Esplanade Zagreb Hotel

My second stay after 25 years. Stylish Grand Dame Hotel. Still Nr. 1 in Town. Friendly service at valet, reception and concierge. Not so friendly at the bistro. Unfortunately there was no more indoor smoking area. Good price-benefit-ratio.

In its day it would have been a beautiful hotel, but now is just holding out for another refurbishment. The service quality is still there, good but not great, but in terms of style, decor, comfort and technology it is lacking being in a past era.

We booked this as it looked like a classic old school 5* hotel! It did everything we wanted for our two night stay. We return in a week for one night and I wouldn’t dream of even looking at alternatives. Consider their loyalty scheme and booking direct. We got a decent and surprisingly good deal for our suite…

This is one of Europe’s great hotel. Unfortunately still living vying on past glory rather than present. Good location, and while clean and comfortable in need of refreshment to be brought into the current century, particularly with technology. Old school service, and a bit stuffy, staff engagement was mixed.

Esplanade does have a lot of things going for it, such as a great location and a beautiful building, but it needs to get the basics right. A five star hotel should be able to have cleaning staff who can do something as simple as take away dirty cups and glasses, and replace them. However, on a five day stay, they never managed it once. Every day I had to ask them to come back. On the last night I asked them to do it as we were going out, but five hours later we still had a room full of dirty cups and glasses, and no replacement. Also, don't go here if having a good gym is important to you. Not only was it fairly unimpressive, it shares a space with the spa, and there are no doors in between. Which means that it's swelteringly hot. Great if you're having a facial. Not so great if you want to work out. In addition, for some inexplicable reason, much of the portable equipment (mats and balls etc) are locked away in the staff room. This was not a problem on Monday, when there were staff to unlock it, but on Sunday there was no one in, so you had to make do without. Overall, I wouldn't go again.