Park Plaza Verudela Pula — Hotel in Grad Pula

We stayed at this resort in June, and despite a couple of niggles, we had a great holiday. Our main gripe was with TUI rather than the hotel, for not saying on their website that check-in time at the resort is 4pm. We arrived at reception at 11am after an early morning flight, and it was disappointing to be told that we had five hours to kill before we could go to our room. We haven’t experienced that before on a package holiday, and if we had known in advance we could have had a better experience.||We were able to store our luggage, and I grabbed something out of my suitcase to change into in the loos, but it wasn’t an ideal start to the holiday. The sun lotion was out of reach, so we sat in the shade, and because we had our heavy hand luggage with us, we weren’t really able to go off and explore, especially with all the surrounding cliffs and stone steps. Watching others enjoying their holiday rather than getting on with our own made us a bit grumpy to be honest! So go prepared.||Anyway, we eventually found our way to the terrace bar and as we took in the stunning views with a beer and a white wine in our hands, we started to feel better!||We had booked a self-catering room, and it was pretty nice, with good air-con, a comfy bed, plenty of storage space, and a kitchen/dining area with a huge fridge. It also had a kettle, electric hob, microwave, plenty of pots, pans and cutlery, and even kitchen roll and a pack with a sponge and washing-up liquid. I always pack ice-cube bags, and was glad I did because there wasn’t an ice-cube tray – a G&T is not the same without ice! The bathroom had a powerful shower, and the ESPA toiletries (handwash, body lotion, shampoo, conditioner and shower gel) were a lovely, and unexpected, touch. ||We were on the ground floor, and had a terrace which was really private. As well as a table and chairs, there was a full-size airer. Beware the gulls though, there was a near-miss with droppings on our beach towels, and their early morning screeching was an unexpected alarm! On the subject of towels, remember to take your own pool towels. We saw lots of people who’d not done their research and were using bathroom towels. Our room was kept clean, and fresh towels were delivered daily.||Gripe number two was the pool rules – something we’ve never seen before on any holiday. The pool area is locked at night, and opened by a member of staff at 9am. I had read about this on TA prior to visiting, so it didn’t come as a complete shock – although I was hoping it might have changed between reviews and us getting there. It hadn’t. We had arrived on a Saturday, and looking at the pool area from one of the benches in the shade, I could not see one single spare sun-lounger, which was dismaying. ||The next morning, as a small queue had formed at about 8.40am, we thought we’d better join it, just in case. At opening time, a member of staff tells the queue not to take more loungers than people in their party, then takes your room number and the number of guests, and off you go. What a shame that people have to be told this, and even though they were, we saw people craftily leave an item of clothing on a third lounger, even though there were only two in their party! ||On a couple of occasions, it was very amusing to see people virtually sprinting to beat my husband to a particular spot, even though there were enough places for everyone first thing. His competitive side came out though, and no one could beat him! We used the pool area on four days of our week’s stay, and it got slightly less stressful each time. One good thing was that the pool team did what they promised, and removed any towels from loungers if people had claimed them and then not appeared for an hour or so. More hotels should do that bit, but I didn’t like the pool area being out of bounds until 9am. ||The resort is like a little town in itself, and is home to a couple of hotels and a handful of restaurants/bars. There are several accessible beaches and an aquarium (well worth a visit, 23 euros per adult). We spent two days on Histria Beach, which has double sunbeds, which come with an umbrella and a fitted towel covering, which you’re given when you go to the kiosk to pay. It’s not cheap at 20 euros for the day, but it was worth every cent. The water is beautifully clear, but as with everywhere we’ve been to in Croatia, the beaches are rocky. It wasn’t that difficult to walk on, as the pebbles were quite big, but skipping along the shore hand in hand wasn’t on the cards! ||We really noticed a difference in the prices of everything since our last holiday in Croatia, when the currency was the kuna. After we’d checked into the hotel, we went exploring, and we liked the look