Concert: Parni Valjak
I find that choosing holiday accommodation is always a very time consuming process as you want to get something close to transport in and out of the city, close to attractions and what you want to do and most importantly needs to be cost effective. For my holiday accommodation I don't need anything super fancy really, that's not to say I would consider a Hostel, I'm past that point in my life. I was ideally wanting my accommodation to have a small fridge/mini bar so that I could use it for my own food stuff/drinks. If breakfast was included/an option I'd go for that but if it was expensive or they didn't have at the places I liked, then so be it I would do my own thing.
I primarily used booking.com for my bookings on this trip. I would check there and then also go to the hotel/b&b/accommodation site directly to compare rates. Then was a matter of checking reviews and narrowing it down to 5 or so places and looking on a map and with streetview if possible what places looked like and where they were etc. I hadn't written off using Airbnb as an option for accommodation as well.
I would consider 1 of my accommodation a hotel (Plitvice), 2 were B&B (Zagreb & Mostar), and the rest was pretty much self supporting with lock boxes and the like, so even though I booked them on booking.com I could as well have used Airbnb and found a place and would have been the same. The key lockbox concept worked perfectly fine (except Zadar where was a slight delay as you can read below)
So where did I stay in each city and what was it like etc? Some I have photos and videos from but others not.
I found it hard to find good hotel accommodation at a good price in Ljubljana so I ended up using Airbnb (the only one on this trip) for that. I stayed at a place called Central Bird's Nest with a balcony. It was very pleasant and close to all what I wanted to do.
Two of the nights there was rock concerts at the next door venue called Križanke. The concerts were pretty cool, I just sat outside on the balcony and enjoyed the music, which wasn't in English - but still was good. By the time they started at 8pm I had almost heard the whole set with the sound checks etc. already, not really but felt like I had.
Concert: Parni Valjak
What i read about them online:
“We are announcing a concert by the giants of the Croatian pop-rock scene, the group Parni Valjak, with whom we will sing timeless classics in unison, such as "Autumn in me", "My song is light", "Uhvati ritam", "Zastava", "Come ” and many others! In the summer of 2023, with the new singer Igor Drvenkar, the line-up thrilled the audience all over Croatia, the top-notch concert atmosphere fulfilled all the expectations of long-time fans of Parnego Valjko, who will be celebrating their 50th year of activity next summer!”
A sample of the music from Parni Valjak (not a great recording from distance on my phone)
Concert: Luka Basi
A sample of the music from Luka Basi (not a great recording from distance on my phone). I'm bopping away at the music, likely not in time to it I suspect.
There was a big parking lot behind the Airbnb, I assume is used for people doing all sorts but now specifically for the concerts. Small snag, they are starting building there so half of it is not open as you will see in the photo below. Also ... which wasn't a problem for me, they start up at 7am daily with their building prep/drilling or whatever, even on a Saturday. I was always awake by then so was fine for me. It's not something you can knock the hosts about as it is out of their control, I nicknamed it my alarm clock (even though I didn't need it)
My Airbnb circled
My washing drying on the balcony, only later did I find a proper drying rack
I had one issue when there. In the photo above of my washing drying you can see a small yellow ash try I had put down on my yellow shirt to stop it from blowing off. The problem was that yellow on yellow and I didn't see it when I took my shirt in. I just pulled the shirt, the ash tray went flying off the balcony and smashed into a million pieces on the driveway below. Oops !!! I went down and picked up and swept away as many of the big pieces as I could. I contacted the hosts and offered to replace it but they said that accidents happen and not to worry. Whew.
Car park early one morning, see how much space is taken up by the construction side.
Car park for concert (see the queue waiting to get in).
People were getting upset, but dunno where they expected other people to go/park.
Once it was full, the boom wouldn't get someone in until someone came out.
Machine doing drilling or whatever (aka alarm clock)
I stayed at a really nice B&B called Grand Bells, so named because of its vicinity to the Zagreb Cathedral and the bells that ring, which weren't ringing due to renovations but others were close but, but wasn't a problem sound/noise wise. It was very well situated about 400m from Ban Josip Jelačić Square (the main square). My booking included breakfast which was perfectly adequate and very filling. They offered you an omelette, scrambled or fried eggs.
Grand Bells B&B sign
Arrow showing location (from near Lotrščak Tower)
Arrow showing location on brass map
When I started looking at Plitvice accommodation the main thing was how easy would it be to get to the park each day. A few places in reviews mentioned that hosts had taken people to the park but wasn't officially offered. So that could have been a minor hassle if I was a few km away and had to walk, and thus waste time and energy.
I was browsing the Plitvice website and they had a Autumn special which started on 1 October 2024, so that seemed a great plan. What it also meant was the Plitvice part of the trip was now pinned to a specific start date. I decided to spend 2 full days there, so needed 3 nights at the hotel. The Autumn park special was at Hotel Jezero (there are 2 other hotels in the park), it included breakfast and a few other discounts. What really made it sounds good, park entrance for your stay, I emailed and checked that included the first day as well. Cool, that saved €23 per day. The entrance fee was also lower starting 1 October due to the change of season. It could have been less but they nail you with a single supplement.
