Hotel Fortuna, St Nikolas, Porec, Croatia
We holidayed here from 28th August to 4th September 2007.
The flight to Pula from Gatwick went well and was uneventful.
The transfer to Porec takes approximately 45 minutes by coach. On arrival at Porec bus station you disembark and a guide (from the hotel) leads you to a jetty where you get the free hotel ferry boat over to the island of St. Nicolas. This is less than a five minute walk but you do need to carry your own luggage.
Our first impression was similar to that of others who have stayed at the hotel. The exterior could really do with a lick of paint. The entrance to the hotel is up a long flight of steps (disabled access is via slopes which were either side of the steps).
The hotel has a fountain at the top of the steps outside the main entrance and there are very pretty gardens en route (with some interesting flowers).
Once inside the hotel we found it to be spotlessly clean. The hotel staff are helpful and have a happy demeanour. The main lounge is situated just inside the main doors to the hotel. The black and grey marble floor is lovely. However, the fake leather furniture has seen better days and is now threadbare. This area is a huge gloomy space of which better use could be made. Nobody really used this area while we were there apart from small groups of people waiting for others, and to queue for the hotel restaurant.
Off this main area there is a separate internet room with two computers for guest use. From what I remember there was a reasonable charge. The hotel also provided a room to store lilo's (for use in the hotel pool).
The main bar was a long “L” shaped room with lots of round tables and chairs lined up in rows. It wasn't particularly welcoming or very interesting to sit in. The hotel has a terrace off the bar which gets very busy at night for with guests watching the hotel entertainment. During the day the terrace serves lunch.
The quality of the evening entertainment is varied. It ranged from very bad some nights to excellent on others. One night in particular a singer called Miro Unger performed (he was in a Croatian boy band in the 60/70's) and was very good. The entertainment programme finished each evening about 11.20pm. If you want early nights you are probably best choosing a room at the back of the hotel overlooking the trees.
It's difficult when reading the reviews of this hotel on this site not to notice all the comments about noise from bars etc. We did notice on Friday and Saturday nights you could hear the bars and clubs on the mainland, but it was possible to sleep through this. During the rest of the week it wasn't a problem. Obviously we holidayed at the end of the season and in July and August it may be different. As mentioned above the hotel entertainment finished about 11.20 pm. It was very loud and it is not possible to sleep through it.
The main restaurant in the hotel was large and a bit like a canteen. The doors opened for dinner at 7pm in the evening and the queues started at 6.30pm. The restaurant has two terraces: one recently furnished which has wonderful views and the other more hidden in trees. We did queue ourselves one evening but found people queuing behind us sent in their children to race ahead and grab the best tables. There is a lot of running, pushing and shoving to get a good table. It's a sight to behold! Dinner finishes at 9.pm. Breakfast is 7am to 10am.
The food in the Hotel Fortuna was quite good. Both breakfast and dinner had a varied selection of meats, fish and vegetarian meals on offer along with a good salad bar (at dinner). We couldn't find fault with any of it. If I had one comment to make it would be that I would have liked the food to be slightly spicier or with more garlic, but they have to cater for all tastes and children.
Throughout dinner free red/white wine, beer and soft drinks are provided on a help-yourself basis.
Our bedroom was at the front of the hotel on the third floor and had the most spectacular views I have ever seen. It's definitely worth paying the sea view supplement (unless you can’t stand the noise at night – see above). You will not be disappointed.
The bedroom itself was large and had recently been repainted (white). The furniture - although a little dated - was more than adequate with more wardrobe hanging space and hangers than I have ever had before in a holiday hotel. The beds were comfortable.
On the island there is no real main beach to speak of, just pebbles and concrete tiles, but it is adequate and didn't get too crowded. You can walk round the island and get access to the rocks on which to sunbathe. The island is worth exploring.
Sunbeds are available for hire (20Kuna) a day which is £2 GBP. The sunbeds are chained up overnight and are available from 9.15 am. This did upset some people but it did mean you didn't need to get up at the crack of dawn to put your towels down before the Germans.
There are sun terraces behind the beach under the trees so if you don’t want to sit in full sun you can take your beds here.
There is a beach bar serving drinks and snacks. A burger and chips was very reasonable.
There was another café/restaurant at the other end of the island open but we did not try it. The hotel documentation does talk about an A la Carte restaurant. There is a building along from the hotel but it was closed whilst we were there. It is a shame as the place is crying out for a good restaurant.
The free ferry was wonderful; it runs every half an hour from 7am and finished at midnight. We used it on many occasions to go over to Porec. It does run to a strict timetable but wont wait so don’t run for it if you are late wait for the next journey
We found Porec had a wonderful selection of restaurants. Our favourites were:
Ulixes in Decumanus St (number 2).
This was a bit more expensive and up-market than some of the restaurants. We ate beef with Truffles and a Sardine starter. The local Croatian red wine (Merlot) called Contarini from the Degrassi vineyard was good.
Nono specialised in Pizza. This was located at Zagrebaca 4 and was very good with huge pizzas and a variety of toppings.
Istra was located in Milanovica (number 30 at the end of the road). It served good local fish but was fairly expensive compared to the others mentioned.
We also ate in several pasta restaurants with a good selection of dishes. An average price for Spaghetti Bolognaise was £3.50.
Another good red wine tasted in Porec was Dingac from the Skaramuca Vineyard (a full bodied fruity red).
Porec itself is a wonderful town to browse around with some exceptional Roman ruins and buildings. We especially enjoyed the Byzantine Basilica of St Euphrasius and spent several hours wandering around. There is an old roman temple ruin behind the empty hotel on the point.
Most of the shops stock Italian goods at reasonable prices. The jewellery is excellent and if you don't own any amber this is the place to buy it. Baltic amber is reasonably priced and the designs were wonderful.
Whilst staying here we visited Rovinj on a sea picnic excursion booked directly with one of the boats in Porec harbour. Rovinj is another typical Croatian village with winding streets and very picturesque. One thing to note is that the street cobblestones are very slippery and you do need to be careful when walking around.
There are day trips to Venice that depart Porec on certain days of the week. These depart at around 8.00am in the morning and return early evening. Take your passport and Euros.
Overall we really enjoyed Porec and would certainly go back. It's reasonably priced and the coast is spectacular: - very unspoilt and wooded.
Our return journey to the UK wasn’t a good end to the holiday and left a bitter aftertaste. ThomsonFly managed to split us up at the check in for the return flight even though we had paid a supplement in the UK to sit together £12 per person. After a lengthy argument where we were told Thomson considered sitting across an aisle as sitting together, they eventually changed our seats and seated us together without an aisle between us. We are waiting for a response from Thomson to confirm their policy on seating, but, if splitting couples up across an aisle, even though a supplement is paid, is the policy its not worth paying for.
