When I was planning a vacation in September, I almost had a nervous breakdown. Looking for economically acceptable accommodation I thought I found it in Istria, for the first time it was not a four or five star hotel but a studio bungalow, with affordable prices. However, the reviews on ww.tripadvisor.com and Google reviews were disastrous. Therefore, I decide to book another accommodation in another part of Croatia, a small town Petrčane near Zadar a Hotel Pinija.
I hope I don’t have to mention to you that unfortunately or fortunately, this was also a four-star hotel and that it does not belong to the category of affordable hotels. In short, if you are a person with a disability you have to save, (for two to three years :)) or take out a loan, when you want to go on holiday.
Let’s start with the review of the mentioned hotel. Hotel Pinija is 95% adapted for people with disabilities, ie wheelchair users.
After arriving at the hotel I proformed additional confirmation on the spot ( you never have enough security ) on whether they have a customized entrance to the sea: hydraulic lift or concrete ramp for wheelchair users. I was told that they have: concrete ramp, wheelchair for water, and the staff asistance for entering and exiting the water (supported by colleagues from the “sports department of the hotel”).
Also, the hotel’s outdoor pool has a ramp that you can use to enter the pool with a water wheelchair and you’ll be assisted by the above-mentioned support staff.
As a person with a disability and many years of experience, when something sounds too good to be true and the alarm goes off, listen to it!
It is true that the hotel has fully adapted rooms for wheelchair users, as you can see in the attached video, a pool with a ramp, a concrete ramp to enter the sea. But, the ramp is not long enough and at the end of ramp you have a large step that can be overcome with assistance of two people and wheelchair for the water ( they have to lift wheelchair at the end). Furthermore, the access paths leading to the ramp for entering the sea need to be concreted so that you do not “slide” in the gravel. The ramp itself needs to be extended so that there are no steps at the end.
The assistance staff to enter the water, which they said they have, is not available after September 5. However, I would like to praise the staff, after my intervention and a little “pushing” they still provided a person who would help my personal assistant, so to speak, “throw me into the sea”, so we avoided disaster.
However, I recommend all people with disabilities if they go to the this hotel in September to emphasize several times that they need asistance and support to enter the water whether it is the beach or pool.
Now you will surely wonder why go to sea outside the “main” season? The answer is because the average person with a disabilities with an average income can hardly pay for accommodation for himself and his personal asistant in the middle of the season!
Summary: The hotel has fully adapted rooms, a swimming pool with an entrance ramp. But, it’s necessary to provide support staff when entering the pool, the hotel has wheelchair for water. The ramp on the beach for entering the sea exists, but it is not the most adequate, ie it is not long enough, so in the end it has a large step. The path leading to the entrance to the sea is not paved and it’s covered with gravel.
As I have already said, the hotel is 95% adapted, only minor improvements are needed for person with disabilities to have a stress-free holiday in this hotel. Praise for the professionalism and hospitality of hotel and the animation program staff.
All in all you will not regret if you choose this hotel.
My recommendation to the management of the Pinija Hotel it’s to make these small repairs, so that hotel is 100% adapted for their guests with disabilities. An that will to insure a stress-free holiday for guests with disabilities.
Below you can see video of the hotel and it’s surroundings.
Happy travels to all travelers with disabilities !!!