I arrived at East Midlands Airport at the ungodly hour of 3.50am on departure day.  No sign of a JY rep, but I was very early.  Smooth baggage drop, and then I proceeded through security, and had breakfast at Frankie and Benny's.  The airport was very busy, and I saw no sign of any fellow JY customers.  Pleasant journey with Jet2, and arrived in Dubrovnik to rain.  I got through to Arrivals fairly quickly, and found no sign of any JY presence.  I wandered round for a bit, and ran finally into Ann, who had come in on the flight from Leeds/Bradford.  We eventually located our T.M Sandra, who had been dealing with arrivals from a previous flight.  We were taken, (minus Sandra, who had to wait for other flights to come in), to the hotel that we were originally supposed to be in, Hotel Albatros,  in Cavtat, where Sandra had told us to go down to the restaurant for a light lunch.  The group from Gatwick had arrived earlier, and were in the bar.  There was confusion in the restaurant as to why we were there, and not particularly friendly staff.  Not a great impression from the hotel. 

Sandra came with the other arrivals, and we were taken on the bus to our alternative hotel, the Hotel Valimar Lacroma outside Dubrovnik in continued heavy rain.  (For those who do not know, we were all informed by telephone on the Friday pre departure that because of flooding at the Albatros that we would be in the Valimar Hotel until the Tuesday morning, and then transferred back to the Albatros. 

The Valimar Lacroma is a nice hotel, the staff were friendly, the food was decent, (in my opinion), and the rooms were fine, well mine was, apart from a constant waterfall on my balcony because of the heavy rain.  However the location is somewhat remote although there is public transport into Dubrovnik. 

I will list the excursions as I found them.

1.  First day.  Half day excursion to Dubrovnik.  The Old Town is stunning, Slightly slippery underfoot because of the rain.  We were taken afterwards to the cable car.  Please be aware that there a lot of steps up to this,(and I suppose consequently down), without a handrail.  I am afraid I cried off because of this, and enjoyed a nice meal at a restaurant at the foot of the entrance to the cable car. 

2.  Second day.  Heavy rain overnight.  Very early departure from the Hotel Valimar complete with our cases for a day trip to Montenegro.  Slowly improving weather, and beautiful scenery all the way to Kotor.  Euros needed for Montenegro, (NOT mentioned in final holiday itinerary, also of course, passports).  Transfer, post excursion, to  what should have been our original hotel, (Albatros in Cavtat).  All issues with hotel to be treated separately.

3.  Wednesday SHOULD have been a free day.  However we went on the boat trip to the Elaphiti Islands, as the weather continued to improve.  A really nice day in my opinion.  Nice lunch on the boat, and 3 lovely islands. 

4.  Thursday.  Ston and wine tasting with light seafood lunch.  The weather had improved again, and although the salt pans were underwhelming, the sight of the walls in Ston was not!  They are quite simply stunning.  Good free time in Ston.  It's only small, but a nice little town, and plenty of time to have a drink and a wander round.  Then on to the wine tasting.  Excellent small winery with a very welcoming owner.  Different wines to try with oysters (my first try) and mussels.  I think everyone enjoyed our time there.  :)

5.  Friday.  FINALLY.  A free day to look at Cavtat.  The weather had redeemed itself, and there was hardly a cloud in the sky.  It's an easy 10 minute walk into Cavtat from the hotel, but do be aware (for anyone who is going), that there is no crash barrier at the side of the road, and a drop into the sea, and also cars use the road.

Cavtat is lovely.  Lots of bars and restaurants.  What seems to be a fairly regular bus service into Dubrovnik.  Mini market and post office, and many shops selling fairly typical souvenirs.  Locals are friendly and welcoming.  It's very easy to enjoy an enjoyable few hours there. 

