Fenomen Plitvice Resort — Hotel in Općina Plitvička Jezera

A Magical Place with better service than we have ever experienced. The genuine love, care, and service we received at Fenomen Plitvice was like nothing we have ever experienced. They thought of everything to make a stay there unforgettable. From the moment we arrived, we were warmly greeted and knew we were somewhere special. Leo assisted us in bringing our bags to our room via a golf cart and our 3 year old son was on his lap believing he was actually driving.

Aside from the exceptional service, the resort blends luxury and wilderness perfectly. The quaint wooden houses/cabins are nestled into the woods within walking distance to the majestic waterfalls and located conveniently in the heart of Plitvice Lakes National Park.

We selected the one bedroom apartment with a king bed (and were in room no. 1). Our room was spacious, lovely, and elegantly decorated with wood furnishings. There was a large living area with a pullout sofa (that was already set up for us as they knew we were traveling with a 3 year old), a fireplace (our 3 year old's favorite part!!), a small kitchen area with a sink, small dishwasher, cabinetry, and a table with four chairs, and then a separate spacious bedroom with a long and comfy king size bed with a connecting bathroom. Pack n Plays were available (which is a huge perk and essential for a comfortable stay with a baby). The blackout curtains in our room worked!

The bathroom was immaculate, modern, and had a combined bathtub/shower. Our babies were so excited about every resort/hotel that had a bathtub, and it was our first bathtub of our road trip.

The main amenities at the resort included free WiFi, complimentary buffet breakfast, a gourmet restaurant and bar/lounge, a terrace, air conditioning, a garden, a front desk safe, a picnic area, free cribs (a necessity while traveling with a baby!!), private bathrooms, a playground on site (a huge plus while traveling with a 3 year old!!), and free parking (a huge perk!!).

The restaurant on-site was so fabulous. The decor was aesthetically pleasing with a fireplace (our son's favorite part) and charming wood furnishings. All of our meals were delicious (and our babies meals were served first after inquiring whether that was our preference), and they had local Croatian wines and beers. I had and loved the Malvazija Alba, a white wine. The resort surprised us with a special birthday cake with a flaming candle to celebrate my husband's birthday, which they must have noticed it was his birthday from his passport.

When we first arrived at the resort, we had just discovered our rental car had two flat tires caused by one pot hole from the roads in Plitvice Lakes National Park. The staff (especially Leo) worked tirelessly trying to help us find replacement tires and did everything possible to assure us everything would work out (and, of course, it did). It was such a blessing we made it to this special and lovely place. The tow truck driver took ~8 hours to arrive after our rental car company said it would take one hour. While we waited, Leo continued to reach out to local mechanics and help us figure out our best options. We were so blessed to be "stuck" at such a fabulous rustic but luxurious resort surrounded by woods within walking distance to the majestic waterfalls.

Our best option was to get a transfer to our next destination (a 3 hour drive away). Leo ended up driving us the 3 hours. He was more amazing than words can ever describe and he truly turned our stressful moment into something beautiful through his kindness.

Staying at this hotel was just an all around incredible experience with the best service we have ever experienced at any resort. They just continuously went above and beyond exceeding any and all expectations we would have had.

Even prior to our stay, the resort provided valuable information of everything we needed to know prior to entering the national park and confirmed a crib would be available since we were traveling...

Lovely, peaceful and welcoming stay but big improvements needed re food:

Great, welcoming and helpful employees Stylish, clean and comfortable room, and well equipped, clean and big bathroom. Lovely complimentary toiletries. Towels could be a bit bigger. Poor selection for complimentary coffee and tea - doesn’t fit the standard of normal 4 star hotels. Wonderful private jacuzzi and sauna - definitely a highlight! Quiet and peaceful location and very close to plitvice Lakes - ideal!

BIG improvement on the food is needed. We stayed for 5 nights and their excuse for their limited menu was that ‘people usually only stay for 2 nights’ but even so I found the menu not to be 4 star worthy.

Food options were too heavy for a summer menu: lots of meat (not always cooked properly), lots of carbs and potatoes and only ever grilled and very oily vegetables. Would have been nice to have freshly steamed vegetables with some dishes or a salad maybe. Fish options were often better than the meat options/ a bit lighter. Starters were also more appropriate for winter: all very heavy risotto/pasta/soups and only one summery option of bruschetta.

Desserts were v limited and not great: strudel which wasn’t always baked properly or two types of pancakes. They offered a panna cotta which we didn’t think was very good and a cheesecake which was ok. They could make it better so easily by including a fresh fruit salad, ice cream, mousse - these are not difficult desserts to make! They made a huge effort to make up for the limited menu and gave us a special honeymoon dessert. We really appreciated the efforts staff went to but management really needs to change up the menu.

Breakfast was ok but fruit wasn’t always ripe and pastries were half raw. Coffee came from an automated machine and not their nice proper coffee machine that they have behind the bar.

Essentially improvements need to be made for it to match their ‘luxury meets nature’ and ‘a sophisticated touch of modern world culinary trends’ standard stated on their website. We wish we had been warned that it was a limited and repeated menu before we agreed to pay in advance for dinner every night. They said halfway through that they would make changes so we decided to keep going for dinner but the menu didn’t change much in the end. Also drinks wise they need to improve - a small selection and even a standard aperol spritz was quite small, made with the wrong ingredients and not served with enough ice or even a slice of orange.

Overall a wonderful stay but spoiled somewhat by the experience with the...

I really regret staying here as part of our honeymoon, and I am looking back confused on the high reviews.

The hotel is located near the P3 entrance of the park, which is not on any map of the park (you will only see Entrance 1 and Entrance 2). This is fine, but unfortunately the staff was unhelpful to the point of providing incorrect information on accessing the park. For instance, we were told that we had to take the boat from P3 upon arrival to access the rest of the park. Since the boat starts at 8 AM, we were told not to go before then. None of this is true - see below for our advice on accessing the park.

The food was average, although overpriced. I am unsure of the kitchen cleanliness as we found a giant long hair in our bruschetta, but the hotel did offer free dessert to apologize.

Oddly, the hotel does not start serving breakfast until 7:30 - but you should leave for the park by 7 to avoid the worst of the crowds at Plitvice. So, we did not get to try the included breakfast.

The room was clean but charmless. The grounds are lovely.

Here is the information we wish the staff had given us. It is unclear to me why they wouldn’t know these things:

Arrive to the park as early as possible after opening, although you will miss breakfast. Plitvice gets extremely crowded by midday, which makes the visit much less enjoyable.

The nearest entrance is a 20 min walk toward P3. It is not marked on a map, but there will be someone at the ticket booth (see below picture) to scan you in. Buy your tickets online in advance.

We recommend taking the H trail. It is hard to find a map of this trail, but it is well marked in the park and takes a similar path to the C trail in reverse. It is an easy loop that starts with a walk to the Big Waterfall, continues with a tram ride up to the This took us ~3 hours end to end. It is an easy loop that starts with a walk to the Big Waterfall, continues with a tram ride from St1 to St3, and ends with walking the trail back to P2 to catch the boat to P3 (where you stared). This took us 3 hours and provided a full view of the park.

Note that the hotel is located far from any nearby restaurants, so you will need a car if you want to explore the area. In past visits to Plitvice, the hotel / lodging managers have offered quick rides - that is definitely not the case here.

Truly so disappointed in this stay! We will not be back and cannot recommend...