tripgirl

aprillilacs:

sorry, you also asked about prices;

Here it how it breaks down for at least the July/Aug prices

Standard city view: 215E
superior city view, terrace: 245E

Standard room, sea view: 250E
superior room, sea view, balcony: 275E

junior suite, city view: 270E
junior suite, sea view: 305E

city suite, city view: 340E
Riva marina suite, terrace, sea view: 370E

All incl breakfast. This is from the brochure that was given to me at the front desk. Prices are for july/Aug. I assume lower for low season.

MikeBuckley

tripgirl aka Kalamari Kid,

By the way, anyone should please feel free to respond.

I found [Hvar] a very special place and unlike alot of places I have visited in Europe and that was special.

I'd really appreciate it if you would please articulate the details that give you that lasting impression. The context of my request is that, of all the places my wife and I have travelled to, we had never been asked why we were going to a particular destination. Yet when we let people know we will be going to Croatia (we'll visit Hvar), the most common response is to ask why we want to go there. They don't ask out of criticism or disdain. Instead, they truly don't know anything about Croatia and wonder what the appeal is. Perhaps your comments will provide us with better answers than we've been giving.

By the way, FABULOUS trip report, even though my wife is disappointed to learn that she can't wear black.

tripgirl

Mike,

Delighted to!

Here are my feelings about Croatia that make it a little more unique.

I think one difference ( at least so far) was the lack of in your face commercialism i.e. absence of alot of McD's, Body Shop, etc.

While I like a certain level of services, it is certainly not necessary to provide so much of the above.

If anything , tell your friends and family that the scenery is just drop dead gorgeous. Truly, it's magnificent. Think dramatic mountains set against cool, blue seas and stretches and stretches of it....( this is of course the coastline where we spent most of our time, someone else on this board could probably give you a more accurate account of the landscape inland)

Tell them overall its a place a good value for fairly inexpensive dining that is true and honest. Straightforward food that is influenced by Italy ( at least on the coast, inland the food has an Austrian/Hungarian influence more predominately) and how could any food influenced by Italy be bad??!!

We also found Croatia the kind of place that you need not rush to see sights. As you know when you go to many places in Europe , of course mostly the big cities, you sometimes feel as if it is like Disneyworld, lines galore to see something and often times it does not even meet your expectations.

Croatia just feels much different than that. The attractions are there, but in a subtle way.

About Hvar: I would best describe as this: A young Australian guy who was lounging next to us one day was on his cell chatting with a friend, who evidently asked him what Hvar was like and he responded (in a great Aussie accent!): Hvar is like the Italian and French Rivieras rolled into one without the commercialism. I would agree.

Now, although I just got done telling you that Hvar is changing and we prefer hip, modern and luxurious hotels, I still prefer to have little or no Mcd's, Body Shop, etc. The hotels and restaurants can be hip here, but I prefer the rest to be as non commercial as you can get( and this is for Hvar Town only, I suspect that Jelsa, Stari Grad, Humac, etc will most likely remain the way they are)

And you know what.. People also asked us why Croatia as well and we responded that it is THE place to be and left it at that.

We wanted to leave them with an impression we knew some kind of inside secret that is hard to explain.. a little bit of mystery never hurts, so maybe you can also just leave it at that and keep them wondering....

Although now all of our friends EXPECT us to go somewhere new and fabulous since we travel so much and are the best traveled of our gang. Most of the time, we don't even explain our reasons and just keep them guessing why......

Hope this helps ( at least perhaps a little)

when are you going?

tripgirl

Monday July 17th; DH's Birthday!!

Today is B'day for the DH and so I am on my best behavior to make sure he has a good day.

Today is about sunning ourselves and aaaahhh ... relaxing.

After a dreadful breakfast, we head out to the Amphora hotel which does have great lounge chairs right out front facing the sea and the location is great. We find two plum lounge chairs with a cool bar with really cool music behind us and we are set. So all morning is about the sun and we are thoroughly enjoying it.

A group of really good looking ( and entertaining) Aussies sit next to us and its fun to see them interact with each other. The lounge chairs do cost about $3 per but on this day( as opposed to the next) , no one comes to collect any money and we are not sure who to give it to( there is no booth or stand or any indication), so we let it rest.