6.  Saturday.  Mostar.  I didn't go, so will leave it to other Forum members on the trip to describe.  I understand though they had a very enjoyable day, albeit with lots of travelling.  As I have indicated previously I think that this excursion should not be on the last day, as most of those that DID go had very little time to change before a farewell meal in Dubrovnik.  Very nice meal (set menu of Greek salad, rump steak or fish and panacotta) in the Old Town (well right against the harbour), but I think that it was held too late to do it justice. 

Sandra our T.M was very efficient, welcoming, knowledgeable, and friendly.  I felt she dealt with a large group of 40 very well.  It couldn't have been easy for her at times. 

Oggi, our driver was great.  Always there to help, excellent English and friendly. 

Okay, onto the ISSUES with the Hotel Albatros.  :(

I would like to think that I am not particularly fussy.  BUT.  The hotel is stuck in a time warp.    It is old, tired looking and BADLY in need of a major refurbishment.  The pool area and the location IS stunning, but that is the only good thing to be said about the hotel.  I understand that many of the JY travellers had issues with their rooms on arrival.  Particularly in relation to the smell of smoke in the inside of the rooms.  Why are Remisens allowing their visitors to still smoke in the rooms?  I am a smoker, but I would not dream of smoking in a hotel room.  Simple thing to take the ashtray provided out onto your balcony one would have thought!  I had issues in my room with poor lighting, lack of power points, and the hairdryer falling apart the first night!. 

The staff are not that friendly, and the buffet food is bland, repetitive, and the plates were either red hot or stone cold.  Machine juices were watery, coffee was really disgusting.  I could go on but won't. 

The major issue I think most of us had was with the evening bar service.  Nowhere near enough staff for most of the nights, and slow is the word.  I do not expect to spend 20 minutes getting a drink.  :@

I have addressed all these issues, and more with Customer Care this morning in an email.  I certainly trust they will investigate with the hotel what is happening there.  It is a huge shame that issues with the hotel detracted from what would have been a really great holiday otherwise.  Cavtat is beautiful, the whole area is stunning, we had an excellent T.M, and some really, really good included excursions.  We also had a really nice large group of 40, who all seemed to gel together well and were so friendly.  The short transfer time to the airport, and all the local departures is a big bonus.

So.  Would I go again?  To Cavtat, certainly.  But NEVER to that hotel.  :-/

To future travellers this year.  Try not to be put off by this.  I have tried to be honest, and would have not have been if I had said that the hotel was okay.  The excursions and area are outstanding. 

Any questions?  Please feel free to ask.

Fellow travellers (Kerry, Caroline, Ann and Lesley (from the Forum)  Hi, and it was lovely to meet you all!! :D

Apologies in advance for any typos (I have tried to correct them all), and repeating of words! 😛

Thank you for leaving a review of your trip, I am glad that you enjoyed your holiday despite the issues with the hotel.

Please accept our apologies for the disappointment towards the hotel and as you've stated above, this is being dealt with by our Customer Care team. I have also passed this review over to the team. Someone should be in contact with you shortly.

Kindest regards,

Monty

Kindest regards,

Monty

I am happy to answer any questions at all.  I have also received an initial answer back from Customer Care, and am happy to explore further issues with them.

Katy

I agree with everything you have had to say about our holiday and, in particular, your comments about the hotel. It was not a hotel I would have chosen given that there were over 500 people staying there at any given time. The hotel is indeed very dilapidated and I and another lady had concerns about the standard of cleanliness in our rooms. Another concern was that disability awareness is not evident and the hotel is not suitable for anyone with restricted mobility. For the benefit of future travellers I would suggest you take your own toiletries and hairdryer. Hotel only supplies poor quality liquid soap and hairdryer did not always work!

The range of included excursions was good and the long journey to Mostar was worth it to see the restoration which has taken place. This trip should however not be on the last day as it spoiled the experience of the farewell meal for me.

I did enjoy the holiday and would return to this part of Croatia but only if there was a change if hotel.

Lesley

Thanks for leaving a comprehensive review.

Sounds as if you had a good tour, I hope JY take your concerns onboard.

