Hotel Granit

A word of warning Let me warn you about a few important major things first: - there is no health and safety in Macedonia. Infrastructure is both basic and dangerous. - There is a complete lack of customer service and non existent customer care - Ohrid is their main holiday destination and it’s mega crowded in July and August - SMOKING IS ALLOWED EVERYWHERE; inside and outside. Over 90% of the population are smokers. There is no escaping the smell of smoke, it’s everywhere you go. - There are no quality standards; if you live and mainly travel in western or high developed economic countries, you might be in for a bit of a shock. - It’s cheap for a reason - Ohrid lake is a natural lake, the water is clean, fairly cold and there are water snakes. It’s safe to swim in but keep close to the shore. - The facilities and equipment are of extremely poor quality and often dangerous Location Hotel Granit is approx. 5km from the airport. Transfer by taxi is 20 euros and takes about 20min. If you have an organised TUI coach, then expect 1-2hrs transfer time, depending on the number of hotel stops they have. It’s along the lake shore and 10min by taxi to Ohrid city centre, taxi was 300 denari. There is nothing around the hotel, it’s on a main busy road, one shop half a km away but getting there is quite tricky (dangerous) walking on the main busy road with no pavements. Rooms facing the ‘park’ are north facing, sunless and get the road noise. Room facing the lake is a must. The Hotel This is not a Spanish type AI mini disco style hotel. It’s chilled, quiet, mostly older kids, there’s no one here to entertain you or your kids. It’s an old style hotel, nothing’s modern about it. The building is an old communist style building. The reception area is quite grim. It’s poorly maintained, hygiene standards are very low. Old tatty furniture, broken, frayed seats, old and tired, dusty surfaces and furniture. There are a lot of steps in and around the hotel. No walker/wheelchair access. Main restaurant is in the basement. Although there is a lift, it’s very slow so would say it’s not designed or adapted for people with mobility difficulty. July and August are the high season and Ohrid itself will be busy. Rooms Are tiny by any standards, no room to swing a cat. Getting a twin room is a big problem. It’s not guaranteed you will get the type of room you’ve booked. The rooms are not clean, carpets in dire need of a proper hoover, there were some remnants of nail cuttings on the carpet in our room. Towels were not changed every day and they were stained. Minimal cleaning and sporadic. Bed sheets are not changed daily. AC works well but the unit is filthy and mouldy. The double beds are the size of a small double. The shower room is nothing impressive. Gets smelly, mouldy and stuffy. Wobbly wc seat, leaky shower, shower holder broken. They supply some basic toiletries. They only allow one towel per person. Also the one key per room only is very inconvenient. The

The location is 1st Class, the staff are helpful, the food is good but beware of the lifts. We had all inclusive, there was enough menu variety for the week but I wouldn’t recommend for vegetarians. The free bar was okay for endless lager, wine and brandy but pretty limited apart from that. The pool areas large enough to cope with the people that put towels on beds early morning ready for their afternoon siestas. The short walk to the lake makes up for all shortcomings.

We booked through Tui all inclusive as we have 2 small kids so easier for drinks snacks ect. Get a call 2 weeks before we go no longer doing all inclusive, get a refund, get there and they do offer all inclusive just not to British people as all we do is moan and all they have had is complaints since the start of the summer. (The Tui rep told us this). So that instantly annoyed us, hotel was nice very basic but clean but our room drainage system was shocking it absolutely stunk we bought 2 cans of glade air freshener and bleach but it didn’t even touch it, we left the door open one night to allow some fresh air in and we got bit like mad and room was covered in flies. The food in the restraunt was good and a lot of it, our kids could share one portion of the chicken fingers it was that big. The breakfast was ok too hot and a bit of variety. The staff were all nice but not a lot of them you could be sat in restraunt for ages before anyone comes over to take your order. It is meant to be non smoking hotel but at the end of floor 3 the cleaners all sit in a room smoking so all the towels and bedding stinks of cigs. There’s bottles full of cig ends it’s not nice. Really easy to get in to Ohrid by taxi and there’s a few restraunts either side of the hotel if you want a bit of variety. We liked Ohrid but we wouldn’t come back as nothing to do for children.

We stayed for 10 nights. The rooms are as has been previously mentioned small and dated but OK as you don't spend too much time in the room. I'd recommend a Lake View room as the sunsets are lovely. The food was nice and there was plenty if you eat no later than 8.30. After this time the staff start clearing away, Either get there earlier than 8.30 pm or be prepared to get all your dishes at one hit. I should have suggested to the staff that a microwave would be a great addition to the restaurant as sometimes the meals were lukewarm as is the norm in this part of Europe. Anyway apart from the early evening meal times everything else was fine. The staff are lovely once you smile and are friendly. Once you make the effort to be friendly they are friendly back. Maybe a throwback from the soviet times? The hotel is a short taxi ride, about 5 euros, from the town of Ohrid. The lakeside restaurants are lovely. I feel that once North Macedonia is "discovered" as a tourist destination things will get busier and more expensive. Get there before it does! Happy to answer any questions.

I don't normally write many reviews however I felt I needed to for this hotel due to previous reviews. I travelled with my family which included a 3 year old and a 6 year old. The hotel is lovely, food is really good and there is plenty of choice as part of all inclusive for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The location on the lake is fantastic with sunbeds, you can also hire pedalos and kayaks for a few pounds which really made the holiday. Pool is also perfect, there is a children's pool with a little slide. Travelled to ochid a few times via taxi, which is a little frustrating as they constantly change the price when you need to come back but the town is lovely with a park for the little ones and fairground rides. Overall a lovely 2 week holiday in north macedonia.

Although it wasn't perfect, overall we had a wonderful holiday so I feel 4 star is justified. Negatives first -The rooms are outdated and could be in a better condition. We had a family room and one of the toilets often smelt, the air conditioning unit had mould in it, the mattresses were stained, the balconies had big holes in and we definitely had to supervise our 2 year old as he could have easily climbed over the side -2 lifts and 1 was broken for most of our stay, with both of them not working at some points. We had to ask a member of staff to help carry our buggy up 4 flights of stairs -Seriously inaccessible if you are a wheelchair user. The only way to get down to the pool or the lakeside is via a steep service road down the side of the hotel. We struggled as it was with the pram! -The food did get repetitive and was not properly labelled. For religious reasons my partner and kids don't eat pork or beef and we frequently had to check what the food contained as it wasn't clear -Smokers! The absolute worst part of our holiday by a mile, smokers everywhere, whilst eating, by the pool. Not great with little children around Now onto the positives which do far outweigh the negatives! -The views! Absolutely stunning. Even the staff were taking pictures of the sunsets in the evening as they are so beautiful -I think we got an amazing deal for the price we paid, and in the summer holidays too. We booked with TUI and were all inclusive although looking at future dates it seems that you can only go half board now. -The pool and lake areas are fantastic, even the locals visit them. Whilst they could get busy you could always find at least a couple of loungers and there were plenty of water activities available and for a reasonable price, about £4 to hire a paddle board or a pedalo for an hour. We did this a couple of times, so relaxing. You could get free towels from reception which was useful. -The wine and beer were excellent, local and very drinkable, not like the usual vinegar you get when AI! -Although the food wasn't amazing, you could always find something to eat - chips, a variety of fresh salads etc. Some days we really enjoyed our lunch/dinner, it just depended what was being served. -The terrace and bar areas were superb Overall, we really enjoyed our stay and would definitely return. Easy access by taxi to Ohrid town, which is absolutely stunning. I didn't have high expectations for the price we paid and the reviews so it definitely surpassed what I was expecting.