If we only stayed one night, my review would have been either “Gee-whizz!” (for fabulous days 1 and 2) or “Disappointing” (for day 3). Yet, despite somewhat mixed experience, we have enjoyed this small stylish boutique hotel.

BOOKING

Made through the hotel’s web-site. They blocked one night rate on my credit card and didn’t release it, even after I paid the bill (in cash). My bank unblocked it automatically in due course.

LOCATION

Normally I would prefer to stay closer to the city centre, but we had a car. Being from a hilly city, we felt it ok to walk all the way up the very steep Pantovcak back to the hotel, but it was no way a short walk from the main Zagreb sights.

PARKING

With rented car, we saw little need in paying for the hotel’s garage, so went for the street parking. This can be a problem in the area. On the day of arrival we were lucky to find a spot on the small parking lot opposite the hotel. But when we were leaving next morning, two drivers rushed to occupy it; so upon return we could only
park on the narrow side lane not far from the hotel. It turned out safe.

HOTEL AND ROOMS

The hotel, situated on the narrow two-lane street, has no pocket for the arriving cars. This is very inconvenient if you need to stop (say, to take out luggage). Also, it’s not quite obvious from the façade that this is it. We missed it upon arrival and had to make a U-turn; the taxi driver we used the other day had to back up. The hotel’s building, modest from the outside, is squeezed between the similar simple houses.

Our pre-impressions improved as soon as we entered. The hotel’s design was lovely. It had an artistic touch in many details, but at the same was relaxing. Public areas, including the bar, were quiet and deserted; we felt like being the only guests (great advantage, in my eyes).

The nicest lady from the front desk was fast to check us in and show to the room. Quiet classic music (from CD player) pleased the ear as we passed by the empty restaurant and descended to our room by winding stairs (there is no elevator).

A complimentary drink was on special offer from the hotel, and we had two full glasses of white wine served in the open air backyard.

Nothing to complain about the room; I liked it a lot. Room design was calm, on a simplistic side, but with very interesting pieces of furniture and elements of decor that caught the eye. Reasonably spacious and clean, with a large comfy bed.

I appreciated ample space around the sink in the bathroom. But the shower was only partially covered by a glass door, so the floor was sometimes wet by the end of bathing. And there was nothing to grab getting out of the wide slippery bath. Toiletries were wonderful. Towels were abundant. Everything was clean.

Back to the room, its glass wall opened to the backyard (not trimmed, so I’m hesitant to call it a garden), which created fantastic rural atmosphere in the middle of the capital city. Although two rooms had access to this garden, separated only by some planters, the one next to ours only got occupied on the eve of our departure, so we enjoyed fabulous evenings in privacy.

This was one of the only 2 hotels out of 6 we stayed in Croatia that offered WiFi in the room; and it was free.

SERVICE

Catastrophic lack of staff is obviously the main problem of this hotel. Few girls seem to be doing the entire job throughout the place – from running the front desk and helping with the luggage to cooking and even plumbing!

As a result, on days 1-2 everything was impeccable; fast and attentive, friendly and nice. And day 3 was a disappointment. Some other guests had problems in their bathroom that the entire staff tried to solve. That was why we weren’t served our breakfast properly, and had to wait for too long to check out.

BREAKFAST

Not included into the room rate. There’s no buffet; you can choose between few sets listed. We took Royal and Continental, surprisingly costing equal EUR15 in the menu, but eventually priced caEUR9 and caEUR15 in the bill.

Though we ordered the same two sets, breakfast quality and quantity in two mornings differed dramatically! The first day it was extremely generous, with good selection of fruits, cheese, meat, jams and bread, plus a huge serving of hot meals. It was cooked by a lady with a brilliant sense of humour who made our day.

The next day we were the second to arrive to the breakfast; and were only served half of the previous day portion (just a few pieces of bread, limited selection of fruits etc). The lady «on duty» that day soon left to settle the bath problems, before we got any hot meals. Having waited for quite a while, we realised it’s best to leave without finishing our breakfast, or we waste half a day.

On day one, CD with quiet classic music was turned on during the breakfast, making the atmosphere in the room intimate and exquisite.

Recommended

Despite polar experience that we had, the overall impression from our relaxing stay was very positive, and I can recommend this hotel in hope that you will be lucky to get the best service it can offer.

We were very happy with our stay here. Friendly, helpful staff, very comfortable room with a lovely view over the garden and trees and a great atmosphere created by the collection of original artworks and pieces of sculpture and furniture throughout the hotel. Breakfast was very well done with a three course breakfast served to you individually rather than buffet style and a great espresso coffee to go with it. We also had dinner in the hotel's private guest only dining room and this was very well cooked and absolutely delicious. Location wise the hotel is less than a 5 min walk to the nearest square where there are a few cafes and about a 10 to 15 min walk to the main square and major sights in the historic upper town. While it's downhill on the way to the sights, it is a short, moderately steep walk back up the hill on the way back. That said, we noticed where some of the big name hotels were located over in the lower town and they wouldn't have been any less of a walk to the main tourist sights in the upper town anyway.

This small hotel (4 or 5 rooms) is situated on a hill just outside the center of Zagreb. Rooms are different each hotel and very accuraltely decorated. I had one with a small terrace open on a garden with a magnificent view. Breakfast is served at table on a very exclusive room. We felt treated as kings.

We stayed at the President hotel for 2 separate nights during our trip to Croatia. The family room was excellent with view over the trees and bushes in the creek which ran between the hotel and the old town. Bathroom was particulrly well appointed. The breakfast was to die for with the same view from the dining room of the trees and all food served to you and prepared specially. Zagreb is just a walk to reach all the sites.