Also included was rowing boat rental service on Kozjak lake (1 hour free), not that I'd have done it but the weather wasn't good and it was closed anyway and there was also complimentary sauna access so the one afternoon I went and had a look and got all ready to try the sauna thing ... within 2 minutes of sitting inside of it I was bored so gave it up as a bad joke. LOL.
Some reviews online said the hotel was pretty dated and could do with a refresh. yes, maybe a little but it was not at all bad, I just think some people are far too picky.
It was the perfect decision and perfect place to stay.
Arrived in Plitvice, heading to hotel
Hotel Jezero entrance
Hotel Jezero (parking area and entrance is around to the right)
Hotel Jezero
Hotel Jezero my balcony (which I didn't use)
Hotel Jezero looking out from my balcony (the park is in opposite direction)
Hotel Jezero room (yes, tad messy with my stuff, but other places were worse - LOL)
Hotel Jezero corridor
Hotel Jezero new driveway
Hotel Jezero lift
Hotel Jezero I smiled seeing a South African flag above reception desk
I posted the video in the Plitvice Food post showing the breakfast they had. The breakfast was absolutely fantastic !!
I stayed at Scallop Regent Rooms which was located just outside the old town, next to the marina, but you could get to where you wanted to be in under 5 minutes, so it was perfect. I also thought it would be quieter there than in the busy town, maybe not a big factor in the slightly off season.
I walked from the bus station to the accommodation and found it quite easily. Then I expected maybe to see someone at a reception. Nope they had the key lockbox concept. but how do I get that? I hadn't been sent any info. So I was a bit concerned. I sent a message to the phone no on the door for enquiries and also the one I had from booking.com site. Sat on the stairs and waited for a reply and had my lunch. I got a reply 30 min or so later, dunno why they didn't ask before but they needed a copy of my passport (as all places want). Sent that through and then got access instructions a minute or 2 later and was all sorted, whew - not a massive delay just one I could have done without from a stress level.
The finishings were antique and even the coffee cups were very fancy with gold trim and stuff, was super careful with them.
My stay there as perfectly fine and I had no issues and, like with all the places I stayed at, I would gladly stay there again.
Building is a triangle shape, my accommodation is down the left road (you can't quite see it) and then at the end you go up a flight of stairs.
Bedroom
Bathroom
Split was the best of all the accommodation I had on my holiday, I stayed at Starlight Luxury Rooms, and the name does live up to that. It was really well equipped, very nice decor and the shower was just like my home one (rainfall shower type) so was really nice to stand under after a few long days of sightseeing. It didn't have breakfast but that was fine. The location was just on the outskirts of old town and dead easy to get anywhere, there were bakeries and other shops very close by.
Starlight Luxury Rooms sign
Building from outside, my room circled
Fire exit map, my room in grey, looks the 2nd best one to me
Passageway, with how it looks I kept thinking there were stairs but it's totally flat
Mostar was by far the cheapest of all the places to stay on my holiday, but not in a bad way, things are just way cheaper there in general. Food was also pretty cheap there, so win win. I had wanted to stay at a hotel called Hotel Kapetanovina but unfortunately they were fully booked with a tour so had to find another. I decided to stay at Villa For You. This was very comfortable and within a 5 minute walk of Stari Most (Old Bridge).
The hosts had asked me to let them know when I had arrived in Mostar and to let them know when I got close, I told them when I was at the bus station and making my way there, and with my big case it would take me a while. The host then, very kindly, offered to collect me, so sent him a pin where I was at the time, maybe about 1/3 of the way there and he arrived a few minutes later. Looking back it was a bit of a walk from the bus station so I should have always made a plan. After my stay I took a taxi back from Villa for You to the bus station (they knew the better one to call so you don't get ripped with a more tourist focussed one) and it only cose me €2.50
There was a Konzum supermarket about 100m down the road which was very convenient. Breakfast was decent and all you needed. They offered you an omelette, scrambled or fried eggs.
Villa For You sign
Saw this from the van when returning from my day trip
Villa Mike, I forgot I had my own place in Mostar, LOL
My room
I laughed at the Tesla fridge
Konzum (supermarket) window, I think translates to I Love Mostar.
For my final accommodation I stayed at Angelus Rooms. I was going to book with booking.com but contacted them to ask a few things and they said I could book direct, which was cheaper (I guess they don't have to pad the price and is less due to the booking.com site commission). It was perfectly located just inside the Old Town, but not on a main thoroughfare/restaurant street which was good.
Location of Angelus Rooms circled
There were 1st and 2nd floor rooms. When I booked they asked which I wanted, I said 2nd so as to not have someone walking on a wooden floor above me. It was dead easy to get up the stairs with my suitcase.
Outside my window was an open air theatre, which concerned me, but I had found out that it wasn't operating at that time of the year so that was good.
Open air theatre
In summary for my accommodation I was perfectly happy with all the places I stayed at, they all matched what they looked like online and I would recommend them to anyone who wanted a stay in any of the cities.