Hotel Osmine Slano — Hotel in Općina Dubrovačko primorje

We spent a relaxing week in this stunning location. The weather was good during our stay although it did get cold in the evenings. ||There are many mixed reviews on this hotel but we were pleasantly surprised overall, although there is room for improvement! The hotel itself is very clean and staff work hard to maintain these standards. ||Location - the hotel is in a stunning, sheltered spot. It is remote but the walk to the nearest village of Slano is lovely (although not much to see or do when you get there). You can use the hotel shuttle bus to visit Dubrovnik which cost €30 per person return. However, you can get the number 12 bus from Slano for €7! There is a bus timetable on hotel reception desk. Journey to Dubrovnik takes approximately 50 mins. ||Rooms - good sized rooms & bathroom. Beds were very comfy. They had a long mirror and plenty of plug sockets. There is air con but this had been switched off during our stay as we were told that it was now autumn! Being a lady of a certain age, this wasn’t ideal so we had to sleep with the balcony door open! There was no kettle or tea/coffee but you could get a coffee from various machines around & take back to your room. There was a safe also.||Food & drink - after reading other reviews, we were pleasantly surprised by the food, although for UK tastes, hot food needs to be hotter! Hot food options usually consisted of a pasta dish, fish option, a stew of some kind, a vegetarian option, various meat options but mainly chicken or pork, plus different kinds of potatoes & vegetables. There were 2 salad bars, 1 was made up of a few different prepared salads and the other had various salad item separately. There were always 2 soups available although they tended to be a bit watery. I didn’t try the desserts myself but they looked the usual cakes/ pastries that you tend to see abroad. Plenty of fresh fruit always available, plus ice cream. |Breakfast was similar, with a hot cooked breakfast option, yoghurts, cereal, pancakes, toast, croissants/pastries. |We were all-inclusive & the alcoholic drinks were awful. The white wine was made more drinkable by adding sparkling water, the red wine was extremely chilled & the gin & tonic wasn’t bad but very sweet! |You can order a packed lunch if you are going out for the day. This consisted of a baguette, yoghurt, a piece of fruit & a bottle of water. We had a chicken baguette and it was lovely, with actual chicken meat rather than processed chicken, & salad. ||Entertainment - there was entertainment provided each night but this was generally quite poor, although the hosts themselves were very friendly. It was generally quizzes, karaoke, traditional singing/dancing & a live band. The Lounge was a friendly area to gather but was always brightly lit & lacked character. It was more like an airport lounge! A few candles, table lights & stylish decor would have improved the room & atmosphere significantly. The same could be said for the seating area outside the restaurant which was a bit of a ‘non-space’.||Pool area/beach - the beach area is small & stoney, but the sea is very clear & calm. Sunbeds are provided but are uncomfortable after a while as there are no cushions. Umbrellas are also available from a small hut by the pool. The pool area is fairly small but kept clean & tidy. There is a self-serve coffee machine at the pool bar. Snacks are served at 4.30pm and these were generally not very nice, being frozen, processed rubbish, such as croquette potatoes, small sausage/cheese rolls, calamari rings & some small biscuits. |I would definitely recommend you take advantage of the free bikes, kayaks, paddle boards & pedalos. They are all free for 1 hour, after which time you pay a few euros per hour. |There are also activities around the pool each day if you want to take part, such as volleyball, darts, table tennis and bowls. There was a small playground for children as well as a tennis court & small football pitch with small goals for young children.||Overall, a lovely stay and nowhere near as bad as some of the reviews I read...

