Palazzo Venezia Mini-Hotel

Zadar Old City was a great place to be based, and we still enjoyed our time in Zadar. The accommodation itself, though, didn't live up to what I expected from a four-star stay. It came across as misleadingly advertised. Our room had no actual windows. Daylight only came through the frosted half-window in the door. I was told upper-floor rooms have windows, but one fifth of the rooms apparently don't. There was nobody at reception or available in person for questions or local suggestions. We called a number and were told where the key was; that part worked out fine, since someone answered and we found it. There was also no room service for cleaning, and no one around to request fresh towels from. Parking wasn't provided either. The only overnight public parking we found was a 15-minute walk away.

The rooms were nicely decorated, and the small hotel felt cozy. Everything in ours worked as it should, including the air conditioning and shower, and the little fridge held a couple of bottles. Restaurants and other conveniences were close by, while the area stayed calm. We had a pleasant two-night visit in Zadar. The lack of anyone on site made it harder to communicate. Checkout time was unclear, since emails gave us both 10 AM and 11 AM. Then cleaning staff knocked at 9:50 AM, before we had checked out. I also couldn't find luggage storage information, and as far as I know there wasn't any, which was awkward when leaving.

Claudia and the rest of the staff were wonderful, especially when they helped us change rooms. The first one had no windows or a useful bench, and they made the switch easy. The interior looks modern and beautiful. Our room had a color-changing shower, useful storage, a mini fridge, full-length mirror, bidet, towel warmer, and more. It's in a great spot by restaurants, a bar, the waterbus, and the boardwalk.

The location is great, but the rest fell well short of what I expected. This felt more like an expensive Airbnb than a hotel. There's no reception, and on two of our five days we got neither clean towels nor room cleaning. Apparently one person was sick and they hadn't managed to arrange anyone else. Two stars.