninsula. It looked appealing, a kind of Tuscany by the sea; rolling valleys of green; pine trees, vineyards and olive groves with rocky beaches and pebbly coves lapped by the clear blue Adriatic.
I booked the flights and searched for accommodation.
Croatia is rapidly recovering from 40 years of communist rule while part of Yugoslavia and is soon to join the EU. Despite a shortage of private capital for new enterprises there are many places to stay at very reasonable prices.
It looked a strange mix though from the most beautiful old stone farmhouses, luxuriously renovated, in wonderful rural locations, to modern estate houses that seemed as if there was a family living there who would move out for the week while you stayed!
On the coast there are many camping sites often set amid fragrant pine forests, with the option of staying in an apartment, cabin, or under canvas. Facilities are clean and modern with plenty of watersports on offer and cycling and hiking very popular. Naturism is also big here and many camps will have a special section. The largest naturist centre in Europe is in Istria at Koversada near the port of Vsar and has a capacity of 12,000!
Most properties near the coast did not have a pool though and those inland that did, sounded a little remote, some looked ideal, but were already booked! I searched for Croatian based websites (.hr for Hvartska) and stumbled on a small hotel in Dajla, a sleepy hamlet on the coast near the charming port of Novigrad.
The Hotel Sv Benedikt was intriguing. Family run by Mirko and Neda Vuko it boasted a small pool in a delightful tropical garden, a restaurant using the best, fresh local produce and a ‘wellness spa’ offering treatments from owner Mirko, a qualified chiropractor, plus a sauna, hot-tub and some gym equipment!
It looked lovely and the standard rate was 50 Euros a day for bed, breakfast, and evening meal. I emailed my interest and soon agreed a deal that would billet us in an apartment near the hotel, (their 15 rooms were already taken), eating at the hotel and using the facilities.
The flight and car hire went fine and within an hour or so we were rounding the ancient hill town of Bule on a winding country road to Dajla, the sea and the hotel.
We were received like old friends by Neda and her staff and they soon had us settled in to a roomy modern apartment with balcony and sea view and ready for dinner.
The sumptuous banquet that greeted us each evening could hardly be described as a buffet. The food was superb, freshly cooked on the premises with much pride taken in the local ingredients. Fresh fish, stuffed peppers, grilled meats, roasted vegetables, pasta, spicy casseroles, sausages, salads, salamis, hams and cheeses, mouth watering deserts; there was something for everyone.
We were treated to truffles, a rare, nutty flavoured, black mushroom that only grows in Croatia and France and sampled the fruity local wines and excellent Croatian beer.
Meals were taken in the luscious tropical garden and many of our days spent lazing by the small pool, or soaking up the sun on the local beach, a rocky little cove some 50 yards away.
Dajla itself is a tiny hamlet on the site of an old Benedictine monastery. It boasted one restaurant, a bar, and a minimarket, it was so peaceful and relaxing that it seemed an effort to explore further, but we were glad we did.
Trips to nearby Novigrad, a delightful little fishing port with a handful of bars, restaurants and superb ice cream parlours, were fun by day or night, Porec along the coast is a busy resort with an attractive old town somewhat overwhelmed by tourists and souvenir shops and Rovinj a spectacular medieval port with stunning twisty streets and beautiful Venetian architecture, while Pula boasts an amazing Roman amphitheatre. Inland the medieval hill settlements of Motovun and Groznjan afford spectacular views and are full of artist’s craftsmen and galleries.
All too soon it was time to head home, but we were rested, relaxed, browner and rounder.
Amazingly our Croatian holiday was voted the best yet, by all concerned - one up for Dad tours!