We stayed at this hotel in October 2011.A little dated but very clean and the food was very good with a good choice and the people very friendly.A nice location, if a little way out of Porec but there is a land train nearby.Lovely coastline ,although no sandy beaches.Can thoroughly recommend a visit to Rovinj, so nice we stayed for one night at the Hotel Adriatic, located right on the marina.The only down side was booking with Saga, who changed the flight times and airport telling us that Croation Airlines had stopped the flight when in actual fact they do not fly to Pula during October and flew us to Zagreb, some 4 hours transfer, so a tip, DO NOT BOOK SAGA.

I booked a week at the Hotel Pical as a birthday suprise for my wife. We have been to Croatia before, two years ago, but this was south of Dubrovnik at Cavtat, this was also through Thomsons and was the perfect holiday. As in the other reviews it is correct to say that the hotel is in need of a lick of paint and a facelift but this place has so much going for it that you can overlook that. Iv'e got to say that Thomsons have got their act right - from the moment I booked the holiday till the day we came home the attention to service was excellent. I requested a quite room with a sea view on the top floor ( 5th ), the room was clean although not over large,and the view was fantastic. There was a bottle of wine in the room to greet us on arrival. The food at this hotel is exceptional, the quality is first class and theres always a good variety, although don't leave your arrival to the restaurant later than 8.30pm or most will have gone. You can sit anywhere in the restaurant and after a short time you will get to know which waiter/waitress is the best. Be aware that the hotel is favoured by the Germans and some get very enthusiastic when it comes to grabbing a plate full of food!.There is no lift to the restaurant.
I pity the Saga holiday makers as they are all inclusive, this means they have there own small lounge and all inclusive bar, but this doe's not allow them to obtain drinks from the other bars - pool/main bar, also they are segregated to a poky area in the restaurant.
There is evening entertainment, usually in the bar and the content varies per night - a fair mix
The Thomson rep Tanya,available 24/7- well full marks, easily the best rep I have ever come across in my many years of holiday travel, she is a credit to Thomsons, even made the welcome meeting a joy!. Porec is a lovely place for a weeks visit,- the pine trees in front of the hotel with the red squirrels, the little train to the quaint town, the boat trips, the beautiful clear sea,the ice creams.
All in all this was a good choice and you will not be disappointed if you choose this hotel, the area has so much going for it.

Very friendly staff, great food, amazing setting next to the sea in pine woodland and only a 20 minute stroll to the stunning town and harbour of Porec. Our room could have done with some updating and our 1st floor balcony overlooked a flat roof but it was comfortable. There were no tea/coffee facilities in the room which was a shame as the hotel bars were not cheap. We also found that there were many more older people staying here and the evening entertainment reflected that (we are a couple in our 30's). Great for any age if you want a relaxing holiday though. A point to note is that the (amazing) restaurant is only accessed by a flight of stairs so no good if you are less able bodied.

Agree that hotel could do with a lick of paint. We have been spoilt over the years, staying in 5* accommodation, but we had visited 26 years ago, and were, well, hoping that things would be familiar.

I am always impressed with the linguistic skills of our fellow Europeans. Unlike the staff at this hotel, I cannot speak any language other than English, but don't don't have a problem if English if their fourth language. Last time I visited I got by in Russian, but Italian and German are probably the best bet today.

Loved the pool - it makes a change to have a pool you can swim in, rather than float in. At this time of year, it is less busy, so was a pleasure.

The food was better than I expected. I was planning to eat out every night, as I am not a fan of buffet dining in this manner, but there was plenty of choice. We thought it funny, when on the stroke of 9pm (when the restaurant closed), all the food was cleared away. So be warned if you turn up at 8.45pm, make sure you have your main course before 9pm!!

I booked a room overlooking the park, It wasn't the best view, but we didn't spend enough time in our room to worry about that. The benefit was that you do not get the sun in the room in the afternoon and evening - important with no air-con. We left the balcony door open - downside was that I was an insect feast, although my husband escaped unscathed!

Room was a smaller than we were used to and a fridge would have been welcome. But it was clean and quiet - although the maid did seem reluctant to collect empty glasses!

Tanya the Thomson rep was excellent - with many years experience and almost a local. Karl the waiter was also excellent, worked hard, excellent language skills and actually recommended a wine that was decent.

One final note for non-smokers - Croatia is not yet a member of the EU, and you can smoke indoors. There are a lot of smokers.

Make the most of Croatia - it joins the EU in2013.