Mostly popele are all over Hvar Town on towels and lounge chairs occupying any free space they can find. Although I would have loved to do like the natives do, I could not bring myself to just set out a towel and lay it on the rocks ( a bit uncomfortable for the back).

We walk to the harbour after sunning and enjoy some pizza at Pizza Kogo right on the square, walk around a bit and look at the shops. We thought about climbing the stairs to the fort, but we a sooooo lazy and decide not to.

The remainder of the day, we return to the hotel for a little news on TV( at this point the mideast conflict is starting and we have to watch some) and some reading.

DH's birthday dinner is at Macondo and I reserved it several days in advance and good thing I did. All the tables quickly filled up and the there were so many people waiting for a table.

We start with a Cold Macondo Platter of all kinds of assorted seafood and I choose the seafood cocktail which is clams and mussles in a garlic sauce and DH has Seafood Risotto. It's all good, but DH likes mine so much more. I notice that the risotto in Croatia is not as creamy as it is Italy; it's more like long grain rice and I am not sure I really like it all that much. I make risotto all the time in the traditional Italian way and I do like it much more creamy.

We sat for a long time, meeting 3 different couples seated next to us. And of course the the last 'couple" were the two meeting planners that clued us into the Hotel Riva.

Macondo was good, but Carta_Pisana, yes, I see what you mean by it is a little frenetic compared to the cool calmness of Golden Shell. Would I recommend Macondo, yes, but don't worry if you can't get in, there are other places to dine and they are as good.

After dinner of course, we spent the time at the Hotel Riva and making our new hotel arrangements and then we went next door to the club Carpe Diem.

Very cool, chic vibe of a place, somehow I expected a louder place and was pleasantly surprised.

The place is set with couches and high chairs and tables and everyone just looks like they stepped out of Vogue. But it was not too extreme for us and we enjoyed the drinks and atmosphere.

We then made our way back to the hotel Croatia and packed up for our new hotel.

I'll be back later this afternoon...

laartista

What a great report! thanks for all the useful info, especialy on the Hotels. I know you werew there in summer, but I was curious as to whether you heard anything about Croatisa in winter.

tripgirl

Mike,

Also I forgot to mention, that DH has an extreme interest in history, so one of the reasons we also went was out of pure curiousity to see how the country is faring after such a horrific time. He likes to talk with people , see
their faces and generally get a good sense of what might have happened here.
He has read several good books, let me know if you are interested and I will give you all the titles.

He was so intrigued of how a country so ripped apart at the seams could resolve their conflicts.

So if the past interests you, you might want to tell your friends you are interested in what happened here.

tripgirl

laartista,

Thank you for your kind words.

I'm not sure about the winter, but the whole landscape would be different.

The only experience I have is the warm sunny weather with all water spots in full swing, so I can imagine it is quite different in the winter.

Are you thinking about a winter trip?

MikeBuckley

tripgirl,

Thanks for the two responses. Very helpful! You confirm that I've been telling people the right things, though not with your eloquence and passion perhaps because our upcoming trip to Croatia is our first. I expect the passion to be sufficient upon our return, even if my eloquence is lacking. We're going in September.

By the way, as the self-appointed screen name policeman, it's my duty to inform you that you can no longer opt to go by Kalamari Kid. That's because you went two days in a row without eating it. All of us are anxiously hoping to learn from your next report that you finally returned to your senses and got back on track.

tripgirl

Mike,

You'll be happy to know that that was the last of calamari..more seafood, but I think enough is enough...

When are you going??

tripgirl

Mike,

duh, you said Sept, not reading well today.....

You will love it in Sept I suspect as there will probably be fewer crowds and yet warm.

Tuesday July 18th: CHECK IN AT THE RIVA AND MORE OF SUNNY HVAR

We bound out of bed at 6am at the Hotel Croatia, get ready and check in to the Hotel Riva at 7am. All goes well with the check in and we enjoy our yacht view breakfast onthe terrace. As I mentioned, the breakfast is fab; with so many choices and all of excellent quality.

We proceed to enjoy some of our cool room and relax a bit before getting into our bathing suits and head over again to the our lounge chairs.

The only "disadvantage" of the Riva is there is no area for hotel guests to lounge, as the hotel sits in front of all the yachts. So you do have to pick yourself up and go elsewhere.

But there are plenty of places to sun.

