At the end of a week long boating holiday in cramped conditions, we treated ourselves to a night of comfort in a four star hotel in Split. We wanted somewhere comfortable and central, so after studying the web, we selected the Hotel President.
Location We chose the hotel mainly because of its location, as we were only there for a short time and we wanted to be able to get around quickly on foot. The Hotel President is a 5 minute walk from the old town and Diocletian's Palace. The hotel folder in the room says it is 5 minutes walk to the business area and 10 minutes walk to the railway, bus station and harbour. I think these are slight underestimates based on our walk around town, especially as it is quite busy down by the harbour (and we were just at the beginning of the season). It's not the nicest area to walk through. The graffiti was more evident as we walked from the tourist area, as
were the drunks! It is a 20 minute drive to the airport which cost us 290 kuna (£29 approx) If you're driving, the hotel does have its own car park and parking in Split would otherwise be a problem.
Rooms The décor of the hotel is a bit of a mishmash. Classic elegance with modern themes slipped in. It seems to have been half refurbished at some stage. The dining area is lit with large chandeliers (with energy-saving bulbs inside!) as well as chrome and glass boxy lights (mainly with bulbs that didn't work). Our room (406) was lovely and spacious. Parquet floor, large bed, chairs, table, wardrobe, minibar and two built-in luggage stands. However, our travelling companions' room was on the other side of the corridor, much smaller so the furniture seemed crammed in. Our room on the top floor had small sort of arched, dormer windows so the curtains were press-studded to the wall (no room for a rail). Although it looked nice on arrival, there were small details you would not expect in a four star hotel. A large area of loose plaster around the window where it had leaked at some time, loose wiring box which came out of the board it was fitted into, loose handrail in the bathroom. Although well stocked, the minibar had no price list. The TV had many channels including Eurosport, MTV, National Geographic and CNN. The cream and caramel large tiled bathroom was fabulous and twice the size of the cabin I had slept in for the 7 nights prior to this! It had a sink with a cupboard above, mirror and hairdryer, bidet, toilet and Jacuzzi bath with shower over. Looking on the floor plan on the emergency instructions, we definitely had the best room on our floor. Our friend's room had no bidet, an automatic toilet, which did not work automatically, and a Jacuzzi bath which didn't work either.
Meals The included buffet breakfast was self-service and quite extensive. A choice of juices, selection of cereals, cold meats and cheeses, a fruit bowl, brown and white bread, cakes and apple pie, jam and honey, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, omelette, german sausage and other unidentified hot dishes. Most things we sampled were nice but the hot food had no lid and was therefore not particularly hot and coffee was quite revolting as it had presumably been sitting there for hours. (The coffee we bought on arrival the previous morning was freshly brewed and delicious.) There was no tea out, but I guess they would have supplied it if requested as the waiters were very helpful. We didn't eat in the evening at the hotel, but the menu in the hotel folder in our room was reasonably priced and standard Croatian dishes. (Black cuttlefish risotto, breaded veal cutlet, veal medallions with mushrooms, etc) However, I'm not sure how reliable this info was, as it said breakfast was a la carte and pets were not allowed. (We were woken up by a dog barking and saw one in reception later that morning.)
Price We booked over the internet without paying a deposit. When we checked out, we paid in cash (for our 12% discount) 870 kunas (£87 approx) for a double room, bed & breakfast. The hotel car park is 75 kunas a night (£7.50 approx)
Staff During our stay, the reception was manned by four different staff. All were extremely helpful and pleasant and spoke very good English. They made suggestions when we arrived 3hours before check-in time, provided a map and directions, booked a taxi to the airport, looked after our luggage, sorted out faulty keys, apologised for broken items on check-out and advised us of the 12% discount if we paid the bill in cash. Not bad in a 24hour period!
It might not be quite the quality you expect from Britain, but the staff certainly try their hardest. The strength of the Croatian hotels and restaurants I visited, is definitely the staff. I have never been anywhere with staff so polite and friendly, going out of their way to provide the best service they can.
Hotel President Starcevica 1 21000 Split Croatia 385 21 305 22
Pictures of Hotel President, Split
Bedroom 406
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