Villa Amalia - Liburnia

Staying in the villa side of the resort, my husband and I spent 5 days at Liburnia Villa Amalia and enjoyed our time there. The villa and hotel was extremely well located with ample shops, cafes, parks, restaurants and more within walking distance. Our room was a little rundown and could do with some TLC - particularly the bathroom which leaked and became a slip hazzard very quickly. We also didn't have functional WiFi. The amenities of the pool, private beach and wellness rooms were lovely, the terrace was stunning, and we enjoyed some live music while we were there. The food was incredible and true quality, and dinner service was always wonderful. However, we do have to point out the differing and at times poor service we received there. Staff ranged from exceptionally competent and lovely, to downright disinterested or 'switched off'. We stayed at the villa at the same time as a large family wedding, and to say this family received special treatment is an understatement. At breakfast, staff often ignored other guests to attend to this family, disruptively moving tables, making others' wait prolonged time for water and coffee in favour of this family, and so on. This family was rude and inconsiderate to other guests on most occasions, interrupting to demand service, and had practically taken over the pool to the point of others leaving. They were also provided food and drink by the pool, while we were told we could only have small snacks. On checkout, the receptionist fully halted our process to attend to this family twice, despite the fact that we were waiting in the queue for some time and were mid-sentence when this happened. The receptionist then made a comment seemingly to justify the disruptions which was frustrating. I can fully appreciate these were significant guests for the hotel and no doubt provided great opportunities. But it was so disappointing to feel 'lesser than' and dismissed as a result. It also meant our stay concluded on a somewhat bitter note. We loved the region, but we're not sure if we would stay at this hotel again.

From the moment we arrived the experience was excellent, the check in staff were friendly and very helpful and assisted us with parking our car, as the parking area is a little bit tricky to find and identify. In fact this is the biggest downside of the hotel; the parking lot for the cars is well below the standards of the hotel, being what looks like empty plot where a house used to be. It is unmarked parking on gravel, which is really out of place in such a high class location and at such a high class hotel. The room was beautiful and absolutely huge and we also spent some time at the pool and beach which were both quite nice. What impressed us the most was the breakfast, which was without a shadow of a doubt the best breakfast we have had at any hotel in Croatia and in fact most of Europe. Absolutely stunning!