We thought about going over to the Pakelini Islands and enjoying the day there ( I remember aprillilacs, you spent time on St Klement and it sounded wonderful), but I can't believe how lazy we've become and we are more than content to stay right in Hvar Town and not move around. Not really like us at all as we are usually so on the go; I'm glad we've changed our usual routine.

Today, we have to ante up the $3 each for the lounge chairs.

Nothing else much to report about our day except its all about sun and fun and some more shopping.

DH buys me the most exquisite turquoise bracelet at a store called Fetish( I know, funky name). The jewelry stores on this island are fabulous and we loved the creations in this store.

Lunch; Luna. This darling restaurant is across the way from Paladini( where we would have our dinner).

The purple colored restaurant has two levels and we are seated on the terrace on top. Very cute place and I highly recommend. It's on the same street as Golden Shell.

We enjoy a light lunch of octopus salad and seafood spaghetti.

More time in our fab room ( the mideast conflict is so awful now, but we feel we do need to turn in a bit as see what is happening).

Dinner: Great dinner at Paladini. A very popular restaurant set amid orange trees. Really really good. We both enjoy fish and its of great quality.

The couple next to us had a little experience. Oranges began dropping from the trees and two kind of hit them. No harm and they thought it was funny as did most of the other patrons.

Great service, unique setting, I would recommend highly.

We pick up a gelato on the harbour. I notice that the gelato here is more like the ones in Italy, than from the beginning of this report where I talk about Slovenian gelato. This gelato is made with whole milk and is more like what most of us used to. Still, I think the best gelato is indeed in Italy.

And we finish our evening with sitting on the couches of our own terrace bar at the hotel, that has a great vibe, great music, so not different from the Carpe Diem club.

We don't have to be up early to catch the ferry to Split ( then onwards to Trogir) for the next day, so we stay up late and enjoy the harbourfront.

Trogir next and then a fine finish with Paris.

Carta_Pisana

Tripgirl -
I loved sitting outside Macondo late - when the crowds have disapated - the lamps swinging in the breeze, a inky black sky above. And Carpe Diem can be so hip it hurts but the music is fab. You're making me jones for Hvar and I have to get through a couple summer work projects before I get my fix in September. Looking forward to hearing about your experiences in Trogir.

aprillilacs

Tripgirl, thanks for the info on Hotel Riva prices. Looks like we'll have to save up for our next trip to Hvar. The Hotel Stari Grad in Dubrovnik was our splurge -- priced similarly to the Riva -- so 3 nights at the Hotel Croatia for the price of 1 night at the Riva was a good tradeoff for us.

Your description of the amount of people in Hvar Town is a big contrast to what we found at the end of May. It's amazing what a difference six weeks makes. The Amphora Hotel was a ghost town when we were walking by it--the site you lounged at was, like the Riva, still under construction.

We heard from several locals while we were there that the "season" is getting longer each year.

Mike -- we've traveled many places and fallen in love with lots of them, but coastal Croatia in general and Hvar in particular is now in our top 4 list -- along with visiting Bali and Jogjakarta in the 1970s, 2 weeks in a French gite in the middle of sunflower fields and fruit orchards outside Avignon in 1988, and walking the Nakasendo highway in Japan in the spring of 2004. You won't regret choosing Croatia!

MikeBuckley

tripgirl,

enough is enough

Say it ain't so! My motto: anything worth doing is worth doing to excess.

I'm curious. Do you remember all the details about the meals you and your DH eat or do you take notes in a journal?

Carta,

I'm particularly excited that you place Croatia among your favorites of such diverse places. My wife and I also enjoy the diversity of travel.

Our ccurrent expectation is Croatia will be a really nice place to visit for all of the reasons tripgirl mentions, but we aren't expecting it to be one of our top five. Our current favorites are Morocco, Thailand, rafting down the Grand Canyon, Venice, Egypt and New Zealand. But we're definitely open minded and wouldn't mind it at all if one of those places is displaced by Croatia.

tripgirl

Mike,

I remember alot and also take notes.
Your list of favorites are places that on our list for upcoming trips ( except Venice, we've been there and yes, it is great)

Wednesday July 19th: ON TO TROGIR

We don't need to leave until 1pm, so we enjoy another scrumptious breakfast at the Riva and just hang out.

The catamaran leaves for Split at 1pm and the ride is fast and swift. You all sit inside, no outdoor seating. We arrive an hour later already familar with the ferry port as we've been there before.

