Villa Karin

The house itself was lovely and stylishly furnished, with comfortable furniture, a large TV, an extra outdoor toilet, and washing machine and dishwasher tablets supplied. Zadar, Nin, Privlaka, and national parks including Krka, Paklenica, and Kornati were easy to reach. We would have overlooked the other problems and still given five stars, but the main reason we booked was the heated pool, and it was only 21°C even though it was sunny and about 27°C in the shade. That was a real letdown. It didn’t ruin the whole holiday, but the stay didn’t go as planned, and I would have preferred a house with a usable pool. We barely got the relaxing holiday we’d hoped for. There were several other issues. The pool heater wasn’t working during our late September visit, one swing set was broken and someone fell on it, though thankfully no one was seriously hurt, and the outside doors had no handles, so they were hard to close from outdoors. There was no information folder with details about rubbish disposal, local attractions, or restaurant suggestions, which we’ve had at other houses. One tip: if you get a case of drinks, keep the receipt, or you won’t get your deposit back. The air conditioning units were in the upstairs and downstairs hallways, so the bedroom doors had to stay open to cool the rooms. Someone responsible for the pool did come by, but he seemed unmotivated and unfriendly, answered as briefly as possible, and avoided conversation. He didn’t check back after that first visit or ask whether it was working, and we weren’t told what would happen next. The woman looking after the house said she had tried to find companies to make repairs, but apparently none were available.