Which hotels would be recommended for Lake Bled and Ljubljana? We would like centrally located and hopefully nice and charming. I am lost in a country without a Karen Brown book. Thank you!

It depends on what you call nice and charming... In Bled the nicest hotel is Hotel Toplice (5 stars), very elegant and right on the lake. Hotel Park (4 stars) is very big and central to town and just adjacent to the lake. I stayed at Hotel Astoria (3 stars), about 2 blocks from the lake, run by a hotel and restaurant school. It was clean, comfortable and half board was 55 euro for one person. Some rooms have balconies with lake views.

The Grand Union in Ljub. is the best.

Bob -

Do you know the difference between the Union's Executive and Business Hotels?

Most of the top hotels in Bled are large with the exception of the Vila Preseren which only has about 8 rooms above an excellent restaurant. It is located on the lake shore near the castle. We stayed there in October 2002 and were very happy with our comfortable room and really superior breakfast (included) and restaurant meals. Our room cost E88. Our only small disappointment was that our lake view was partially blocked by the roof of the ground floor, but the location was excellent in a quiet part of town.

No--only saw one--best location in town

We walked past the Grand Union daily and stepped inside one day as well. The old part of the hotel which I believe they are calling the Executive is very nice.

The business hotel was right beside the old hotel, I definitely remember it being labeled Business, maybe even Business Express. I also think it was called a Holiday Inn at one point.

I presume were are talking about Slovenia, the ex Yugoslavia, right?. I don?t know about Bled, but I stayed at the Intercontinental at Ljubljana and I believed its undoubtly the best place in town. Its right in the city center, everybody talks English, its luxurious, has cable tv and its cheap, thanks to a favorable currency exchange, it came up to around $100.

Viaggio Buono