of the nearby Bonaca Restaurant so much that we booked a table with sea view for that night, and it did not disappoint. The food was delicious – bread and olives followed by chicken for him, tuna for me, two sides and a couple of drinks apiece – which came to 100 euros. Yes, it was expensive, but overall, we felt it was worth it. ||Other places were a little cheaper, with Pula offering the best value – but take plenty of cash with you! Drinks were quite pricey too. Top tip if you’re sitting on the terrace is to get drinks from the lobby bar rather than the Luna bar. There was quite a difference in prices. The terrace is a great place for a drink either before or after dinner (or both) for the stunning views, and the live music later on. ||We also had enjoyable dinners at the Yacht Club, E&D Day and Night Lounge (where Romano was very welcoming, and they have pretty gardens in which to have a sundowner) and the Park Plaza Verudela’s poolside Oliva restaurant – on our final day, we saw dolphins from the terrace bar and then here – how wonderful! The staff at Oliva, and the whole hotel actually, were very welcoming and friendly. The reception staff gave us a bus timetable when we asked about going into Pula, and I really felt that nothing would have been too much trouble for them. ||The bus journey to Pula takes around 15 minutes, costs 2 euros per person each way, and it came on time on the three evenings we used it. Pula is a lovely place to wander around, with a tempting choice of shops, bars and restaurants, and the Roman arena its most impressive sight. We were lucky enough to be in the city when Tom Jones was playing the arena as part of his tour, so every moment of our evening had live background music from the...

Park Plaza Verudela is a great hotel. We stayed for 10 nights as a family of 5 in a studio apartment. A golf buggy to take you and your luggage to your room is a nice touch upon arrival. The rooms were clean with plenty of towels, maid service every day and we had two bathrooms with hot running water and lovely showers. There is a lovely little shopping arcade with a coffee shop, barbers, souvenir shops, ice cream store, supermarket, cafes etc. It has 3 swimming pools that are well maintained with daily aerobics and volleyball etc. Floaties are allowed so the kids were really happy. The food and service in the pool bar is great. They have a fab kids club with indoor play area that we visited twice. You can leave the children if you want to or stay and play. There is also nightly kids entertainment. Around the hotel there are 4 pebble beaches with beautiful views out to sea, it’s 20 euros for a lounger or you can take towels and sit on the rocks. We snorkelled most days and saw an array of fish, the kids absolutely loved it!! There is also an inflatable assault course and lots of different water sports. Kayaking in clear kayaks was a highlight as you can explore the caves and see the fish underneath the water at the same time. The restaurants around the resort were all fantastic, there are some onsite that are open late into the evening but if you take a walk around Verudela resort there are restaurants hidden amongst the trees and all around the port. We ate at a different one every night and were never disappointed. A great selection of pizza, pasta, meat and local dishes are available and a gelato counter at each. We especially loved Bonaca (gorgeous sunset whilst you eat) Bunarina, The Yacht Club, Boschetto, E & D Day and Night Lounge and the Michelin recommended Ribarska Koliba. We took a trip to Rovinj and did an overnight stay which was out of this world. Rovinj is a stunning little town with gorgeous views out to sea, rock diving, unbelievable sunsets and only a 40min bus ride from Pula bus station. We also did 2 trips to Pula centre which were brilliant each time. One of our holiday highlights was going to the Pula Roman Colosseum for the weekly gladiator show, it was amazing!! It was 70 euros for a family of 5 and worth every penny. We watched a 2 hour re-enactment of a gladiator fight and it gave you a real sense of history. You could walk into the arena at the end and have photographs taken with the actors it was an unforgettable night. Overall we loved Croatia and will be back again. There is so much to see and do and so many beautiful places to visit we know we have only touched the tip of the iceberg.