The food in the restaurant which was buffet style was not the worst I have had and some of the food was cooked in batches as required.  What did grate was the canteen feel of all eating together in a huge cavernous restaurant - there was also (according to our TM, Steve) a requirement for us to eat at 6.30pm if we wanted to keep 'our' tables.  I am not sure why this was such an issue and it impacted on our trip to Kotor.  By the time we arrived in Kotor and had the escorted visit we had just over an hour to get some lunch and have some 'free' time.  A request to delay our departure by half an hour to give us longer was met with the response that we had to be back to eat at 6.30 but the group were not consulted as to whether they were happy with this.  

The itinerary for the holiday was fairly well balanced although I would agree that the salt pans could be missed out - in fact most of us did miss them as that was the only morning it rained very heavily as we arrived and the guide came on the coach to give us the talk instead.  Mostar was brilliant - some information in the form of a diagram as to why we had to go through 3 border checks would have helped as even our TM wasn't sure.  Yes it was a long day and a rush to change for the meal but we all made it and were lucky enough to see a fireworks display as we were leaving the restaurant.  The Karaka boat was a hit with everyone - if you are unsure about sailing it is very gentle.  On the free day I went across to the island of Lokrum which was fascinating and well worth a visit.  The water taxi cost 100 kuna from outside the hotel and it is 60 kuna to enter the island where there are peacocks and a botanical garden, a 'Dead Sea' to swim in and lots of little coves to sunbathe or swim.

On balance a great holiday, again we were a large group of 40 who all got on well.  Thanks to everyone for their laughter and company.  I would happily go back to Cavtat on my own but not to the Hotel Albatros.  I would love to see more of Bosnia and Montenegro - how about it JY?.

Thank you for your review. I am sad to see that you were disappointed with the Hotel Albatros, so I have shared this with the Holiday Creator and the overseas team here at JYHQ in hope we can improve this for future trips.

Kindest regards,

Monty

Sorry to hear that you too experienced some difficulties at Hotel Albatross. The 6.30pm dinner time was even earlier than ours at 7pm!! Our Tour Manager told us the fixed meal time was to ensure all guests could be seated as there are often more guests than seats in dining room!!! The attitude of staff does not seem to have improved since our stay and customer service is something which JY need to review.

Lesley

Ann

I'm pleased to read that your rooms were in good order at least! 

The attitude of the staff at the Hotel needs addressing at source by J.Y, as does this ridiculous issue of HAVING to be in the dining room at a set time.  Even 7pm on the earlier departure was restricting, and having to miss out on time on the excursions must have been so annoying. 

I'm glad you got across to Lokrum Jonah.  I would have loved to have done it, but wanted the only 2 decent days we had weather wise in Cavtat.

And I agree re Montenegro.  PLEASE J.Y!!

Great to hear your view on the holiday. I really loved this holiday and its a shame the hotel lets it down.

When we were there, we had to eat at 7pm which luckily was a bit later. We were also lucky that because of the issues we had on the first day with hanging around the hotel and the negotiation skills of one member of our group, when we returned to the Albatros we were all inclusive!! So we didn't have the issue with the drinks.

I am not sure the Albatros really wants the business that JY has to offer - which is a shame as the location is stunning.

For anyone else thinking of going on this holiday, don't let the hotel's failures put you off - this is fabulous holiday and well worth going on.

It's such a shame this holiday is being spoiled by rude hotel staff. I thought JY visited all hotels prior to introducing a new tour? I think JY staff should do the tour as 'mystery shoppers', whereby the hotel staff think they are normal guests, and note how they are treated, before sending us there.

The first hotel we had to stay in on our tour (1st May) was lovely (staff/room/food), but not near anywhere, and Cavtat is beautiful. We need a hotel like the first one, but in/near Cavtat. There's got to be one I'm sure.

Regards

Caroline

It boils down to this in my humble opinion.  The hotel is in a stunning location, the rooms themselves although they need good refurbishment are okay, but the hotel itself is trying to cater for too many people in a too small area, a too small lounge and dining room area that needs a big overhaul, a pool bar that shouldn't be serving only all inclusive customers, and a main bar area that should be open longer hours, and have more staff on to cope.  The hotel needs to consider, again in my humble opinion, whether it becomes totally all inclusive, or should not be treating half board customers as second class citizens, get cash tills into its' pool area bar, and train staff to use them. 

