Luxury hotel resort on Istria suitable for families with children👨‍👩‍👧‍👦, as well as for adults and demanding clientele.

Address: Girandella Valamar Collection Resort 4*/5*, Ulica Girandella 7, Rabac, Croatia

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Official information

General hotel information

This large hotel complex is located not far (about 1 km) from the small fishing village of Rabac in the southern part of the Istrian peninsula. The resort consists of several buildings set on a hill, right on the beach and you can choose from the following options:

1) Girandella Maro Suites Kinderhotel 5 * - ideal for families with children

- well-equipped suites set in a pine forest, perfectly adapted for families with children or teenagers. They offer endless fun and adventure - from heated indoor and outdoor pools with water attractions and Super Maro and Teen clubs to children's evenings full of magic. There is an extended range of meals and a number of attractive experiences. For visitors there is a playground, cycling polygon, mini golf, water slides, climbing wall and much more.

2) Girandella Designed For Adults 4 * - accommodation for adults

- if you are looking for a romantic place or an undisturbed holiday, without children, then Girandella Designed for Adults is the right place for you. It offers stylish rooms and suites, Sunrise Beach Relaxation, an adult relaxation pool, top gourmet experiences and beach clubs and much more.

3) Girandella Family 4 * - accommodation for families

- first-class accommodation in a family hotel with a wide range of rooms with balconies and sea or park views. It offers a double, triple or standard family room for four people, a family junior suite for four people or the most spacious family rooms Teens for up to five people. In 2021, soft drinks were included in the price and wine and beer were included at dinner. It also offers professional babysitting and entertainment programs for children.

4) Girandella V Level Villas 5 * - luxury accommodation for more demanding clients

- Luxurious rooms or suite in modern Girandella V Level villas, fantastic sea views, royal treatment and first class service are all you need for your dream vacation. Pamper yourself in V Level with services and equipment created for a luxury holiday. You will enjoy numerous privileges, such as a perfect welcome, an exclusive V Level premium buffet restaurant (but also a restaurant with service in one), concierge services, a reserved place on the relaxing beach and by the infinity pool and organizing unique experiences in the destination.

Restaurants and bars

Each type of accommodation also has its own restaurant for breakfast and dinner. Therefore, if you go with acquaintances and everyone lives elsewhere, you probably won't meet for breakfast and dinner. Breakfast is served until 11 am and in 2021 it was necessary to have masks in restaurants.

With the Dine around service, you can exchange your usual dinner in the main restaurant for dinner in one of the à la carte restaurants on offer. You can choose from two options: exchanging dinner for a special menu at no extra charge, or choosing a favorite dish from the menu with a 30% discount.

If you are looking for good summer fun, visit the Sundance Beach Club or the nearby The Beat Beach Club and relax with masterfully prepared cocktails and irresistible dance rhythms.

The Valamar hotels enjoy the perfect preparation and service of food and drink, so you can try something new every day.

1) Maro premium buffet restaurant for guests of Girandella Maro Suites

- The stylish Maro Restaurant, with charming views and a spacious terrace, is located in the central part of the resort near the reception. Cooking shows, premium breakfast, specialties of Mediterranean and international cuisine, themed dinners, all-inclusive soft drinks, beer and wine are included with dinner.

2) Marblu buffet restaurant for Girandella Family guests

- The restaurant is located near the Black & Blue Steakhouse in the central part of the resort with an elegant terrace and sea view. Cooking shows, specialities of domestic and international cuisine, selected wines and desserts, soft drinks included in the price with meals and dinner and beer and wine are included. Themed dinners.

3) Rebelle buffet restaurant for guests Girandelle designed for adults

- in this restaurant you can enjoy the new service Champagne Breakfast & Brunch 8 - 14 h. with a rich menu. After breakfast and a glass of sparkling wine, stroll along the beautiful beaches of Rabac and then return for an early snack spiced with the flavors of Istria. The restaurant is for adults only.

4) Momenti - V level premium restaurant for guests V level villas

- Taste well-prepared dishes and excellent local and foreign wines in the wine bar (for a fee) and discover a unique gourmet experience. This premium buffet restaurant offers a fantastic atmosphere both indoors and on the terrace with breathtaking sea view. The restaurant has an open kitchen, so you can watch the food being prepared, which is always freshly prepared just for you, depending on what you choose from the menu, either for breakfast or dinner. These dishes from the menu are served, and you also have a buffet with a variety of delicacies. Champagne is included for breakfast. At dinner and sommelier service.

