Montenegro, Budva, Queen of Montenegro

My husband and myself stayed in the Queen Montenegro Hotel in July/August this year and found the hotel to be very comfortable with friendly staff and good food (although my husband is a fussy eater so didn't enjoy the food quite as much as I did). It was buffet style with quite a variety of foods especially if you are a lover of fish. The food was always fresh and plenty. The room was very clean and comfortable with good air conditioning. We didn't have a seaview, but were not disappointed with our balcony view at the front of the hotel with beautiful country hillside scenery.

The hotel provides free use of sunbeds on the beach in a designated area and you can obtain your free pass for this from the reception desk each day. However this is not just across the road. Once out of the hotel complex you have to cross over a bridge and walk down 97 gradually winding steps in order to reach the beachfront. Not so bad going down, but pretty tiring walking back up! So if you have a walking disability then this is not the hotel for you.

There is also a very good bus service from outside the hotel into Budva town which runs every 10-15 mins and costs only 1 euro each way but they do get very busy and you may only get standing room. The journey into Budva is around 30-40mins. We took the bus as the one time we went to take a taxi and the driver would not give us a price up front. They are known to overcharge so beware and always get price before you ride. The buses run till 1.30am which is great if you want to go to Budva in the evening as its quite a 'bussy' place. We spent most of our evenings there as there was very little in the way of entertainment at the hotel. There is a sports bar called OJ-HA tavern on the premises of the hotel but there was little evidence of it being in use as whenever we passed by it was always empty with no atmosphere and very dark and dreary inside. There was also a terrace outside this bar which seemed to be redundant which is a shame as if they opened this space up and made the bar more inviting, they would possibly have more custom.

Its well worth hiring a car for a few days to get around this beautiful country, which has some stunning scenery. Places worth visiting are Cetinje (which used to be the old capital of the country), lovely quaint little village, Kotor, Perast, Skadar Lake/national park and Lovcen national park. You can drive to Dubrovnik but be prepared for long delays getting over the boarder with customs. Probably best to do this on an organised tour as the coaches get through much quicker, although it makes for a long day trip.

For those of you who are more adventurous there is the zip wire over the Tara canyon,water rafting and paragliding - we thoroughly enjoyed all 3 - brilliant!

We really enjoyed our stay in Montenegro and would definetly recommend a visit to this beautiful country.

sybilbasil