Apartment Grzin

Дуже привітні господарі, дуже чисто, гарний вид на море, у кожній кімнаті є кондиціонер і балкон з видом на море, недалеко великий магазин, піша доступність до кількох пляжів на будь-який смак.

Overall the apartment was really good. It was nice and clean, the rooms (3) were big enough and every room had an air conditioner. It also had a kitchen with modern equipments. Both of the rooms in the direction of the sea had a little balcony, big enough for some chairs and a table. The apartment had both well maintained furnitures from the socialism and new ones. For example the kitchen had only new furnitures and the beds in the rooms were also new and comfortable enough. The view was amazing, behind the village you can see parts of the sea and in the other direction, the mountains. The beach is in 500-700m but the apartmant is up on the hill so we rather went down by car. From the streets next to the apartment there is a breathtaking view to Rijeka and to the sea so one night we just went there to sit on the stairs and talk. I believe it is located at a good place. Opatija is 10 minutes, Rijeka is 30 minutes away. We also visited Pula and Rovinj within a 1.5 hour drive, but Triest and Krk is also within 1.5 hours. The family was also really nice. There is a Plodine store about 3 minutes away by car, with a large selection of groceries.

I think one of the negativity was that the apartment is on the 1st floor and the grandmother lives on the ground floor so when you want to go up, you must go inside the grandmother's flat wich is not a big problem and also a common thing in Croatia, but at night you should be careful not to wake her up. An other negativity is that the apartment is on the hill so it can be tiring to go up from the beach.

The apartment had everything it needed and more besides. It's definitely a place people live in, not just something made up just for the tourist season and called an "apartment" for sham. The air-conditioning worked, the beds were more comfortable then in any place I ever lived in and the place itself was spotless. The hostess was kind and helpful. The location is perfect - just high enough not to be tedious for my kids (50m above sea level) and close enough to coves and beaches (multiple within 1km incl. Lovran's city beach) and with a safe-to-walk path to the sea-side (not along the street). The only major supermarket within 15 km radius is on that very path. We left the car as it is for most of the stay, taking it out only for major trips. Ika itself is rather rural, far from annoying buzz of Ičići or Lovran. Close enough to the hiking trails up the Vojak range for my taste.

There is no space outside to throw the kids out to. It was not advertised and we did not expect it, but it would have made the kids less annoying to me (and possibly - I have no evidence of that - to my host, as the apartment is an upper floor of a family house).

Hosts We arrived late in the evening, but the hostess still greeted us with much enthusiasm. The hosts are a family that consists of a woman and her two sons. They are very helpful, but not all of them speak English. Accommodation We had the upper floor, containing a stair, a hall, 3 bedrooms (each with their own balcony), a kitchen and a bathroom all to ourselves (7 pers). The bedrooms are spacious, have decent beds and the balconies are placed on the sunny side with a great view :-) (which is pleasant for the days when we wanted to stay home and still have some sun). The kitchen has most of the necessary appliances and is a bit on the small side when everybody was in there on the same time. A nice feature is that the accommodation also does exchange money at a better rate than the money exchanging offices. Location The accommodation is up in the hills/mountain. By car you will have to drive some steep and narrow streets to get to the place. The accommodation had much space for two big cars (even more). The location is a great place as a home base to do some further exploring of Istria. Within 5 minutes (by car) you can reach a big supermarket (Plodine, down the hill), most beaches are a 5-20 minute drive. Some nice other cities of Istria are easily reachable from this location within a 35 min. to 1,5 hour drive (Rabac, Pula, Porec, Rovinj, etc). And in case you want to check out the Plitvice lakes it will be an 2,5 hour drive.

The place was hard to find in the dark on arrival. By car you will have to drive some steep and narrow streets to get to the place and even the navigation is sometimes confused. The rooms and the furniture were a bit old fashioned and we were afraid that sometimes things might break.