We travelled around Croatia for 10 days in September and stayed in 4 hotels - and I'd say this was the second best!

Firstly, the location is very uninspiring - there is not really anywhere to walk to aside from clamboring over the cliffs - a car is essential. Having said that, there are some lovely secluded coves within a 10 minute drive...

As others have commented, it is slightly disconcerting that the reception desk is in the restaurant. The staff are reasonably pleasant, but not massively helpful... The service is, at best, grudging.

The pool area is pleasant and clean, but not special enough to use unless the weather is terrible - and the "wellness" spa and gym is very small and had no sign of usage or of therapists while we were there.

We had a "superior" room with a nice wooden floor, kingsize bed and nice flat TV... The bathroom was very small and not great, and was definitely lacking in fluffy towels.... but it was generally pleasant enough.

The restaurant is cliched and completely overdone - the flowers match the waiters' ties which match the maitre d'hotel's belt! The menu is written in an irritatingly pretentious style "Scampi in Snow" and "Summer Symphony" are two of the gems on offer - with no description of what they are! The food was OK - but much less good than in several places in Rovinji and Optajia.

To be honest, it was pleasant enough - but not amazing. My final word of warning would be that the bill is "padded" with a check in charge, trhe daily tourist rate and a mini bar to rival the Ritz - £3 for a soft drink. We were charged more that the rate we were quoted on the phone (we booked at the last minute) and the hotel has its "own" exchange rate!

I had an OK time - but I am not sure why the other reviews are so gushing!

I was one part of 2 couples that had the good fortune to stay for 5 nights at this very trendy restaurant/hotel outside of Pula at the end of June. It is a restaurant first, but the hotel guests are treated very well indeed. Tthe owners and staff that made our experience exceptional (that word also applies to the food) bygoing out of their way to make our stay one of the highlights of our 16 day Croatia adventure.

Be sure to ask for the rooms with balconies overlooking the water and the neighborhood beach. The rooms are designer chic, and with the
promise of larger bathrooms, will be very comfortable. The food is exceptional (even more so if you like truffles), and two of the 3 dinners we had there were the best we had in Croatia. The third, a 12
course "digustation", was literally too exotic (but at the same time,
we took pictures of evey course, the presentions were that striking).
Breakfast is an excellant buffet with extras on request..Sandra and Sonia, the very hands on sister owners, made our stay a delight making whatever arrangements necessary, and it is a real testament to them that their staff consider themselves a family. If we had to do it over again the only change would be to have a car for day trips.

A great place to stay and visit.

My wife and I stayed for a couple of nights at Valsabbion, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is basically a restaurant with rooms, rather than a full service hotel. We had one of the classic rooms, which is at the back of the hotel with no view, although it has a balcony. The rooms at the front all had balconies overlooking the sea and would be worth trying to get. The room was perfectly ok, with nice design touches. The hotel had a very relaxed atmosphere, the main hub being the restaurant itself, billed as one of the best in Croatia. Although it's quite pricey the restaurant was excellent. We ate in a tented pavillion on the grass on top of the small cliff above the beach, service excellent and food beautifully presented. The hotel has a few nice seating areas downstairs (but not many) and a small pool on the top floor, which we didn't use. Breakfast was well worth the money, lots of delightful treats rather than a classic buffet. The hotel is a few miles outside of Pula in a small bay with quite a lot of what look like holiday homes and a couple of other restaurants. Lots of people were swimming and sunbathing, although the beach is not sandy, and, although the area is quiet, it's not outstandingly beautiful. Overall, a great place to stay.

Spent our last night in Croatia here. It is just about the cheapest amongst the 'comfy nights in Croatia' options like the Milan, brioni, punta verudela, etc (coz we went to each one to ask!!) and i guess maybe that's why it gets the top spot in this list though when we went to the Milan on the first night for dinner, the place looked divine (but pricier) -albeit being pretty far out.

ALTHOUGH
- the check in desk is in the restaurant which is a little awkward.
- it was the waitress on duty who was also the check-in lady and she was not the warmest welcome you would want in a foreign place
- the heater was not working but luckily the air-conditioners in the room could go up to 30 degrees celcius
- there was NO hot water in our rooms so showers were COLD
- they have an indoor pool. asked if i can use it, said yes, but when i went to get the keys, 'SAID NO' and i was all changed and ready. excuse me?
- didn't matter they quoted you in Euros on the website, you have to pay in Kunas based on THEIR exchange rate

All in all, i guess for want for a better place or something......
email me if u have any questions about istria