5) Black and Blue Steakhouse a la carte restaurant

- Lovers of meat dishes will not be able to resist well-prepared steaks and grilled meat in the Black & Blue Steakhouse. Located next to the Marblu restaurant, this friendly restaurant with an open kitchen offers a relaxed atmosphere for a perfect summer lunch and sitting with friends. Anyone can buy lunch or dinner here.

6) Sundance Beach Club a la carte restaurant

- Stylish restaurant on the beach where everyone can buy food

7) La Pentola Trattoria Italiana a la carte restaurant

- this Italian restaurant is not in the resort, but in Rabac, you can walk to it in about 10 minutes along the beach promenade, it is located right next to it, you can not miss it. It is a large restaurant and has a bar section with couches with a smaller pool. I can highly recommend, the food excellent, the staff nice, beautiful terrace overlooking the sea and I really appreciate that they did me on request something that was not in the menu, it will always please. I hate when someone tells me that something is wrong, and it's just about willingness. So I applaud and would gladly recommend! And thank you!

Sports activities

- tennis courts

- each type of accommodation has its own swimming pool (some also heated)

- bicycle rental, including e-bikes

- children's bike polygon and family circular trail around the resort

- minigolf

- organized fitness classes and activities

- organized cycling trips and hiking

- fitness center

- wellness

Hotel review

The hotel is located in the southern part of the Istrian peninsula, where you can see across the bay to the island of Cres. I was surprised by the mountainousness of this area, while Poreč is in a complete plain. In Croatia, I love the smell of coastal pines the most, and there are a lot of them in the hotel garden and on the beaches. Splendor. The sea is absolutely clean, cold to my taste (but for me everything is cold that does not have 30 degrees :)) Hotel beaches are along the entire extensive resort, you can choose as you wish. More info about the sea and pools below.

I probably would not recommend the hotel to people with reduced mobility. You quite walk before you get somewhere, and thanks to the hilly terrain, you often go uphill or up stairs. Upon arrival, the staff will take you by car and suitcases with an electric trolley to your building, but you will walk to the restaurant for breakfast and dinner, to the car, or depending on which pool or beach location you choose. But they are rather short distances, it is furthest to the car.

When you enter the resort, you first drive through the parking lot. If you are here for the first time like us, it is quite wrong, or rather not at all, marked where you should actually go. It is best to drive to the staff with electric carts, their building is on the top right and tell them that you have just arrived and what to do. They will show you where to park, take you luggage on an electric car and take you to the reception. You can't get to it with your car, there are barriers. You do not drive to the hotel complex, it is probably for safety reasons due to the number of children, but also the noise and you do not have to at least breathe fumes, the idea is a good one in the end. We had accommodation in villas V level, and we had our reception, where the lady gave us a map and explained how to move around the resort and what we can find. Then the staff took us to the villa and helped us with our luggage to the room.

Each type of accommodation building has several types of rooms, mostly double, suite with mini living room and sofa, family rooms.

So from my own experience I will describe the V level junior suite in the V level villas. There are only three villas, each with three floors and each with 4 types of rooms. There are about 7 rooms on the floor. In the double room, according to the photos, you have more or less only a bed and a bar counter, no couch or desk, so for these reasons we chose the Junior Suite with a direct sea view due to the larger size. The suite also has a larger balcony with two sun loungers and a table with 3 chairs + a pull-out bathing suit dryer. The toilet is separate, which is great, it also has a sink. However, there is no towel rack. Strange is the bathroom, which has no door (but you can't see, you're around the corner when someone is in the room). There are two washbasins in the hallway, a large mirror, a magnifying mirror, natural paraben-free cosmetics such as soap, body and hair gel in one, conditioner, body lotion, wooden toothbrushes and mini-paste, paper handkerchiefs, hair dryer, massage oil, disinfectant gel on hands, a sponge for shoes, a sewing kit, bathrobes, even hotel beach flip flops (instead of slippers) and a stylish beach bag (which I left at home, so thanks to someone thinking for me!), there is really a lot. And a large built-in shower that has an outer wall of milky opaque glass to let in light. The bed is large and really comfortable, pleasant sinking pillows, after them your neck will not hurt in the morning. The bed is in such a niche, you have a glass wall right in front of you, but with thick curtains, a sun visor and dark curtains, you can't see it here. Behind the head of the bed is a work desk with lamps and several sockets, even with USB charging and a small hotel tablet with information about the hotel, games, internet, etc. On arrival we had water, beers and juices in the fridge as welcome drinks, a liter bottle of water every day was included. There was also an electric kettle offering tea and a coffee machine for capsules, incl. large and small cups and spoons, all replenished daily. The room even has 2 large TVs and a large sofa bed with a coffee table. What bothered me a little was the closet. It was deep and suitcases could fit in it, but there was only room for hangers and a safe, no shelves. They were on the side of the closet, but it looked more like a shelf in the library than a closet where you had to put your clothes on, it was all open, which doesn't look very aesthetically pleasing. They were also a little deep. But it's a detail.

