PLACES Dalmacija by Valamar

The Good Fantastic location and good food. Friendly staff: A large part of the team provides a warm, appreciated, and welcoming service, most notably the pool bar staff and certain waiting staff. Well-cleaned rooms: Housekeeping maintains a high standard whenever you request room cleaning. Great concept with [PLACES]Flex: The core idea behind the flexible half-board and credit system is very smart and convenient. The Bad High prices undermine the half-board: Sky-high food and drink prices at the hotel (e.g., a beer for around 65 SEK) make it difficult to stretch the credit to cover a normal half-board without budgeting or counting expenses. Impractical room layout and design: Form was prioritized over function. Having the sink placed directly in the bedroom makes it impossible to use without waking your travel companion, and the total lack of storage space or luggage benches forces you to keep everything on the floor. Locked air conditioning: Being able to turn down the AC during heatwaves feels like a given, yet the thermostat is locked to a minimum of 23°C. Rude night staff: Certain evening/night staff members were directly rude to my son when he simply asked for water to the room. Note: The reception claimed the popular restaurant Panorama was fully booked—which turned out to be false, as plenty of tables were available when you double-checked yourself. This is likely due to lack of cooperation or missing commissions for the hotel.

This hotel is definitely under-rated. My husband and I have stayed in many 4 star hotels over the years and this one is one of the best. It doesn’t deserve a 3 star rating. The staff are helpful and friendly, the quality of the restaurant is amazing. Food extremely good with a vast choice. The hotel runs a half board package for your evening meal where your account is loaded with 30 Euro each per person per night so you just swipe your wrist band when ordering. If you don’t want to eat your evening meal at the hotel you keep the allowance and this can be used for drinks so you don’t lose out. The drinks are reasonably priced. Location is very handy, straight on to the promenade. Old town 10 minute walk away. We will definitely return 100% - you won’t be disappointed

The rooms are far too small, and you can hear almost everything from the other rooms. The doors are very loud when they close, and when other guests slam their doors, our own door would shake and bang as well. Unfortunately, the pool area was very dirty, including both pools and the surrounding grounds. The sun loungers were covered with sunscreen, cigarette ashes, food and spilled drinks. I could not use either of the two pools because the whole area was so dirty. At one point, I even asked the staff if they could clean a sun lounger with a wet cloth, but they refused to do so. The hotel is very crowded, with many people staying in relatively small rooms. There were also a lot of babies and young children during our stay. Unfortunately, some of the guests showed very little consideration for others. For example, some children were shining potentially dangerous laser pointers from their balconies directly at other guests, which was very unpleasant and concerning. The underground garage is extremely low and difficult to access with a larger car. With anything bigger than a small car, you have to maneuver a lot and it feels like you could almost get stuck. The outdoor parking spaces, however, are good and much easier to use. The hotel offers a “Flex Half Board” system, where you receive credit on your wristband if you do not use the dinner included in your package. However, you can only spend this credit inside the hotel, and there are not many things to spend it on. Drinks, food and massages are available, but the selection is quite limited. Also, drinks are not included and have to be paid for separately. The breakfast, on the other hand, was rich, delicious and offered a good variety of food. The location is very good, as the hotel is directly by the sea and right next to the promenade. Overall, I would not come back to this hotel. If for me, however, cleanliness is essential, even in a three-star hotel. Unfortunately, although the hotel may look clean at first glance, it is not very clean when you take a closer look. I definitely will not stay here again.

Highly recommended accommodation, special praise for the reception staff—see you again next year!

This hotel was "just OK." I stayed for three nights. The staff were all very friendly. My disappointment was the poor air conditioning. I was awake the last two nights of my stay. The lowest the electronic control would go is 22C. But when I had maintenance in my room to repair a light (which was not possible to repair) - he said that was a hotel eco setting but it could go to 18C - and he called to have it enabled.. I actually don't think it ever got that low in the room. I kept the sun out of my room by closing the metal louvres outside my patio door and closing the curtain. The room was spacious with a sofa (spotted/soiled fabric) and tables. I was not a fan of the bathroom - it appeared to have a painted floor and painted shower floor. A metal shelf in the shower was at my exact shoulder height and I kept hitting it. The hotel had a large breakfast buffet that was so-so. The room also had half-board dinner buffet - although we did not eat there any of the nights. To the hotel's credit, they offer a 30 Euro credit if you don't eat dinner at the hotel - and that is added to your room account to use for bar drinks or their gift shop. Drinks were a reasonable price and had a normal alcohol content. There was one elevator near my room and it was frequently full and with a longer wait to service all floors. When I steeped outside my room, the hallways were boiling hot. Out back from the hotel is a paved walkway that takes you to beach area, shops and a long stretch of restaurants along the beach. The view from my large balcony was very pretty. With tat being said, if I were to go back, I think I'd likely try a different hotel - primarily given the room temperature and elevator availability.