||||Helpful tips : We were stung for the cost of the taxi from the airport to the hotel it cost 60 euros for a 20 minute journey so make sure you negotiate the price first. Our apartment was at the top of 6 sets of stairs (3 floors) which was tiring when you needed to pop back to the room for something so request a lower floor if you can. There are no lights in the corridors until you manually switch them on so in an evening you need to use the lights on your phones to see where you are going so that it’s not dangerous for small children to fall up or down the stairs. There is lots of outside noise all through the night from golf buggies reversing to a pool cleaning machine to seagulls at 6.30am so keep your shutters and doors fully closed. You have to queue every morning from 8.30am to get sun loungers around the pool, they let you in through a gate one at a time and then take your room number and how many loungers you require. You are not allowed to leave the loungers unattended at any time otherwise your towels are removed and the beds given to somebody else. This made it extremely difficult to eat as a family without the constant stress that the loungers would be taken. We had to tag team and make sure one person went back each time. Everything in the supermarket is 1-2 euros more expensive than in the normal supermarkets outside of the complex. The pool bar drinks and ice-creams are again 1-2 euros more expensive than outside the resort. A small bottle of water is 4 euros in the cafes so buy in bulk from the supermarket. A taxi from the hotel to central Pula was 20 euros each way (15 min drive) with no negotiation as you pay for the taxis upfront at the reception, however there is a bus stop 5 mins from the main entrance that runs every 30 mins and is a fraction of the cost. We almost got pick pocketed in Pula so keep your wits about you especially when stopping to take photographs of the architecture. The pool is a salt water pool so make sure the kids take goggles as it stings your eyes if you don’t have them. Take...

We stayed in the Park Plaza Verudela apartments in August 2025 and we had a lovely holiday and would definitely go back. The apartments worked well for us although the sofa bed in the lounge is a little hard and uncomfortable (according to my daughter). If we had any issues in our apartment we rang reception from the room and housekeeping sorted it out. Most of the staff were pleasant in the hotel and happy to help. Some could do with some lessons in customer service but that wasn’t just in the hotel so maybe it’s a culture thing rather than the minority at the hotel. ||The pool was superb with views out to sea so you could watch the boats coming and going. It’s a very decent size too with lots going on. It was great that the gates to the pool opened at 9am so you didn’t have the sunbed wars that you get in other hotels but to get one with a good view of the sea or if you needed 4 or 5 together, you would need to queue from about 8/8.30am but no getting up at ridiculous times to put towels on from hotel guests thankfully! There is a great female pool attendant who monitored if people put towels on beds and left for hours and she had no issue removing them so other people could use them, which was heartening. ||The sea is a few minutes walk from the hotel with crystal clear waters and lots of activities: pedal boats, kayaks, aqua park / inflatable. It is a pebble beach although you can hire mattress type sunbeds for the day but they seemed to go quickly. You can also buy small mattresses from the beach shops in resort. The only downsides to the beach were that it gets very busy so if you go in an afternoon it’s tricky to find somewhere to place your towels (people literally lie anywhere and everywhere!) but also they get this strange plankton that comes into shore (looks a bit like jellyfish but isn’t and doesn’t hurt you) and it feels horrible touching your skin (IMO) when swimming (although it didn’t deter some people and even kids were throwing it at each other!). ||There are a few restaurants on the resort which were fairly good. Yacht restaurant has beautiful views but is very expensive. Olivia which is by the pool also has great views but is more reasonable and does good pizzas, which you can takeaway. There are about 3 beach type of shops where you can buy inflatables and beach shoes which didn’t seem overly expensive. The supermarket onsite is fairly expensive but very convenient, which also sells fresh bread etc. Make sure you take enough sunscreen to last the holiday otherwise it will cost you at least 25 euros to buy one - extortionate! ||There is very little going on in an evening and most restaurants/bars are closed by 10, which wasn’t a problem for us. There is a bar a short walk from the hotel which is open til late called E&D (I think) so you can have more drinks if you wish. ||Pula town is easy to get to on the bus. The old town is definitely worth a visit and has loads of restaurants to choose from. I would say it’s nicer to visit at night when it’s lit up. The amphitheatre is also well worth a photo.||We had a...