Pical Resort, Valamar Collection

Perfect location and wonderful staff in the hotel

A beautiful hotel in an excellent location, with a pleasant atmosphere and outstanding service. I would especially like to commend the exceptionally friendly and professional staff.

For context; my husband and I have been incredibly fortunate to have enjoyed extensive worldwide travel and have stayed in many (usually all inclusive) luxury 5* hotels in Europe and the Caribbean. We frequently holiday in Turkey and recent visits have included stays at the recently opened Akra Didim, Anda Barut Collection and XO Cape Arnna as well as Regnum Carya and other hotels of a similar quality in Turkey. Elsewhere in Europe we have been privileged to have enjoyed a number of holidays at the Ikos resorts, Stella Island Crete, Mayia Exclusive Rhodes and other destinations including the Spanish islands, Portugal, Cyprus, Egypt, the UAE and various Caribbean destinations where we have stayed at Excellence and Secrets Resorts, Royalton and Hyatt. Our holiday at the Pical Resort in September, to celebrate a special birthday, was our second trip to Croatia, having visited Dubrovnik for a few days in March this year. We stayed 7 nights in a deluxe sea view room in the Pical Suites on the Half Board Dine Around package, which was booked before the hotel opened, via Jet2Holidays. The cost was less than we usually pay for a 5* AI holiday in Turkey or Greece in September and, even with the additional cost of lunch and drinks, we consider this holiday represented good value for money. When travelling we typically opt for contemporary, (often newly constructed) hotels with a choice of bars and a la carte dining options and Pical Suites more than met our preferences on all counts. Highlights: • Before we arrived, I had cause to contact the Guest Concierge service on several occasions regarding birthday celebration arrangements and mobility issues; the assistance, advice and support I received from Jelena, Ingrid and Edera was timely, informative and compassionate. • We loved the hotel setting along the coastal path with access to Porec and the beautiful view from our spacious balcony. • The tiered pool area and sumptuous sun loungers around the Pical Suites pool and children’s splash pool felt exclusive and luxurious, and the Bonaca bar provided soft drinks, fruit and light snacks throughout the day which were included for V Level guests. Between 5-6pm canapes and prosecco were also available. • The adult only rooftop bar has both indoor and outdoor seating and offers panoramic views towards Porec from the terrace. If the weather is in your favour, then it is a stunning venue from which to catch the sunset. • We used the dine around package to dine at Fogo, Purobeach and Oliva on Isabella Island and ate at Parenzana for the other 4 evenings of our stay. We enjoyed all our dining experiences and found the service and quality of cuisine to be excellent. • The indoor pool is fabulous. Clearly the design and size is to accommodate winter guests but nevertheless, it is very impressive. • The gym is nicely equipped but certainly much smaller than many gyms we have used in other hotels. I must also add that the air-conditioning was not always operating so, as an internal room without windows, the gym became uncomfortably hot. • Although we didn’t travel with children, Pical Resort is truly in a class of its own when it comes to children’s facilities. I was highly impressed by the extraordinary range of indoor and outdoor entertainment and activities for babies, toddlers and older children. • As a year-round resort, it is worth mentioning that Pical Suites, Pical Family Hotel and Pical Hotel interconnect with one another so the bars, restaurants, sports and entertainment facilities across the 3 hotels can be accessed without the need to go outside. Other observations: • Remarkably, for a newly constructed resort, the public bathroom facilities at the Pical Suites pool are beneath the Bonaca bar down a long flight of stairs which is not ideal for guests who have mobility difficulties. There are also several short flights of stairs from the hotel building to the sun terraces and pool, which would not be suitable for wheelchair users. Even the staff had to help each other carry their trolleys of fruit and canapes down the steps from the main building to the bar due to the lack of slopes. • On 2 of the 3 mornings that I used the (windowless) gym, it was unpleasantly hot because the air-conditioning did not seem to have been switched on. • From a personal perspective we did feel that the evening entertainment was somewhat uninspiring; we would have appreciated some more lively bands or just more live music/DJ at Pical Suites and throughout the resort in general. Other reviews mention loud music from Purobeach, but we didn’t hear any of that from the Pical Suites pool and when we visited Purobeach for dinner, the DJ set was unexpectedly mellow. In summary, for a newly opened resort of this scale, we were impressed by the outstanding quality, attention to detail and overall execution throughout. The standard of the build, from the architecture and finishes to the furnishings and thoughtfully curated interior design, is truly impressive and gives the resort a sense of quality and sophistication which exceeded our expectations. The breadth and variety of bars, restaurants and children’s facilities cater brilliantly to a wide range of tastes and ages, while the quality of the cuisine consistently impresses. Equally commendable is the service: the staff are professional, attentive, welcoming and clearly committed to delivering an outstanding guest experience. All of this is complemented by beautifully designed and immaculately landscaped grounds and, of course, the breathtaking coastline and views towards Porec. To have achieved such a high standard across so many different aspects so soon after opening is a remarkable and worthy accomplishment. It is a privilege to have had the means and opportunity to visit Pical Suites to celebrate a special occasion, and we left genuinely impressed and with every confidence that Pical Resort has all the ingredients to become a highly sought after and popular holiday destination.

Excellent and friendly staff. Flawless expirience from begining to the end. Hotel was clean and cozy. There was a staff member who tell us where to go after the gate.

Everything was perfect. We had a great family weekend at this beatiful resort. Hotel staff was very helpfull. We made an online check in which was quick and effective. It lead us to have more time for enjoying everything this resort offers - neat bedrooms with beatifull view (we booked a room with seaside view) , great room service, outside heathed pools with great beach bar, childrens playgrounds... Whole area was perfectly clean and tidy. Food in hotel restaurant was always fresh and tastefull. The whole experience at Pical Family Hotel was great and I would highly recommend it.