Where to start?|This hotel should and could be scoring better. So much unrealised potential. Come on Hotel Osmine, up your game. I want to love it, but you are seriously letting yourself down. Staying here currently, and here are my honest thoughts:||Location-|Honestly, it is in the most perfect place. A little gem in a tranquil little bay. Location is 5/5. 1.6 mile flat walk to Slano village with bus to Dubrovnik, and a pharmacy and small supermarket. ||Hotel - |please, please stop piping the constant awful elevator muzak inside and outside the hotel. It’s intrusive and incredibly bad. The outlook is beautiful to the bay, and the interior of the hotel clean and smart. ||Unfortunately the hotel bar areas feel sterile and devoid of atmosphere. It’s like an Institution. Or an airport lounge. So much so, most folk are in bed by 9.30! Bar drinks on offer are extremely limited and poorly executed. Wine is lukewarm, and my current G&T undrinkable. We resorted to buying wine in the supermarket in Slano and keeping in fridge.||Staff are pretty indifferent and unenthusiastic overall - esp in dining area - with a few notable exceptions. I don’t know if it’s a cultural thing, but no matter how polite and friendly you are, the response is generally lukewarm. Tables were often not set up, or cleared away, and it was never that busy so do not know why this was the case. Tables full of dirty dishes and not cleared. Some were clearly very unenthusiastic in their job.||The pool guy is great and tidies everything away at the end of each day, is cheery, and there’s no tolerance for ‘those’ annoying tourists who leave towels out to book specific sun loungers. Excellent job.||We got a superior room for the sea view- beautiful outlook and perfectly adequate, but there are large and obvious (???coffee) stains on the carpet which aren’t very nice. Room housekeeping/cleaning and linen were good. Towels are small, worn thin and need replaced.||Food -|This is invariably simple meat and veg, and generally pretty good. But basic. All the meat was of a good quality and lean. Lean pork, venison, veal, sea bass with broccoli, sweetcorn and always some variety of prepared potato. There’s a very basic salad bar, and another area with possibly Russian salad and cold meats/cheese, but a limited amount and cleared like locusts. These food choices are put out and topped up only once in the 2 hr window. Same with the desserts. First come, first served, so some guests ‘hoard’ which is annoying. Breakfast was the best, with good choices overall.||Coffee from a machine. Orange juice tasted like diluting juice.||They also supply the tiniest bowls and plates and drinking glasses. It really feels penny-pinching.||The thing that really got me was that ‘all-inclusive’ didn’t really include water! You could get glasses from the dispenser in the dining room when open, but that’s only open breakfast/lunch/dinner or a tiny glass from the pool bar. Outside of that they sting for just under €5 to buy a bottle of water! ||Having recently been to an all-inclusive in Lanzarote, for about the same price, this hotel sadly isn’t offering nearly as good value or quality. ||It is such a gem of a location. As I said, I want to love this place. It SHOULD be amazing given the location. But, I wouldn’t return because it really lets itself down in the details given above. If they upped their game, they would be 5* and could charge more given the location. As it is, they are probably losing on...

I will say that before my visit, I had been concerned about the number of poor reviews the hotel received, but on my arrival I was pleased to find my worries were unfounded.|I was on a one week all inclusive package with Tui.|I would say that the cleanliness everywhere is of the highest standard and the housekeeping team should be applauded for their hard work.|My room had a sea view and balcony with bistro set - the lamp on the balcony was very powerful and enabled you to read in the dark. There were walls on either side, so you were very private. I was provided with a comfy double bed with decent linen. There was a fridge, (free) safe, TV, hairdryer and plenty of storage. There was a large shower with 2 heads - the water was always hot and with good pressure. It was very quiet when in the room.|The three main meals were all buffet and the dining room had lovely views over the bay (with seating available on the balcony in fine weather). I always found a good choice of food nicely presented, and regularly refilled. There was plenty of soup, salad and deserts, plus a several main courses. The one thing I was not keen on was the cereal, but no great problem. With the all inclusive you obtained coffee, beer, wine and soft drinks from machines. I found the beer and wine fine. The waiting staff were pleasant and efficient at clearing the tables. I will say that there were quite a few unsupervised children running around, so you had to take care when back and forth to your table. I appreciate this is not the hotel's fault.|There were three bars (aperitif, lounge and pool) and all had coffee machines to help yourself. I had a couple of neat brandies and found them acceptable. I wonder if the problem with some of the shorts is that the mixers are not the best quality(?).|The area round the pool is lovely and their are sunbeds on two pebbly beaches. Two beach towels are provided in the room, so no need to bring your own.|The entertainments team provide sports and activities during the day. At night there is a mini disco at 8.30 then entertainment of some sort at 9.00 - quizzes, karaoke, live music, folk dancing/music.|All staff members were pleasant with a decent command of English. Reception offer all sorts of services and there are books/magazines left by other guests if you need reading material.|The walk into town is along a coastal path which is well maintained, flat and has street lamps all the way. There are houses, holiday apartments and a couple of cafes as you walk, plus some small beaches and boats. It takes around 30 minutes to reach the Admiral Grand Hotel - around there you will find the bus stop, mini-marts, chemist and cafes. Further along there is the church, marina and museum. |The service bus to Dubrovnik runs every couple of hours and costs around 7 euros. The hotel runs a shuttle (if enough passengers) for 30 euros and the boat picks up from the hotel and costs 45 euros. You do of course have the option of organised excursions which were pushed by the rep and are pricey.|I very much enjoyed my stay, but as said by other reviewers, it may not be great for anyone who has problems walking, as you could be restricted...