Pical Resort , Valamar Collection in Porec

We had a chance to see a hotel room, which I personaly wouldn't like to sleep in ( we fortunatelly stayed in an another hotel). You could feel the atmosfere of socializm, the rooms were dated as well as the lobby and the restaurant. The location of the hotel is good, near the beach and about an 1 km from the city center. The hotel staff seemed to be helpful and kind.

For a holiday on a budget it's fine. It has all the facilities you require from a hotel - pool, dining, bar, small shop, cafe and it's very close to the sea where there are other facilites such as trattoria, sun bed hire and a wide range of watersports.
We chose the half board option, so breakfast and dinner in a buffet style. Again this was fine but got a bit samey after a week, but there are many restaurants close by and in Poreč for variety. It was good to have the option of a meal in the hotel every day if we wanted it. Evening drinks were extra, including water, but were fairly priced. Everything seemed to be reasonably priced, even the more expensive tours and water sports.
There are many hotels in the area, most more modern than the Pical (pronounced Pee-sal in Croatian) so when compared against them the appearance of the Pical is dissaponting. It's a concrete tower that looks like it was built in the 80s to make Eastern-bloc tourists feel at home. It's now very tired and shabby round the edges. Areas including the lobby are dark and the long corridor to the pool is dismal.
The rooms are very basic, but clean and have most of what you need, although air-con and a fridge would have been great - but not at this price point.
We had a sea view from our room, which was great, especially watching the thunderstorms over the sea on a couple of evenings.
The staff were all friendly, as were all the Croatians we met. The area is popular with Croatian, Serbian, Italian, German and to a lesser extent English speaking tourists. Most of the people we met could converse in all these languages and getting what you want was not a problem. The locals default position is they assume you are German due to the number of German tourists that visit.

All in all we enjoyed our stay. The Pical had everything you actually need from a hotel so if you're wanting to save some money to spend on other parts of your holday, and you're not too put off by the appearance of your hotel then the Pical is for you. If you're expecting a well presented boutique hotel then this isn't for you. Try the Valamar Zagreb or Valamar Isabella instead