I have two bookings for our two nights in Rovinj end of September. Island Hotel Katarina which is a "Rickommendation" or a cool airbnb with a perfect 5.0 rating in old town (nearby Rovinj walking tours). I'm leaning toward the airbnb over the hotel and just fishing for a little forum feedback if anyone has any to offer. Thank you.
Andy Traisman
Posted by
Ithaca, NY, USA
740 posts
Hi Andy — we were on the RS Eastern Europe trip in 2018 and stayed at island hotel katarina. We also had a group dinner one night in Rovinj and spent a free morning in the town as well. We were there in June 2018.
Things may have changed a lot since 2018, but back then the island hotel had a completely different vibe than Rovinj. Our guide explained to us that in July and August the Island Hotel was a popular spot for families taking vacations—all or most of the rooms are set up with 2 bedrooms, one with bunk beds. There are a lot of activities which would be fun for families offered at the hotel. They have a huge dining room, which when we were there was all buffet style. I think the rate was all inclusive— we had an excellent breakfast and a mediocre dinner there. There’s a very nice large outdoor pool, and a beach. You can purchase food and drinks (including alcohol) from a small restaurant on the beach. It’s a lovely place to relax. We spent some time in the pool and on the beach, and having just done some intense city touring (Vienna, Prague, Krakow, Budapest) we appreciated the down time. There was nothing especially Croatian about the experience.
Rovinj, on the other hand, felt like an old European city. The one meal we had there was excellent. There are windy hilly streets and a market building (they must get a lot of German tourists because the merchants all greeted us in German initially). I didn’t spend enough time there to know much about what there is to do and see. But the little time I spent there felt very different from my time on the island.
Posted by
Seattle WA
31 posts
Hi Andy. I agree with Ruth. 2 totally different feels from the town to the Island. I too was on the RS Eastern Europe tour and stayed on the island. It was so peaceful, clean and pretty with great views of the town across the water BUT the town has a very cool feel and vibe with great restaurants and streets to walk and explore so it depends on what you are looking for. The town feels old Europe and has lots of charm. The boat between the island and town is nice and as I recall often. I stayed late in town the night of our group dinner and was still able to catch a boat back. If I go to Rovinj again i will probably stay in town.
Posted by
Utah via SF Bay Area
363 posts
We were just there. We stayed at the hotel on the RS tour. It was wonderful.
We’ve stayed at Airbnb’s and I’ll be biased. We won’t use vacation rental homes again unless we are with the fam. With a nice hotel, I know that there is a high standard of cleanliness, decent linen and if something isn’t working, it gets fixed right away.
There are good areas of Rovinj and not so good areas.