Our driver is waiting for us from the Vila Sikaa on the dock to take us to Trogir.

About 1/2 hour or so later, we arrive in Trogir, s simply adorable town. Check in is warm and friendly and its Ana, the young lady i have been dealing with via e mail who checks us in.

The hotel is located across the way from the old town via a small bridge. We book the top room, a superior double that overlooks the town, its an loft type of room, with lots of space.

Since we are only here overnight as our plane to Paris leaves ever so early the next day, we try to see all of the Old Town which is easy to do in just a few hours.

We visited the outdoor market and explored all the little streets.

Lunch: Lunch is a fab pizza at Top Baloon with excellent service. DH takes his shoes off as they hurt a bit and our waiter brings over a towel for him to rest his feet on!

Dinner: Karmelengo: Excellent grilled fish for me and seafood pasta for Dh and the placeis great. we sit near the wall grill and watch this extremely hard working chef go at it with all the grilled seafood. Highly recommend.

By nightfall the Old Town Riva is very full and lively and we would have stayed up, but with a 5am wake up call, we think twice. Oh well...

Highly recommend at least a night or two in Trogir, sweet, sweet town.

Thursday July 20th: OFF TO PARIS
Smooth connection to Paris on Croatia airlines via using Europe by Air : the taxes: ouch! The process is smooth enough, but somewhat deceiving as the ticket price is low, but then taxes, oh well....

Our driver is waiting for us in Paris and off we go.

We've been to Paris many times, but this time we splurged for the Four Seasons George V.

What do you say about it? It's perfect in every way and no wonder it is one of the world's best.

Our room is a beautiful corner room with balcony facing the marble courtyard and its all perfect
with every bell and whistle you can imagine.

The staff are from the finest finishing schools and it shows every minute. There is not much else to say about it is just that perfect and grand. Please though,if you have questions, please ask. It just all too much to explain in such detail.

As much as we enjoyed our stay there, I think we've come to the conclusion though we prefer the left bank for lodging. Having been everywhere in Paris, we still prefer St Germain and I think we'll just remain there. We have stayed with friends before and sometimes hotels, but this time we just did something different and especially since it was our 15th wed anniv. We loved the George V and will probably end up there again in future travels, but the left bank will still remain in our hearts.

We did not do any of the usual touristy events, but would be glad to assist anyone who is in need of some advice. We've done all of those things.

But DH has not been to the Orangerie since it has reopened and so he enjoys it alot.

I just meander into my favortie neighborhoods and parks and shop and walk and walk.

We did meet my good friend who is a tour guide in Paris for dinner Thurs night at a fab new spot, Le Cinq Mars on rue Verneuil 51 in the 7th. Opened pretty recently according to Antoinette, its a lovely bisto with a great neighborhood feel.

Ok... we switch from seafood to my one of favorite foods in Paris: lamb. We all have lamb as a matter of fact, mine is grilled chops, DH and Antoinette's is sort of a light stew. Foie gras for appetizer and chocolate mousse for dessert. Antoinette picks a fabulous wine from her favorite winery in Bordeaux.

The rest of the meals included Senderens, formerly Lucas Carton. Alain Senderens has totally transformed the place into a more modern and relaxed space, but the food is top notch. Lamb again for me, duck for DH. 9 place de Madeleine.

Atelier De Joel Robuchon: Fabulous and very different dining experience at Joel Robuchon. Joel Robuchon is truly one the "founding " fathers of today's French cuisine( along with Alain Ducasse, they rule!!)Robuchon left the culinary world for several years and now is back with such a creative edge and a refreshed way of approching cuisine.

The restaurant is set up as two sections that resemble alomost like a sushi bar, as there are no tables, just these two communal bars where you sit on high chairs.

We ordered a myriad of tapas like portions and I also had more... you guessed it lamb!!!

The staff work like bandits going from each person to person and working like mad to get all the food out. It was certainly a new and fun experience.
5 rue de Montalembert, 7th. Next door to the Montalembert Hotel.

We also dined for lunch upon arrival at Le Chiberta, a Guy Savoy bisto, that has a business clientele during the day. We enjoyed exquisite fish, mine was bass and DH had sole.3 rue Arsene Houssaye, in the 8th, across the Champs Elysees.

We had another lunch at a small cafe on the Ile St Louis and another lunch at the Musee Jacquemart Andre, blvd Haussmann the 9th.

