Hotel Miramar, Opatija — Hotel in Grad Opatija

The Hotel Miramar is a classic old hotel with a rich history and very upscale feel with lovely décor and is incredibly clean. The best attribute is its location, right on a small peninsula along the walking promenade with a lovely setting jutting out right onto the water. . The hotel is located just north/east of the center of the small town of Opatija and the right turn onto a side street can be easy to miss. The building with reception where you check in is on this little side street. After checking in, if you have a car, you will drive down a narrow lane to the underground parking garage where you will be met by an attendant waiting by the parking space assigned to you with a large sign welcoming you and designating that space as yours. The attendant will take your luggage up to your room.||The hotel is actually a little complex of a resort, with several separate buildings connected by tunnels and a beautifully landscaped garden. Several buildings are back along the perimeter of the garden without much if any sea view. Be sure to reserve a room in the main original old building with the four story tower, the restaurant, and the “beach” wooden platforms. The expense is well worth it for the lovely views and breezes.||The hotel caters, like many in Istria, to Germans and Austrians which has its plusses and minuses.|Pluses| the hotel is very clean and the housekeeping people work very hard| after several nights of not being able to sleep due to the extremely hard and uncomfortable mattress, I went to the reception desk to ask for four pillows so that might help mitigate the harsh mattress. The desk clerk was amazingly helpful and immediately asked if we would like them to put on a cushy mattress cover. Oh MY! I said Oh Yes that would be wonderful! And sure enough, they did and it was such an incredible difference and we were finally able to sleep.|||Minuses|- We found it almost impossible to sleep and we were there for several nights. The bed is impossibly uncomfortable. The mattress is as hard as a stone slab, the sheets and pillowcases are extremely rough, the duvet is not large enough to cover even a very slim, moderately tall woman; and the pillows are hard and small. Sleeping was impossible due to the extreme discomfort of all aspects of the bed. See the “plus” above – they offered us a cushy mattress cover which made all the difference so we could finally sleep.|- The AC does not work well enough to cool the room enough to be able to sleep. One of the most important factors in choosing this hotel and this specific suite was the individually controlled room AC, so we would not be stuck with centrally controlled hotel AC which is never ever cool enough and which hotels turn off at night which means that halfway through the night we wake up very hot. We told them about the AC several times. |- When we once went to reception to ask them to fix the AC, the desk clerk was unacceptably rude without a hint of a customer service orientation. There was some sort of concert going on in the lobby, and he said that no one would be able to talk to us for two hours while this concert was going on. He would not listen to us nor would he find someone we could talk to. This was very frustrating.|- Everything is printed in German without an English translation. |- Restaurants close early because Germans and Austrians eat early. We were used to restaurant kitchens being open very late as per usual custom in the rest of Europe and Croatia, and had to scurry to find a place for dinner that was open and serving dinner at 9:30 which was incredibly challenging.||The breakfast is in a lovely restaurant setting with several tables on an open air balcony overlooking the sea. The breakfast buffet is has a lot of options and is hygienically presented (refrigerated display cases for fruit, vegetables, cheese, protein, etc. have a lid you lift up and then close again). We did not see the “mad rush” we often see at hotel buffet breakfasts. The views from the sea overlook tables is magnificent. The set up reminds me of hotels along the Amalfi coast of Italy. The yellow and white décor is very Austrian. Almost everything is very fresh, except surprisingly the bread which was close to stale and the buffet options are broad in scope with every single accoutrement available. The cereal options are skimpy – there is very little variety of options other than nut based mueslix. The made to order omelettes and the hard boiled eggs are very good. The juice glasses are impossibly tiny – they might hold 3 oz.||The room is fine. Wood parquet floors, shutters on the windows and French doors; a small frig from which you can remove the mini bar items and replace with your own; great views of the various sides of the hotels and the sea. Furniture is of the Maria Teresa yellow and white look. There are no closets, but there are two large old wood armoires with plenty of storage space and real hangers that you can take off of the rack and put back wherever you want. The only downside is that there are metal keys in the keyholes and when you open or close the armoire door, the keys fall out and rattle to the floor. The shower floor was very “bouncy” on which to stand; it felt often as though I would lose my balance due to the uneven bouncy floor and the slipperiness. The bathroom is Blue – blue tile which I got used to over time. Lighting is good. The toilet room is around the corner from the bathroom and lacks its own sink and towel rack so that seems very unhygienic.||There are several very wonderful and thoughtful accoutrements in the room – two large turquoise beach bags with beach towels and two large umbrellas. This is an extremely thoughtful add on. The housekeeping staff is very hard working and very polite. Our housekeeping person, despite speaking almost no English, was very helpful when we asked for certain things, like more towels, and our room was always very clean. The turndown service person was very gracious and helpful, offering new towels and taking old towels and the trash every evening.|The location is the very best – it is about 10 -20 minute leisurely walk into town along the pedestrian path which is lovely. There is not any nightlife in Opatija outside of July and August other than one little caffe about a ten minute walk down at the marina. The hotel’s sunbed platform “beach” is a highlight – stay on sunbeds on the wooden platforms with open air underneath for the breeze, vs. being on the rocks which is very hot. The views are amazing and the color of the water is amazing.|The keys are the old fashioned very heavy metal keys with a large maroon tassel. These are a major inconvenience as they are bulky and heavy and very difficult to carry around with you. We had to plead for a...

