Newly built hotel in Makarska right on the beach, enjoy a bit of luxury, clean sea and great food

Address: Aminess Khalani Beach Hotel 5*, Ivana Gorana Kovačića 14, 21300 Makarska, Croatia

Web: www.aminess.com/en/aminess-khalani-beach-hotel

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Makarska is one of the most popular holiday destinations in Croatia. Beautiful beaches, clean sea, high mountains, many hotels and campsites. One hour from Split with international airport. Precisely because this place is so popular, I don't recommend going here in July and August, it's really overcrowded in Makarska. You will enjoy May, June, September or even October much more. In autumn, the temperatures are not so high, but it is still above 20 degrees here, you can sunbathe, walk along the long promenade or climb one of the peaks. Or go on trips.

I changed Makarska name to La isla Nublar, when you see the panorama, you'll understand (well, only Jurassic Park connoisseurs will understand haha).

Aminess hotels & Campsites

Aminess is a chain of Croatian hotels with a fifty-year tradition, mainly in Istria, Krk and Dalmatia. You can choose a campsite, apartments, villas or hotels in the 3*-5* level, according to your preference.

Aminess Hotels & Campsites is a unique brand on the market thanks to its employees and guests. Their uniqueness is reflected in the caring and friendly attitude of the staff. Aminess personifies hospitality, as reflected in the name derived from the French word ami (friend) and the suffix ness, emphasizing these core values: friendliness, kindness, happiness.

Rather than just a newly coined term for friendliness, the Aminess brand embodies the experience of staying at properties that offer a welcoming and friendly atmosphere where guests feel relaxed and welcome.

If you go to one of the hotels in this network, be sure to register for the loyalty program, which offers many benefits. You can save. 

Aminess Khalani Beach Hotel 5*

This hotel is the newest of the Aminess chain, it was newly built and opened in May 2022 and is also the only 5* hotel in Makarska so far.

Location

Aminess Khalani Beach Hotel is on the very edge of Makarska towards Split. There is only one smaller hotel next to it and then the wilderness follows. The advantage is that it is not as overcrowded as in the central parts of Makarska. The town of Makarska is about half an hour away on foot along the promenade around the sea. Or you can take the train that stands on the promenade below the hotel (price 40 Kuna one way, 60 Kuna return, runs from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.). The hotel is right on the beach. If you don't want to go by car, but fly to Split, then it's about an hour away by car or bus. If you are driving, you can park right outside the hotel for 3 Euros per day or in the underground garage for 10 Euros per day. There are also two free charging stations for electric cars in front of the hotel, you just have to activate the charging at the reception and you must have your charging cables.

Hotel

The reception is located on the side of the hotel, under the flags. You arrive in front of the entrance, unload your baggage, a porter works here, who loads them on a trolley and brings them to your room, and you enter the lobby with the reception. You will immediately be captivated by the design lobby with glowing circles hanging from the ceiling, the hotel has 8 floors. In addition to the rooms, there are also conference rooms, so lectures and company events can also be held here. There is a Concierge desk next to the reception if you would like to arrange an excursion or have questions about the area. Every day, for example, a trip to the famous glass observation deck Biokovo Sky Walk was organized here. It will be described in more detail in the next article.

Rooms

There are a total of 299 rooms and suites on 8 floors. You can choose either the cheapest rooms with a view to the atrium (these do not have a balcony), further to the Biokovo mountains, side sea view or front sea view, these are of course the best. The suites, which also have their own hot tub on the terrace, are top notch. Fortunately, in September there was no music playing at the pools in the evening, so it was totally peaceful to sleep. At dinner time there was a pianist playing in the lobby or some days there was live music at the 7 Seas rooftop restaurant, however they didn't play until late at night.

The rooms are beautiful, new, very spacious, they have large bathrooms with a shower with all cosmetics (shower gel, soap, shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, vanity kit), tissues, even a comb, a hairdryer. I will describe our room Luxury double room with balcony and sea view.