But would could of kicked ourselves on two accounts the last day

1. We did not plan on the Tour de France coming into the finish the day we left; we were leaving at 12 noon, they were pulling in at 4pm. Had we planned better, we could have certainly stayed longer. We did run up to the Champs to see the set up though. Oh well...

2. When we waiting for luggage to come down, the doorman at the Four Seasons say to us" Do you know who that just was?' pointing to a car pulling out of the Four Season driveway. That was Yves St Laurent! We missed him, but we did see his car.

The doorman says he always stops by the George V.

As you would have guessed our departure to the US was smooth! Go figure. Now I don't ever care what happens on the way back; delay my bags and flights if you have to, but don't mess with my trip on the way in!!!!

LAST THOUGHTS

We had a great trip and with the delays on the way in which are now part of a great travel story, a confusing episode with my shoes in Dubrovnik and being stuffed to the gills ( I think I must have grown some)with calamari, we enjoyed all that Croatia ( since it was really the bulk of our trip0 tremendously. This country is going to explode inthe next upcoming years and I am glad we went when we did.

As much as I like change, I think I might even be one of those people who return in a few years and become conflicted about the changes from when I first visited.

I think the people have alot to look forward to; I hope the employment situation grows brighter for them, but I think thathave a beautiful country to be very proud of.

Slovenia is sweet and we'll spend more time next time, but do plan a trip; you will enjoy it!

And what's left to say about Paris from people who love Paris? It still remains one of my favorite cities and once you've been alot of times, it becomes more and more familar and comfortable. It will most likely be the city we first choose when we begin our idea of home exchange once DH retires in just a few short years.

Please feel free to ask any questions about anything; i hope you all enjoyed this report and now it's time for dinner

CALAMARI.... No, just kidding...

MikeBuckley

aorililacs,

My apologies that I got Carta's post confused with yours. I should have addressed it to you.

tripgirl

Mike,

I did forget we were in Thailand last year and yes, that is on my top list too.

laartista

Awesome, Awesome report. Thank you for posting it, I'm only sorry it's over.

P.S. yes, thinking about croatia in the winter as one of my stops

tripgirl

laartista,

You will probably have the pick of hotels and restaurants, not sure though how many of them will be open .

but you'll have a grand time!

tower

TG...your report will add 10,000 newbies to Croatia over the next few years..you talk about the difference yu will feel next time you travel there....what am I to say, since my first few visits were in Tito's days...the changes since '89, the visit before my 2004 trip, were so dramatic, especially after the shellings in the 90's, I was in a state of disbelief.

Funny and scary story regarding George V..not that I ever stayed there...I wasn't about to mortgage my home to do so! BUT, a year and a half ago, our European prodcuers who began planning the movie for my most recent historical novel, were all excited because a "major movie funder" from Switzerland wanted to meet with them in Paris...so I was asked to be present,too. Seems he was staying at George V (none of us did!), but we appeared at 10 am sharp to meet with Sir Moneybags. A more dapper gentleman I had never seen ...down to the ascot, Louis Vuiton briefcase and bejewled walking stick...
to make a long, sad story short, it turned out he was not staying at the George (I had checked with the desk before he arrived from the men's room), BUT, after a fiftenen minute exchange of info he announced that he was perfectly willing to tap his "friends" in RUSSIA for the 15M needed to start production...and eventually he asked the Romanian and the Dutch producers if they would accept cash and arrange to meet him at UBS in Geneva to make the exchange. Of course, I can't recall all the dirty details, but all three of us immediately smelled a sweet laundering set-up. We huddled and politely told Mr. Dapper Dan, thanks but no thanks...and he walked out of the hotel in a huff, muttering obscenities. At that moment, the concierge came over to us and said the "gentleman" in question was a frequent "lobby" guest at the GeorgeV and had recently attracted the attention of the Paris police. He had wanted to warn us but didn't see the opportunity. Whew!!

Stu T.

SloJan

Nice report, Tripgirl! So glad that you enjoyed Ljubljana. The comparison to Prague is not totally erroneous, though. Much of Ljbuljana was designed by the Architect Plesnik, the same guy who designed much of Prague. The feel is different; smaller and more intimate but there is a similarity.

And you must come back! Bled and the countryside are gorgeous!

Cheers,
J