Loža — Hotel in Grad Novalja

I stayed at Hotel Loza for 3 nights in early June 2016 as part of a stag party. (Group of 16 men).||Having read previous reviews, I was a little worried about what to expect from this hotel but I was pleasantly surprised overall as it suited our needs just fine. ||The town of Novalja is approx. 1hr 20mins from Zadar airport by minibus and the scenery on the route is beautiful.||||ARRIVAL:||The hotel has a staff member on the reception desk for 24hrs and check in was simple. The rooms only have 1 key per room and each time you leave the hotel you are asked to return the key to reception. We did not have any problems with this but no checks ever took place when asking for a room key. There appeared to be free WiFi for a couple of days, but I then overheard staff say you had to pay for it (however, you are in/near a Croatian Wifi hotspot anyway).||||ROOMS:||We had 8 rooms in total, all of which were a good size but basic and included a bed (mix of singles/doubles), a desk with a small TV (couple of English speaking channels), a small fridge and a wardrobe.||Some rooms had balconies with wooden shutters but these were useless at blocking out light and there were no curtains either. The patio door did not block out any noise from outside so be prepared for an early wakeup call from the scooters / bin men / party goers etc.||The rooms were clean and the maid called daily to see if we needed any bedding/towels etc.||Apparently, my room was the only one of the 8 with an air conditioning unit (room 105 at no extra cost) and none of the rooms had a safe.||The bathrooms were small and included a toilet, sink and bath/shower, shower gel & hand wash. The shower pressure and temperature was great but the space was cramped and the shower curtain was annoyingly clingy!||The overall cost worked out about £33 per room per night inc. breakfast. ||||FOOD:||Breakfast was included in the price and served between 0600-1000 daily which consisted of scrambled eggs, sausages (like hot dogs), breads, cheeses, cereals, fruit juice and coffee.||The food is not great but cost us next to nothing really and is a nice option if on a strict budget.||||LOCATION:||The best part about this hotel is the location. It is on the harbour and next to Loza square which has several cafes, bars, restaurant’s, takeaways, cash machines, kiosks (papers, souvenirs, hats, towels etc) and a supermarket. It is only a 10-minute stroll to a great beach (shingle) with a relaxing chill out bar. The square is well serviced by taxi’s and it only costs about £8 (80kuna) to travel 10 mins to the clubs of Zrce beach. There is a bus service too but we did not use it.||||OVERALL:||I’d give Hotel Loza 3/5 as it suited the basic requirements of the group – a great location, surrounded by local amenities and offered a comfortable base for us to get a couple of hours sleep, a shower and a change of clothing. ||The local restaurants serve meat/fish/pizza/pasta and on average cost 90kuna (£9), beer cost 40kuna (£4) and cocktails cost 60kuna (£6)||The local bars stay open til 2am and then the party continues at Zrce until 5.30am. ||It was a great location for a stag party, but equally the group were impressed as a family/couples holiday location due to the amazing scenery and quality...

Basic room, which was a comfortable stay. Right in the centre of Novalija. There is a beach about 15 mins walk away which was very pretty, shallow water, water sports and a nice place to chill with your partner, family or friends. The hotel provides breakfast, lunch and dinner which you have to pay for upon booking. There is no lift to access other floors of the hotel. Just loads of stairs (2 story building) there is front porch that over looks the harbour (sea) which is very pretty and you can eat your breakfast on. There is s no visitors rule in the hotel and a no alcohol policy. However there is a bar kinda thing down stairs. There is air conditioning in the room which works perfectly and some rooms have a balcony. The hotel has 24 hour access. But I'm not too sure about the parking situation. (If you can, pre-book your transfer from your own country because they will try to rip you off.)

Zadar Airport is th3 closest airport at a distance of 1hour and 30 mins. Split is a hour and half drive, Zagreb is close to 3 hours and half)

The cost of living is quite cheap. 100kuna is about £12. I scoop of ice cream which I had every single day was £8. Drinks where about 20kuna but if you find a market near buy (5mins from Hotel Loză-called Novalis) you can buy a 1 litre bottle of drink (coke/fanta) for 8,99kn (kuna) there were a couple native restaurants near by. But we stuck to what we know so we were constantly eating burger and chips, pizza and chips, wings and chips. Which all tastes very and worth the price. These type of foods are a 2-3 min walk from the hotel (surf n fries, burger and co) the kebab was good.

Overall a good stay and I would recommend this...

After 17 years i came back to Novalja. It is totaly changed... In a good way. I stayed at this lovely hotel Loza which is located in the centre and on the riva. The best location for sure! Staff is really really nice and friendly, always there if you need any information. Rooms are spaceous, beds comfortable and the view over sunset is just amazing! During my stay they prepared nice and new variety of breakfast\brunch... They serve it until 1.30pm which is perfect if you go party a night before. 👏 Gotta try poached eggs or caprese salad. Hotel has a big teracce where chill lounge music is played and you can sit there and observe romantic sunset,ofcouse with a glass of gemist (white wine, soda and ice) or you can order a coctail... They have like 30 of them. Not to forget... They have swings on a terrace which is a peferct instagram spot! And yes, if you come with a car, parking space is just outside the hotel. Highly recommend for a weekend or longer stay, with segnificant other or family. I will defenetly return...