If you are in V level villas, you have your luxury restaurant Momenti. You can walk outside in about 3 minutes. I appreciate that umbrellas are available at every exit from the villa in case it rains. They fit. Momenti Restaurant is the first in the restaurant complex. And that you put in your nose! For breakfast you have a plethora of all kinds of delicacies, both from the buffet and from the menu to order (hot breakfast). I consider the luxury breakfast to be the one with smoked salmon, fresh juices, a wide selection of fresh fruit, good coffee and champagne. And all this is here. Plus many salads, hams, cheeses, cereals with several types of milk, if you are allergic to cow or you only recognize the vegetable, this is not a problem. There was also packaged gluten-free pastries. There is also a sweet bar. Breakfast selected from the menu will be served directly to the table, as well as fresh juices and any kind of coffee. You personally pour water or bubbles and choose from the buffet. Everything is included, nothing is paid for breakfast, no matter what.

Dinner is served again, the menu consists of soup, and then you can choose a warm appetizer and main course from either the meat menu, the fish menu or the vegetarian menu. It is not a problem to combine them. And the dishes are really delicious, mussels, shrimp, tuna, salmon, veal, duck, pork, chicken, asparagus, and much more. Even truffles! I haven't eaten them in the hotel restaurant yet. In addition to the dinner served, you again have a salad bar, various cold appetizers and canapés, a sweet bar with cakes and fruit, even ice cream ... and children have their own bar with pizza, french fries, pasta, burgers. However, drinking is paid for dinner, and it is quite expensive, draft beer costs half as much as in a regular Croatian restaurant. But this can be expected in a 5 * hotel. At least I would enjoy a carafe of water on the table, and it would be perfect.

In V level villas there is a poolside snack from 2 pm to 6 pm, which includes fresh and dried fruits, nuts, water (water is there all day), drip coffee, tea and from 4 pm to 6 pm there is also champagne, nothing more does not pay extra. You serve yourself in the form of a buffet.

There are plenty of sunbeds by the pool and by the sea, there is no need to get up in the morning and go book something (but true, we were out of high season). No one else should get to the pool without a card in the V level, the beaches are no longer surrounded by a fence, so in theory anyone can lie there, but there are really many on several floors thanks to the rugged terrain, including beautiful straw umbrellas, if you don't just be on the sun. The entrances to the water are made of stone, it is probably better to have shoes if it stings you in shoes like me, but it can be carefully crossed without shoes. Unfortunately, the entrance up the ladder is not straight to the depths. Some beaches are specifically designed for children, with a gradual entry into the water and a number of sunbeds in one area, for greater peace, there are also smaller nooks with sunbeds on the rocks, where only a few people can enter. Again, many of them were free, but I'd rather point out that we weren't in the main summer season, there are almost certainly more people here.

The unencrypted wifi signal is really very high quality in all areas of the resort, even by the sea.

The small fishing village of Rabac can be reached around the sea along the promenade on foot in about 20 minutes at a slower walk, or you can take a mini train directly from the hotel for 15 kuna (2021). There is a port where you can book a boat trip or a popular fish picnic. Also several restaurants and smaller shops for tourists with souvenirs, clothes, beach items, food.

About 10 minutes by car along the serpentines above Rabac on a hill rises the town of Labin, I recommend visiting its historic center Stari Grad. Physically fit and unsightly heights can climb the bell tower and have a luxurious view for a small fee. More information, including photos, can be found in the article RABAC A LABIN.

I also recommend visiting the city of Pula, where there is a large colosseum among the six largest in the world, and other historical monuments in the city center and a huge cargo port, near it is an aquarium. And while you're there, a little further north is Rovinj, where the church on the city hill and the historic center are best known. And again a port with a promenade and many restaurants. More photos and info about Pula can be found in the article: PULA and info about ROVINJ.

My recommendation - a beautiful hotel resort with great gastronomy suitable for both families with children and adults, I do not recommend in case of mobility problems due to the rugged terrain of the resort. If you want to have the best experience from this resort, book a suite in V level villas and enjoy these luxury services. Beautiful nature, clear sea, promenade around the sea to Rabac. It is rather a quieter place, without any major activities such as discos, nightclubs or shopping. So it depends on what style you plan to enjoy your vacation. Certainly not my last visit to the hotel from the Valamar network, thank you very much!

My rating - 9 out of 10

If you want to ask something specific about this hotel, contact me at hamiczech@seznam.cz

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