has anyone stayed at hotel central in zagreb.If so please let me know how it is

If you can wait until the end of September, I can tell you. We are staying there one night, prior to joining a tour. It appears to be acceptable and I recently read a comment on it in Frommer's latest guide to Croatia. Supposedly it has been recently renovated. It is close to the train station and not that far from the autobussi where the busses from the airport stop. Just for one night, it should be OK. Ciao! MHM

We ar planning to stay there at the end of July for 3 nights at the end of our tour. Zagreb and Plitvice lakes were not included so we will go from there. If I remember I will post a note when we return

Just curious as to what tour you are takin? Our tour begins in Zagreb, which is why we chose it. Most of the others (TT, Globus, GCT, etc.) begin in Prague and end in Budapest--these cities being included in the # of days of the tour. Since we've been to both places twice, we looked for a tour that began in Zagreb and ended in Doubrovnik. We wanted to end in D. and stay a few extra days there. Plitvice is included on the tour we chose.

We are taking a "risk" on, to us, an unknown tour company--SmarTours. Have read both pros and cons about it, but the price was right. Ciao!!mhm

Mercy, Smart tours is a good company. I went with them to Croatia and had a great time. Then I went with them to china, and also had a great time. They are a reputable company. Have no fear.

we.ar going with GCT. Starts in dubrovnik and ends in lubljana.doesn't include plovitice lakes or zagreb. we are arranging private tours for those places. Never traveled with smart tous but have friends who have and like them .we checked and found gct had more of what we wanted and havcve traveled with them many times

I stayed in the Hotel Dubrovnik in Zagreb. It is quite modern, a bit charmless but right smack bang in the middle of the city in a pedestrianised area.

I was very happy with it and it was good value for money.

Thanks for the comments on SmarTours. I was hoping to generate comments from past "users." Since we've always used the "main-line" tour companies, just wanted to get a feel for ST from other clients. My TA is interested in my opinion, since she has had info from them but never booked them for anyone.
I'll plan to post my thoughts in Sept. Ciao!!mhm

Mercy, almost everybody on those trips were repeat customers of Smart tours.

Mommywels: We are looking to take the GCT trip in November. Did you look at other travel groups like Vantage etc.
Vantage has a similar tour, but includes more sightseeing and more dinners. Of course it is more money.

Thanks Mike

we hhave traveled with gct before and are pleased. looked at vantage and their dates were not good for us. Vantage does go to Plitvice lakes and Zagreb which gct doesn't. we are planning that as an add on by ourselves

Mercy:
We have been looking over all the different tour companies and looks like we are going to use Smartours. Did you book thru them directly or thru a travel agent? We are interested in the November tour as we both work and can't get away until then.

Michaellip: In regard to the SmarTour: Since they do not "interact--provide comissions, etc." with Travel Agents, we booked them ourselves. That is not to say that our TA did not know about them, made some phone calls to them and provided us with some valuable assistance.

I found SmarTours through a Google search for Croatia tour companies and then tried to find comments about them on various bulletin boards. We were able to get FF tickets from PDX to AMS and then our TA booked onward flights to Zagreb and back from Dubrovnik.

I believe that this is a "low-key" company--somewhere I read it is operated by former/present Travel Agents, and they don't spend $$ on fancy brochures, etc. I guess that we will find out how good the company is. We are sort of "independent" travelers, even on the "mainline" tours, and this tour looked like we could be independent---with some prior research.

We will be staying in a apartment for three days in Dubrovnik, after the tour ends--now that is more of a "gamble." It is up on a hill--85 steps from behind the Excelsior Hotel near the Ploce Gate. The owner promises to carry our suitcases up for us. Should be interesting. Ciao!!MHM

Mercy: Thanks for the info. We have just about decided on Smartours for the Nov. departure. I called them and they were very helpful in answering my questions. They were not pushy as some of the other tour groups were. We are independent travelers, but felt for this time we would try a group as we really knew nothing about the areas.
I will call them on monday and make the reservation. We compared GCT, Vantage,Club ABC and several others and for us Smartours itineray fits us best.

Thanks, Michael and Joan

Hello, we intend to stay at Central Hotel in Zagreb this November. Price quoted is in local money. Any idea on the conversion to US$? Is it near the bus station? We intend to take the bus from Medugorje, Bosnia to Zagreb. Thanks for your kind reply.

We just received our travel documents for our smarTours trip to Croatia, and the hotel in Zagreb has changed--from Sheraton to the Esplanade. It sounds quite nice and is only a few blocks, so it seems, from the Central Hotel where we booked our extra day prior to the tour beginning. Would be glad to hear from anyone who knows about the Esplanade, the Central, or anything about the locations. Ciao!!mhm

The Regent Esplanade is a splendid hotel in the centre of Zagreb. Situated next to the train station, it was built back in the Orient Express heyday for the well heeled travellers (it boasts such celebs as Orson Welles and Josephine Baker amongst its clientelle).
The hotel had been revamped a few years ago and it is the ultimate luxury experience in Zagreb. It is very close to centre of town and you'll be close to everything worth seeing in this charming compact city. I believe you had a very good fortune being transfered to this beautiful hotel, which you'll enjoy very much, I'm sure.

Mercy: Please write and let us know how your trip with Smartours went. We are going on the same trip November 7th.
Thanks, Mike and Joan
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