Cindy

Thanks for this great review and I'm glad you had a great time despite the shortcomings in the hotel - I am sure JY will be on the case pronto considering there is another departure there next week!

Hi Jonah,

Hope you have a great week!

Cheers,

Bob

Glad it was such a great trip despite the hotel. Im sure JY will sort things out asap.

Thanks

Mark

You will be off on your much anticipated Borneo trip before I get back so I hope it is everything you want it to be and that you and the rest of the group have a wonderful time

It was great to meet you also.  We were a lovely group of people and even though there were 40 of us, I think I managed to speak to everyone at some point.  

Here are some additional thoughts from me:

The boat trip is not to be missed, “The Karaka” was an amazing boat and each of the islands we visited had something to offer.  The lunch on-board the boat was very tasty and the entertainment provided was also a lot of fun and they even had some of us up dancing and singing!!

The trip to Monstar was long (well at least on the way out), but the scenery was breath taking. Monstar is steeped in history and our local guide was very enthusiastic.  She took us on a tour of the town, through its stone streets (an experience in itself) where we visited a mosque, a beautiful old Turkish home and of course took a slippery walk over the bridge.    Lunch was in a local restaurant by the river with views of the bridge and the restored buildings.  The food was good and there was a lot of it.  Whilst eating lunch we were also treated to a birdseye view of one of locals jumping off the bridge!!  The shopping in Monstar was fantastic, with many of us buying silk scarves. Monstar still shows the scars of war, but is really worth the journey and a visit.

I also really enjoyed the visit to Ston but be warned the Salt Mines were very disappointing, but the town more than made up for that!!   The Winery was great; the owner was lovely and so proud of all he had achieved it made for a very pleasant trip. We were also back in time to either relax by the pool or take a walk into Cavtat (aka satnav)!

I was in the group from Gatwick.  We were “abandoned” at the hotel very early, there was no one to greet us and the hotel staff were unfriendly and excessively busy, it being a bank holiday weekend for them with the hotel packed due to the race.  After some persistence from us we were eventually herded downstairs to the restaurant - nothing was prepared for us and they were busy clearing the restaurant following breakfast.  Eventually we were served coffer and offered an open sandwich.  The wait was horrendous (over 4 hours) the hotel was packed to overflowing, there were tons of teenagers and children running around, and there was hardly anywhere to sit, no offer of lunch, nowhere to buy a drink!!  Not a good start to the holiday!  

That said if it had been a beautiful sunny day on our arrival, things would have been better!!  My hotel room at the Albertros was tired but clean, and my extremely large balcony with amazing views was perfect!!  On my free day I took the water taxi from the hotel to Dubrovnik and back - which is well worth doing.  

Overall, I loved Croatia, Dubrovnik and the Dalmatian coast, I could easily have spent more time there and am already looking to go back again!!

My thanks to everyone on the holiday for all the fun and laughter.

Kerry

I look forward to meeting Jonah and the other members of the very large group on Sunday. I am also flying from Manchester Jonah so I may see you at the airport.

Angie

Rae

Thanks Bosuncat for being so honest altho I am a little bit concerned about my trip on Sunday now.  Hopefully the hotel will have had the feedback and will take it on board.

I hope things are sorted out by Sunday and that you have a great holiday. 

Rae

RaeW - thanks for your good wishes.  I feel a little better having read the later comments about the hotel being full for a race and of course the bank holiday wouldn't help.

Angie - I look forward to meeting you too.  I am travelling to Manchester on Saturday and staying at the Airport Inn

Many thanks for your good wishes!  

Hi Kezzer,

Looking forward to meeting you in Burma next Feb - we can swap holiday tales!

Cheers,

Bob

Good to get a point of view from the Gatwick contingent.  I think that your group in particular was treated disgracefully on your original arrival at the Albatros, and it's good to get the full details of that on here. 

It would have helped I think if there had been a local rep at the airport to help Sandra our T.M as she couldn't be in two places at once.