Heritage Grand Perast by Rixos

Heritage Grand Perast is truly a special place and one of the most memorable hotel experiences you could wish for. Set in a beautiful historic palace on the waterfront of Perast, overlooking the breathtaking Bay of Kotor, the hotel combines old-world elegance, modern luxury and an atmosphere of peace and sophistication. From the moment you arrive, the charm of the property and its surroundings is unmistakable. The architecture is stunning, the interiors are elegant, and the setting is simply spectacular. There is something incredibly special about waking up in such a beautiful historic building with the Adriatic Sea and the magnificent Montenegrin mountains all around you. The location is exceptional, right in the heart of picturesque Perast, where you can enjoy peaceful waterfront walks, charming historic streets and beautiful views at every turn. It is the perfect place to slow down, relax and appreciate the beauty of Montenegro. The rooms are spacious, comfortable and beautifully presented, while the hotel’s facilities add another level of luxury to the experience. The swimming areas, wellness facilities and inviting spaces to relax make it easy to spend an entire day simply enjoying the hotel and its surroundings. What really makes a hotel memorable, however, is the overall feeling it leaves you with. Heritage Grand Perast has a unique atmosphere that feels both grand and intimate, combining the character of a historic palace with the comfort expected of a luxury hotel. Perast itself is a true gem, and this hotel is perfectly placed to experience everything that makes it so beautiful. Whether visiting for a romantic escape, a relaxing holiday or a special occasion, it offers a wonderful opportunity to experience the very best of the Bay of Kotor.

The Heritage Grand Perast occupies a magnificent 18th-century palace in an extraordinary setting. The architectural restoration is impressive and the spa is physically well-appointed. However, behind the grand Venetian stone exterior lies an operation delivering the service, maintenance, and housekeeping standards of an unmanaged three-star hotel. Following its departure from the Rixos Group, the property’s current management appears entirely focused on running full occupancy while aggressively cutting operational costs at the expense of guests. We stayed for 10 nights in a Sea View Suite in the main palace building, sold at a rate exceeding €600 per night. The reality across our stay was completely unacceptable for a luxury property: * Housekeeping & Basic Hygiene: In a five-star hotel over a 10-night stay, our bed sheets were changed only once—on the 8th night, and only because we specifically requested it. Essential consumables were ignored: we had to ask reception for toilet paper, face towels were not always replaced, no milk was provided for the coffee machine, and the carpet was visibly stained and only vacuumed when requested. * Persistent Lukewarm Showers: Taking showers daily across mornings and evenings, the water was persistently lukewarm at best-never genuinely hot, or even warm. The showers in the spa suffered from the exact same defect. A quick glance at recent TripAdvisor reviews shows other guests have flagged this identical lukewarm shower issue alongside persistent maintenance shortcomings, confirming this is an ongoing systemic problem rather than an isolated glitch. * The Breakfast Ordeal: The entire hotel is funnelled into a single, cramped breakfast room. Tables are packed so tightly that you are constantly bumping chairs and squeezing past diners. Over 10 days, staff almost never approached our table to ask if we needed anything or wanted another hot drink. * Buffet Quality & Cost-Cutting: The yogurt served in jars appeared visibly watered down with milk to stretch supplies. Hot buffet options were limited to cold scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon, and pancakes. Coffee was consistently served lukewarm or cold, basic condiments (butter, jam, muesli, spoons, salt, pepper) were constantly depleted, and despite a large bread selection, no toaster was provided. * Hollow "Complimentary" Inclusions: Promotional perks were treated with bare-minimum execution. The "complimentary massage" was restricted to an insulting 15 minutes. When ordering complimentary welcome drinks, we were told to inform the bar staff prior to ordering that it was a "free cocktail"—strongly suggesting the use of cheaper ingredients and smaller measures. * Facilities & Understaffing: There is nowhere indoors to sit and have a drink outside of the breakfast room. The spa does not open until 09:00, preventing early-morning routines, and pool loungers are very limited. Aside from Daniela on breakfast service—who was lovely and attentive—staff were disengaged and completely unsupervised. When we initially raised these issues in person at the front desk, the reception staff were completely indifferent, seemed entirely unbothered, took no notes, and we never heard back from anyone. Because of this total lack of response, we escalated the matter in writing directly to the Front Desk Manager. To her credit, she responded promptly and was very apologetic about the situation, offering us a complimentary dinner at the hotel restaurant with an alcoholic drink of choice as a gesture of goodwill. While the manager’s swift and courteous personal intervention was appreciated, it should not require a written escalation to senior management just to have basic five-star standards acknowledged. Running a property on five-star pricing while rationing bed linen, understaffing the floor, and cutting corners on everyday maintenance is cynical profiteering. It is a stunning building, but the day-to-day hospitality delivered falls far short of true luxury. The good points: the food from the breakfast menu was faultless, but again, items on the menu were consistently not available. The building facade and courtyard setting is absolutely stunning.

Great hotel, very clean and amazing facilities and the staff were so helpful and friendly. However in my view it is a 4 star rating not 5 star as a few issues let the hotel down. Breakfast was not a 5 star standard, good selection but could be better. The coffee which was ordered separately was only ever lukewarm, and this was experienced by several other guests. Housekeeping was a bit hit and miss, and although clean, it was always pot luck as to which towels would be left. In a 5 star hotel I certainly wouldn't expect to have to ask for a bath mat or hand towels. I had read previous reviews before selecting this hotel, and I had seen similar issues being reported, but I thought they were isolated, however this doesn't appear to be the case. Also, when booking taxis or excursions, be mindful that Perast is pedestrianised and allow for time for the hotel buggy to transfer to the collection points. This was never made clear when being told of the transfer time slots as collection was always the hotel entrance.

We can’t imagine staying anywhere else in the Bay of Kotor after spending three days here. The lounge chairs one foot from the water, the pool on the bay and dock for boats to all pull up in front felt like we were in Lake Como for a fraction of the cost. You do need to get to the lounge chairs at a reasonable hour if you want somewhere to sit (by 10am not a problem but when we did a morning activity and tried to go after lunch we didn’t have much luck) and there are plenty of people at pool to help move umbrellas and give you shade but they don’t really enforce their half hour or you lose your chairs policy from what we saw. The main buildings of the hotel are gorgeous as well. They fit in with what overall is a beautiful town. We stayed in a duplex room that worked for our family of four although the one small bathroom was a tad tight. Rooms are fairly simple but were clean. You don’t have a view even though you are on the top floor. For some unknown reason there are rooms blocking the view that are used for conference rooms and a library. Seems like a missed opportunity since they aren’t used very much from what we can tell. The one major complaint about the room is the front door is glass which makes it crazy bright in the morning. Also probably not great when summers are so hot as well and struggling to get AC to a cool enough level. The service was definitely not five star but it wasn’t enough to detract from the overall experience. For example, it took asking three times to get towels when housekeeping forgot to replenish enough. One day we walked in while housekeeping was there to grab something we forgot and they left and never made the beds upstairs. We had a package as part of our rate with free messages but then were told they had no openings during our stay. They found something the last day and when we asked for a later checkout to allow us to do those, they were accommodating to their credit.

Be aware when booking the superior deluxe rooms that there is no view. We had a tiny window that looked straight at a brick wall. I wish I knew about the views before I booked. Breakfast was a strange mix of eggs cooked to order and chicken nuggets and cauliflower from the hot food section. I was very disappointed as Perast is beautiful but the hotel does not live up to expectations.