The itinerary for the holiday itself is fine, although I agree, the salt pans are not necessary, but it would be a shame for Ston to be dropped altogether.  Mostar does need to be dropped from the last day, and moved to a day mid week because of the long travelling, and the rushing around to get to the meal in Dubrovnik. 

A lovely holiday in a stunning location.  I would love to go back to do a bit more independent travelling, and I totally hope that everyone who is going this year enjoys themselves.  😛

the standards that JY advertises.   It does seem that more than one tour has had its problems. I don't want to eat in a canteen atmosphere or have to cut out parts of an excursion  that I have paid for because of the Hotel's

inflexible rules.  If a member of the group on one of the tours mentioned  was able to negotiate a better arrangement with the Hotel, why didn't the tour rep. do it ?

I hope JY really is doing something about this situation.

Their customer service also needs an overhaul.  When I settled my bar bill and was given the slips back (after paying) I noticed two that weren't mine.  The guy on reception was quite rude and said that the slips were garbage and what was on his screen was correct.  When I pointed out that one of the slips had been signed with a different name and was for a drink that I had never drunk all week he did concede that mistakes happen.  However to obtain a refund I was to present myself after 8 am the next morning with my passport as they needed a copy of it.  I decided that for a refund that equated to £5 they were not having my passport particularly as I had paid by credit card and they had already kept all our passports for 24 hours when we arrived.  Needless to say the hotel did not receive any tips from me.

He also said that he would leave a note so that the reception staff were aware but when I handed my key in nothing was said!!

I agree with the trips, the salt mines could be dropped. Not enough time in Kotor which was a lovely place but 60 minutes to have lunch and look round was not enough. The boat trip was another good day and Mostar was very enjoyable but a long day. Only 45 mins to get ready to go out to Dubrovnik for a not very nice meal. I was in the back corner of a room not big enough for our group and food was almost thrown at us. There was no choice, just steak, which every one on our table agreed was very tough. The only good part of the evening for me was the firework display in the harbour.

I enjoyed my holiday overall and met some very nice people. I would certainly visit this area again but not the hotel. A hotel not offering all inclusive would probably be better. 

Sandra

Just little reassurance for those that are travelling on this trip in the near future...

I have spoken to Alicia, who is one of our Holiday Creators here at Just You, and she has assured me that she has been in contact with our agents overseas to improve the hotel experience. Our contacts in Croatia are great, so we are confident that something will be adapted for our future trips.

We really appreciate all of your feedback - it means we can work on making this a better trip for those departing afterwards.

Kindest regards,

Monty

I would be interested to know if this, and any other new hotel, is visited by JY staff prior to it being used by customers. Like Caroline, I feel this is necessary in order to gauge the customer experience. 

Lesley

I am concerned about the various reports on the hotel that this tour uses. I have only been on one previous Just You Holiday (as I find them expensive) to Tuscany - everything was quite superb - the hotel, trips and Tour Manager. I had looked at the Dubrovnik holiday as being a follow-up, as I have been to both Dubrovnik and Cavtat for an afternoon, whilst on a cruise.

However will the "contacts in Croatia" be able to improve things?  Possibly by tweaking the itinerary but as for the hotel - poor dining facilities, food not great, treated like second class guests and rude staff - and all of this was in the "off-season". I would like to see some reviews from people staying in July / August to see if anything improves.

I was involved in the quality grading of hotels in Scotland for a few years and it was always made clear that groups had to be treated like normal guests - no special dining times, lack of full service etc. Clearly something that the Albatros Hotel is not doing.

Thank You Pat.

JY Alicia is meeting with our agents over in Croatia next week to resolve some of the issues raised. I can confirm that the Holiday Creator of this tour did visit the hotel last year, so it should be up to Just You's standards. Please see below for a response from Hotel Albatros:

"The time schedule was suggested to Steve so that the group could have the best tables in the restaurant where they could enjoy the company of the group, and those tables were provided and kept during the groups stay.

Civitas restaurant, connected to main restaurant is opened from 10:00-23:00 hours, our Snack bar( poolside bar) is opened from 10:30-18:00 hours, and Aperitiv bar is opened from 17:00-24:00 hours."

Julia will keep you updated with any information that Alicia comes back with.

Kindest regards,

Monty

If the eating time was agreed with Steve then he should have taken on board the comments which were made by the group which made it clear particularly on the trip to Kotor that we were not in favour of this timing.  I certainly wouldn't agree that they were the best tables in the restaurant.