Arba Resort Valamar Collection at Capo Fronte

Beautiful hotel in an amazing, quiet location. Clean and nicely designed rooms, fantastic food and immaculate service. Special thanks to Maja, Guest Relation Manager for a warm welcome and great tips for our stay on the island. See you again!

While the hotel really has everything for children - game rooms, kids club, the pools meant for children and sandy beach, it lacks some basics. My main complaint is that the water in the shower changes without turning the knob. What I mean - you turn the water to warm, the water flows warm, then it turns either scorching hot or freezing cold. When you are showering a child, you can burn him. In a hotel, that is far from cheap, something like that shouldnt be a problem. Also, a brand new hotel, but they are experiencing a lot of problems with water leaking through ceilings.. All in all it was a nice stay, with lots of activities, but for this price, I would expect a bit bigger rooms (and bigger balconies) and better showers.

Amazing staf clean hotel food execelent reception was highlight if hotel.we had so much fun and filled our days with lot of extra activities

After a looong time thinking about where to spend and celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary and our son’s 2nd birthday, we finally decided to visit Arba Resort and have our festivities there. The resort itself is aesthetically pleasing, but unfortunately, we encountered some disappointing moments. Let’s start with the check-in — it went smoothly. Before arriving at the resort, we sent an email specifically mentioning that we were celebrating a marriage anniversary and our son’s birthday. We emphasized that we wanted a late check-out since the birthday fell on the last day of our stay (and we immediately offered to pay extra if needed). Their reply was friendly: they said they were glad we’d be celebrating these two occasions there, and regarding the late check-out, we’d need to ask the day before departure to see availability. Totally fine. At check-in, I mentioned this again just so they’d keep it in mind. They immediately asked for the dates of the anniversary and birthday — the receptionist wrote them down on a piece of paper. She even mentioned there would be some kind of celebration for our son (something I’d already seen on their social media), and for us, there would be a gift from the hotel. We didn’t expect this, but it was nice to hear. In short: none of this happened. Several times the receptionists mentioned the anniversary gift, and when we received a bottle of wine in the room, I asked if that was the gift they’d been referring to. They said no — and in the end, we learned the wine had been sent by a friend who works at the hotel. The next day, after asking again, they finally said they had changed their policy and we wouldn’t be receiving anything — with a sour smile from the receptionist. This “policy change” excuse seemed to be a theme throughout the resort. We later found out that in the beginning of the season, guests were given beach bags, flip-flops, toiletries for kids, and bathrobes in the rooms — but the policy was changed, and we got nothing. Another example of promises quietly being cut back. As for our son, until the very last moment they kept promising a party or some kind of celebration, but on his birthday, nothing happened. We had to go out and organize everything ourselves just to make the day special for him. So to make things clear: we came here to celebrate, and yes, we expected some attention for that. Nothing extravagant — but when you constantly promise something and then deliver nothing, it’s disappointing. During check-in, we also asked about upgrading to V Level. It wasn’t possible, and honestly, we’re glad we didn’t push it — because it’s definitely not worth the money (you’ll see why below). ⸻ The Rooms The seaside double room we got was the tiniest hotel room I have ever stayed in. And I’ve stayed in many hotels. There was no space to move around. They put a crib inside, and we had to take it out and have our son sleep in the bed with us just so we could navigate the room at all. I know I didn’t book a suite, but still — comparing this to the double room we stayed in at a Dubrovnik hotel right before Arba, it was like a football field vs. a bathroom. The closet was also tiny, with barely enough space for our clothes. Oh and the water from the shower varies from cold to hot constantly so imagine me trying to bathe a toddler and suddenly hot water comes onto him. Nightmare! ⸻ Food & Dining The food quality was fine — no major complaints. I appreciated the baby food station and the green market, which are perfect for families with children. Now, V Level guests dine in a separate restaurant, but they can also eat in the Arba 772 restaurant — where we “basic mortals” eat. Can you imagine the chaos? The waiters are stretched so thin you can barely find one. Thankfully, we were lucky with the staff — most were from our homeland, and they treated us wonderfully. But here’s the kicker: drinks for the basic guests come from a machine and taste terrible. Some totally unhealthy cola and orange juice. Trying to look like an upscale hotel while serving the cheapest drinks? Come on. And of course, there is coffee from a coffee machine which tastes terrible. Oh, the V level? They get a proper espresso:) (its coffee for God’s sake, cant believe they divide people for normal things) And a heads up: when you enter Arba 772, don’t bother coming freshly showered or dressed up. Within seconds, you’ll smell like you’ve been standing over a hot stove. The kitchen ventilation is terrible — your clothes and hair will reek. Sad, but true. ⸻ Pools & Beach They have a few indoor and outdoor pools and a beach. The problem? Not enough sunbeds for guests. The entire first four rows of sunbeds and all front cabanas are reserved for V Level guests. Basic guests like us are pushed way to the back, near the sports fields. The cabanas for non–V Level guests are so cramped together it feels like sitting in a sauna with no air to breathe. Oh and they even give different towels for V level guests and some simple low quality gray towels for the “others” - more degrading? Indeed. The irony? Locals leave their stuff on the V Level sunbeds in the front rows, so paying guests can’t use them. And nobody from the hotel says a word. So in reality, the “exclusive” front rows are for locals, while actual hotel guests are stuck in the back. That’s beyond degrading. Even worse, sometimes there weren’t enough sunbeds even for V Level guests — so they had to sit in the back with us anyway. Honestly, limiting an already small beach like this makes no sense. The V Level pool can work as the only perk, but since nobody enforces who can enter, it ends up being a mix of everyone anyway. So, you pay extra to swim with the same crowd. The worst of all? Hornets! Lots of them! They are near the pool and beach and they can be deadly dangerous! They need to call a pest control since it is possible they have a nest there. I took a video of them to show to the receptionist but we were rushing to leave. Also, we noticed rats on the beach (jumping in the rocks) and I overheard some even saw snakes. Terrifying! Control the space from insects and reptiles to save the guests! ⸻ Staff & Service I also witnessed an unpleasant scene one evening. I was getting some fruit near the bar at Arba 772 when two boys went to order beers. The bartender was about to hand them their drinks when a lady suddenly came running and screaming: “No, no, it’s finished! The end! No more! The bar is closed!” She snatched the beer out of the bartender’s hand and then yelled at him for five minutes in front of all the guests. Maybe she was right about the bar being closed, but that’s not how you treat a colleague — and definitely not in front of guests. She could have simply served the last beer, then explained privately to her coworker. It was shocking and unprofessional. ⸻ Entertainment & Spa The kids’ areas and playgrounds are awesome. The children’s programs were great — no complaints there. They also organized a few live music nights, but the repertoire was painfully slow. Just acoustic ballads, nothing upbeat. Instead of creating a lively atmosphere, it made us want to fall asleep. The spa was okay, but it closes at 20:00. For parents of small kids, this is useless — you spend the whole day exhausted, finally get your child to sleep, and want to relax… but nope, it’s already closed. You’d have to carve time out during the day to use it, which is nearly impossible with a baby or toddler. ⸻ Check out pressure And then came the late check-out disaster. From day one, we had requested it, explaining clearly that our son naps around 12:00 and we’d check out when he wakes up, around 14:30. The receptionist said “no problem” and even wrote it down on a note. But on the last day, at 14:10 while my son was still sleeping, we got a call from a lady at reception. I whispered on the phone, but she immediately started saying we should have been gone already and needed to check out immediately. I tried to explain that we had arranged late check-out until 14:30, but she cut me off, saying, “In that case, you should’ve left by 12:00.” I attempted to clarify that we’d confirmed otherwise at check-in, but before I could even finish a sentence, she brushed me off with: “Actually it doesn’t matter what happened, see you in 20 minutes, thank you, bye.” All in a very ignorant tone. And when you think you dont have to even think about paying for their open concept parking - guess what? You do! They didnt even build an underground parking garage so your car will boil on the sun for the price of 5€ per day. If you are lucky, you can park it in the shade. We witnessed their personnel (towel guys, bartenders, barmen) leaving around the time we left too (mid August) so how will they cope with the rest of the guests? Final Thoughts Overall, it felt like we were part of a trial run for them to figure out how to operate, since this is their first season. But the prices are not “trial” prices — you pay a serious amount of money, and the service doesn’t match. Let’s not forget: this is a 4-star resort, but they act like they’re the Four Seasons. Needs desperately serious work and proper care for the guests. In the end if u want the effect of a high end hotel, just build a new one and make it exclusive, without degrading your own hotel guests.