My Recent Miramar Experience In A Wrap!

My annual visit to the Hotel Miramar in Opatija again left me breathless over the absolute beauty of this place. The garden is a dream, and the property is unbeatable with its rocky beach area where the sea pampers you with fresh salty air and a mild water temperature for an unforgettable swimming experience.

Kudos to the lovely team at the spa, terrace, bar, and restaurant. Excellent - and so is the cuisine. There is nothing to complain about, and you would feel like you were in heaven. Fantastic!

But let’s talk about the reception and front office:

You arrive, and instead of a warm “Welcome, and how was your travel?” (Which should be the standard greeting in any cultured house) you get a grumpy “Your ID!!” and "Is this your first visit"?

I booked a premium room with park view and got a room on the backside of the building 4 with a view to the grounds of the neighbourhood. Are you kidding me?? Of course I complained, and they offered me a room in the Villa Neptun which had a park view of the hotel, but I had to pay a slightly increased room rate. Come on!!

I mean the photo of the room on the reservation confirmation should match the reality somehow: This is mandatory for a **S hotel!

Of course one of the bedside lamps did not work and there was a huge spider web on the ceiling, which has been discretely overlooked by the house maid until I pointed it out. The keys at the wardrobe were loose and did not match with the lock, so they fell out constantly. (But who am I to ask for a perfect room?? Just a returning guest…)

Be aware of the night porter: Where did they find this guy?? Did he win the championship for the rudest night porter in the world?? I don’t want to go into details here. Thank God the awesome waiter in the bar helped me out.

And why is it necessary to start a repair session at the pool at 7 am? The morning sleep was finished. Unbelievable.

Please fix this shaky wifi. It doesn’t work properly and we all have to follow up our daily duties – even when being on vacation.

Anyway, I love this place, but I have been distressed for the first two days. And please, no apologies: They knew EXACTLY what they did. Other guests had similar issues.

I hope this ambitious hotel team will take my review into consideration for improvement: No bad vibes because I wish to visit again certainly if they would give me a...

My annual visit to the Hotel Miramar in Opatija again left me breathless over the absolute beauty of this place. The garden is a dream, and the property is unbeatable with its rocky beach area where the sea pampers you with fresh salty air and a mild water temperature for an unforgettable swimming experience.||Kudos to the lovely team at the spa, terrace, bar, and restaurant. Excellent - and so is the cuisine. There is nothing to complain about, and you would feel like you were in heaven. Fantastic!||But let’s talk about the reception and front office: ||You arrive, and instead of a warm “Welcome, and how was your travel?” (Which should be the standard greeting in any cultured house) you get a grumpy “Your ID!!” and "Is this your first visit"?||I booked a premium room with park view and got a room on the backside of the building 4 with a view to the grounds of the neighbourhood. Are you kidding me?? Of course I complained, and they offered me a room in the Villa Neptun which had a park view of the hotel, but I had to pay a slightly increased room rate. Come on!! ||I mean the photo of the room on the reservation confirmation should match the reality somehow: This is mandatory for a **S hotel!||Of course one of the bedside lamps did not work and there was a huge spider web on the ceiling, which has been discretely overlooked by the house maid until I pointed it out. The keys at the wardrobe were loose and did not match with the lock, so they fell out constantly. (But who am I to ask for a perfect room?? Just a returning guest…)||Be aware of the night porter: Where did they find this guy?? Did he win the championship for the rudest night porter in the world?? I don’t want to go into details here. Thank God the awesome waiter in the bar helped me out.||And why is it necessary to start a repair session at the pool at 7 am? The morning sleep was finished. Unbelievable.||Please fix this shaky wifi. It doesn’t work properly and we all have to follow up our daily duties – even when being on vacation.||Anyway, I love this place, but I have been distressed for the first two days. And please, no apologies: They knew EXACTLY what they did. Other guests had similar issues.||I hope this ambitious hotel team will take my review into consideration for improvement: No bad vibes because I wish to visit again certainly if they would give me a...