Park Plaza Verudela Pula

Family of four with two teenagers. Mixed experiences. Some of the staff at reception were not very friendly at all. Also we were given inaccurate information on several occasions, both about pool opening hours and and prices/what was included when paying for gym access. Everything costs money, and a lot of activities and services are significantly overpriced. Overall, the resort seems a little dated and lacks upgrades and maintenance. That being said, the staff does a god job of keeping the facilities as they are clean and appealing. The area by the sea is great for swimming. Great access to the sea. We had a premium apartment with sea view. Apartment is small but well equipped. Sofabed really not comfortable. AC is fine. Had breakfast buffet one day. Significantly overpriced considering the quality. Much better to fix own breakfast. Easy access to Pula by bus.

We stayed at this resort in June, and despite a couple of niggles, we had a great holiday. Our main gripe was with TUI rather than the hotel, for not saying on their website that check-in time at the resort is 4pm. We arrived at reception at 11am after an early morning flight, and it was disappointing to be told that we had five hours to kill before we could go to our room. We haven’t experienced that before on a package holiday, and if we had known in advance we could have had a better experience. We were able to store our luggage, and I grabbed something out of my suitcase to change into in the loos, but it wasn’t an ideal start to the holiday. The sun lotion was out of reach, so we sat in the shade, and because we had our heavy hand luggage with us, we weren’t really able to go off and explore, especially with all the surrounding cliffs and stone steps. Watching others enjoying their holiday rather than getting on with our own made us a bit grumpy to be honest! So go prepared. Anyway, we eventually found our way to the terrace bar and as we took in the stunning views with a beer and a white wine in our hands, we started to feel better! We had booked a self-catering room, and it was pretty nice, with good air-con, a comfy bed, plenty of storage space, and a kitchen/dining area with a huge fridge. It also had a kettle, electric hob, microwave, plenty of pots, pans and cutlery, and even kitchen roll and a pack with a sponge and washing-up liquid. I always pack ice-cube bags, and was glad I did because there wasn’t an ice-cube tray – a G&T is not the same without ice! The bathroom had a powerful shower, and the ESPA toiletries (handwash, body lotion, shampoo, conditioner and shower gel) were a lovely, and unexpected, touch. We were on the ground floor, and had a terrace which was really private. As well as a table and chairs, there was a full-size airer. Beware the gulls though, there was a near-miss with droppings on our beach towels, and their early morning screeching was an unexpected alarm! On the subject of towels, remember to take your own pool towels. We saw lots of people who’d not done their research and were using bathroom towels. Our room was kept clean, and fresh towels were delivered daily. Gripe number two was the pool rules – something we’ve never seen before on any holiday. The pool area is locked at night, and opened by a member of staff at 9am. I had read about this on TA prior to visiting, so it didn’t come as a complete shock – although I was hoping it might have changed between reviews and us getting there. It hadn’t. We had arrived on a Saturday, and looking at the pool area from one of the benches in the shade, I could not see one single spare sun-lounger, which was dismaying. The next morning, as a small queue had formed at about 8.40am, we thought we’d better join it, just in case. At opening time, a member of staff tells the queue not to take more loungers than people in their party, then takes your room number a