We stayed at Arba Hotel last week. We chose this hotel because we’ve had very positive experiences with Valamar hotels in the past, and since this one was advertised as a brand-new property, we were curious to try it. To start with the positives: the building itself, the restaurants, and the pool area are beautifully designed and of high quality. The furniture is modern and stylish, and the overall atmosphere is elegant and refined. Design-wise, everything looks very upscale. However, we were unfortunately disappointed in several key areas. We booked a seaside room for three people, but the room was extremely small. There was barely any storage space, no proper wardrobe with hangers, and nowhere to put our suitcases. We couldn’t unpack and were constantly tripping over our luggage. The interior design came at the expense of functionality. The terrace was also tiny – two chairs barely fit, even though there were three of us. The view was not what we expected from a “seaside” room: it faced a rooftop planted with weed-like greenery, and the sea could only be seen faintly in the far distance. The room was neither spacious nor practical, and it certainly did not meet the standards of a 4-star hotel – especially not at the high price point, which was comparable to a true 5-star property. The beach also did not meet our expectations: only the area under the sunbeds was sandy, the rest was mostly coarse gravel, not fine pebbles. There was almost no entertainment for adults – only programs for children were available. The all-inclusive offering was quite poor. Only tap water was included – bottled water like Jana had to be paid for, which we found unacceptable at this level. Soft drinks were only available from machines, and no proper coffee was included either. Daytime snacks and food options were very limited – this felt more like full board than a real all-inclusive experience. After three nights, we decided to check out early due to the room’s discomfort. As no better room was available, we moved to another Valamar hotel. There, for just a slightly higher price, we had a much more spacious, sea-view room in a true 5-star hotel – and the difference in quality was remarkable. All in all, Arba Hotel is modern and visually impressive, but it does not live up to the usual Valamar standard in several key areas – especially not in terms of room comfort and overall value for money. It's a 4-star hotel priced like a 5-star, but unfortunately, with room quality that feels closer to 3-star.