A bottle of water and wine and some snacks were waiting for us in the room to welcome us, thank you very much! There is also a capsule coffee machine (capsules replenished daily), an electric kettle with a selection of teas, a minibar (for a fee). In the closet you will find fluffy bathrobes, slippers and a safe. The wardrobes are big and there is even an ironing board! We couldn't find an iron, apparently you have to ask about it at the reception, but we carry a small travel iron with us. Air conditioning, of course, sofa bed, desk and coffee tables. The bed was so big that 3 could easily sleep there. You could fit 2 children in this room if they slept on the couch. However, the hotel also offers connected family rooms. The balcony is large, with 2 chairs and a table, separated by a wall from the surrounding rooms for maximum privacy. The entire wall facing the sea is glazed, with curtains and impermeable curtains. Wifi is a matter of course, it works everywhere, even on the beach.

The interesting thing is that if you want to be eco, you put a bag on the door that signals that you don't want any cleaning the next day, and the hotel will reward you with a small gift. Otherwise, cosmetics, capsules and teas are replenished daily, as well as towels are changed every day if you throw them on the floor.

Food

You order a room either with breakfast or with half board. I definitely recommend half board, the food here is great. If you want to taste local cuisine, you can have something good on the promenade, but you will also taste Croatian cuisine in the hotel. It was hard to choose for breakfast, there was so much that you don't know what to eat first. If I find fresh juice, good coffee, champagne and smoked salmon for breakfast at the hotel, plus fresh fruit, I immediately write that the breakfast is great :) but there was much more - canapés, spreads, vegetables, eggs in a million ways, including an omelettes, cold cheese and salami bar, sausages, beans, hashbrowns, sweet bar, waffles, pancakes, muesli, yogurts, honeys, jams, allergy bar with packaged gluten-free pastries and various types of plant-based milks, incl. lactose-free, tea, water, juices, smoothies, sweet and savory pastries... well, what can I tell you, just everything! And the dinner is the same, no drinks there, you pay for the drinks yourself. Every night the menu was a little different, but you found cold and hot appetizers, again fresh vegetables and fruits, a lot of side dishes, pasta, pizzas, different types of meat, including fish, once there were even mussels and shrimps, 2 soups, pastries, of course desserts , children's bar. You can have drinks written to your room at dinner, by the pool or on the beach. They will either ask you for a room card or room number and name. You can also have a light lunch on the terrace by the pool, or there is a restaurant directly below the hotel and dozens of other restaurants are on the promenade towards the town, if you stand on the promenade facing the hotel and the sea is behind you, go to the right.

Breakfast from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., dinner from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

But this is not all. The hotel also has a rooftop a la carte restaurant 7 Seas and bar, where you can experience true fine dining. I definitely recommend the 5-course tasting menu, it must be ordered a day in advance at the reception, and you can choose from meat, fish or vegetarian. With each course, the chef will personally come to your table and introduce you to what you are eating. A truly unique experience and all the dishes were delicious. Allow about 2 hours for this dinner. In addition to the tasting menu, you can also order pasta, steaks or fish, salads or cold bowls for nibbling on drinks. The beers here are only bottled. You can also have a cocktail before or after dinner and enjoy a romantic sunset from the roof terrace, depending on when you are there, in the autumn before dinner. Try one of the signature cocktails invented here, if you like the show, I recommend the steamed rum Trinidad Old Fashioned cocktail to the gentlemen, you'll love it :) The indoor bar is also very nice if it's too cold to sit outside.

Beach and sea

The hotel is right next to the beach. I don't know if private hotel beaches are prohibited in Makarska, but no hotel there has its own beach accessible only to guests. However, this hotel is located at the very edge of Makarska and is quite unlikely to gather crowds. However, sunbeds and straw umbrellas are free only for hotel guests. If you don't have a towel with the Aminess logo (you get it at the pools), the beach boy will come to ask you if you are a guest and wants to see the card. So you don't have to worry about not having a sunbed. There is also a bar right on the beach, where you can order drinks for your room and also a toilet, the key must be borrowed from the bar. The beach is made of fine pebbles, so water shoes are better if you have more sensitive feet. When the wind is blowing, you can enjoy the view of surfers and kiters. If you don't like people and want to enjoy wild beaches, the wilderness starts right next to the hotel, where there are no accommodation facilities and you can find places where you will be completely alone. The sea is wonderfully clean, transparent, in September there were almost no people here, an ideal place for a relaxing holiday. In the season, scooters and various other water gadgets can be rented here. There is a restaurant right above the beach, or you can walk a little along the promenade and there is one restaurant after another. Hotel wifi works here.

