Rovinj, Hotel Eden

We have just returned from a 2 week holiday at the Hotel Eden in Rovinj, and I could not recommend it highly enough. We had a lovely time there and it is a great place to stay.

The location of the hotel is superb. It has extensive gardens to the rear and at the end of the gardens is a coastal path and the sea. Walk about 20 minutes in one direction (a lovely walk with delightful views all the way) and you can reach the harbour and old town area of Rovinj. Walk in the other direction and you are right in the Zlatni Forest park with pine trees, forest trails, beach bars and inlets where you can swim and sunbathe.

The hotel grounds are extensive. The gardens are lovely, with grassy areas and trees, although there were lots of people sunbathing it always felt calm, relaxing and peaceful. There are brown squirrels running around and lots of jays. There always seemed to be plenty of sunbeds, and these were never in short supply.

The hotel has 3 seawater pools - 1 indoor, 1 outdoor and 1 children's pool area. There are no lifeguards though, so caution is advised.

The interior of the hotel is light, spacious and furnished in a contemporary way. It seemed to us like it had recently been refurbished, as everything seemed fresh and new. There are lots of different areas to sit, relax, read or people watch.

The rooms are a reasonable size, and again furnished in a bright, fresh, contemporary style. They have flat-screen televisions with (limited) choice of satellite channels, mini bars and a hairdryer, although this was fairly useless so I recommend you take your own. We had 2 very large, comfortable single beds which were pushed together, and a leather sofa bed. The room had a small balcony area with not much of a view due to the trees. The rooms are all air-conditioned. The bathroom was modern with a powerful shower - no bath - all white tiles and chrome fittings.

We stayed on a half board basis, and the food was buffet style. Breakfasts were substantial with a good choice, although the coffee always seemed to be cold. Evening meals were also good; again buffet style, and there was a fair amount of choice, but after 2 weeks the food did seem to be a bit "samey" and bland. This is only a minor complaint. The hotel also has another restaurant at the edge of the gardens called the Oleander. We had lunch twice here and it was delicious - Italian style food - wonderful pizzas and pasta dishes and really reasonably priced (about £12 for 2 pizzas and drinks).

There is a children's club and play area with lots of toys and games they can use. There is also mini-golf, archery, shooting and other activities organised by an animation team, and everything is free. Entertainment (mainly bands) was provided each evening.

The hotel staff were exceptional, extremely friendly, helpful and knowledgeable.

There is lots to do in Rovinj itself. It has a beautiful old town with cobbled streets, beautiful pastel crumbly buildings, art galleries and craft shops. The quayside is great, and there are lots of restaurants, bars, ice cream shops and a lively atmosphere. We enjoyed going on 2 boat trips around the bay and the islands around Rovinj. We also hired bikes, which cost about £5 per day, and we rode through and explored the Zlatni forest park, again highly recommended.

It is very cheap to hire a car. It cost around £30 a day for a Renault Twingo, and this included a baby car seat. Book this when you get to Rovinj and not before, as the big hire companies quoted us £60 - £90 per day and £40 extra for the car seat. It is nice to explore the local area. Pula is about 40 minutes away and has a great Roman amphitheatre, lovely old town with lots of Roman ruins and a fun aquarium in the Verundella area.

We also visited the Brijuni Islands by catamaran from Rovinj. These were Tito's refuge and only opened to the public in 1984. You have to go on a guided tour and you are not allowed to wander freely there, but they have a small museum with Tito pictures and artifacts, including his collection of stuffed animals and a small safari park which you go through on a tourist train. The main animals there are 2 elephants, almost 40 years old, given to Tito by Indira Ghandi.

All in all we had a wonderful holiday in Rovinj, and we would thoroughly recommend this area and the Hotel Eden. The weather is beautiful, the scenery stunning and the hotel deserves every one of its four stars.