If you were looking for a well-known Makarska photo point - a swing in the sea with the inscription I love Makarska, it is located about 12 minutes walk along the promenade towards the wilderness, to the north. However, I didn't read anywhere that as soon as the high season ends, the swing is cleaned, it was folded up and covered on the beach, everything on the beach was already closed, so don't even bother going there in the fall. If you want comfort with restaurants and life, go to the other side towards the town.

Pools

There are 2 outdoor pools for adults, both with a swim up bar and one smaller children's pool. There are a lot of sunbeds and umbrellas here, you can even lie down on a four-poster bed. It is forbidden to reserve sunbeds with a towel, which I just love. If you leave your towel unattended for more than an hour, you run the risk of it being taken. You can get cards for towels at the reception during check-in. They are picked up and dropped off by the pools. Open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. There are of course showers and toilets by the pools, under the hotel stairs, you don't have to get dressed and go to the hotel. There is also a children's playground and an indoor games room with supervision. There is a normal hotel bar near the outdoor pools, where you can buy a light lunch.

If the weather is not good, there is also a large indoor pool with many sunbeds and a view outside. Right above it is a decently equipped gym and next to it is a wellness area. The indoor pool is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Wellness

The hotel has a beautiful new wellness area, where you can find a steam sauna, a bio sauna and a Finnish sauna, showers, then something that makes ice (I would rather appreciate that at the bar, ice is good for cocktails haha) and a relaxation room. The spa is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

In addition, you can order a massage, cosmetics, manicure or pedicure for a fee.

Other equipment

Fitness - the gym is on the first floor above the indoor pool. It is quite well equipped for both cardio and strength training. You can look out at the sea on the treadmill. In addition, the hotel also organizes organized yoga, dance or swimming lessons.

Game room - if you have trouble getting teenagers to go on vacation, they might like this. A well-equipped game room with many game consoles, the latest games and even a formula trainer. I won't appreciate it, but if it's bad weather, the children won't be bored. Open from 10 a.m., with service.

Conference rooms - when it's not so hot by the sea, business meetings and conferences are quite popular, so if you have a company, you can organize a meeting here. And your guests will be delighted.

Activities for small children - in addition to the children's pool, there is also an original climbing playground right next door and even a building with a playroom where children can paint and play, if it rains, it is supervised.

Tips for trips

After the promenade you can walk around the beaches to the town of Makarska (about half an hour) with the port, it is not as big a historical town as Rovinj or Poreč, but the port is quite big, with many restaurants around, and you will also find a nice historical square with a church St. Mark. You can park right in the port on the waterfront, but it is the most expensive zone and you buy a ticket in a machine. You have to have change (in 2022 Kuna, in 2023 Euro), and the amount was quite high, who has that much change, it was not possible to pay with a card. Later, we also discovered a money changing machine. But in the end, the easiest way to pay the parking fee was to download the BMOVE app, and there you could use your card. The instructions are on the machine and the application works not only in Croatia but also in Slovakia, and other countries will be added. It's great that you don't have to have change, but if you decide to extend your stay, you don't have to go back to your car, you can simply extend your parking by another hour from the restaurant or the beach. You can also buy all-day or longer parking. I don't know how they control it, because of course you don't give a ticket to a car, but they will probably have some kind of system.

Or you can drive to Split (about an hour), or climb out, or drive to the popular glass observation deck Biokovo Sky Walk - I recommend it only for lovers of heights. I will write a separate article about this prospect. If you are interested in excursions, the concierge at the hotel next to the reception will be happy to advise you, and fish picnics and other sea trips depart from the port.

Well, that's all I could research. Hopefully the given information will convince you that you can enjoy a luxurious vacation in Makarska, Croatia. For your best holiday enjoyment, I recommend going to Makarska outside of July - August, it's really crowded here. May and June or September, even October, are ideal for a quiet holiday by the sea in the sun.

This article was created in cooperation with the PR department of Aminess hotels, thank you very much!

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