Idassa Atrium in Zadar

Run down area in which we felt unsafe due to the location of the Annex of the hotel being down a dark graffitied alley with litter and broken glass. (See photos) The hotel itself is not a hotel just a building with bedrooms and the ones we had been given smelt of cigarette smoke. We travel all around the world and this was the worst place we have stayed in due to the unsafe location and rude receptionist. Also, the showers are in the bedroom and are fine for a couple but not friends travelling as you can see the person showering when you sit on the bed, and there is nowhere else to sit. (See photo). Plus there is only enough warm water for one person to shower even if you are quick. Do not waste your money on a sea view as there isn’t one just buildings and trees (see photo). If you manage to get to sleep once the nightclubs finish at 2am then the children in the school opposite will wake you at 8am, especially as the cleaning staff leave the building door open onto the street, even when they are nowhere to be seen. Making it an unsafe building during the day as well as the night.

Would not recommend. If you are looking to stay at a semi-cheap place, in the old town of Zadar, that isn’t a hostel, and you don’t care about quality, this Idassa Palace may be for you. If you don’t care about making your own bed and a little mold on the air conditioners, then stay here - this is why I am giving them two stars, because while it may have been one star for me, I think if you know what you are paying for, there may be more value. I didn’t know.

I outline this later, but one of the most enjoyable things about staying in a hotel is getting to your room to a freshly made bed, but here you have to put the sheets on yourself, which I don’t understand.

I don’t think we realized the rooms were as small as they were. And there were many things that didn’t help us feel comfortable in our room:

1. The room was hot, and you have to put your one and only copy of your key in for the electricity to work. Now I’m all for environmental stewardship, however there’s a way to do that so your not returning to a hot room after a day of touring Zadar. You only get one key so you have to take the key out if you leave your room. Well this shuts of the air conditioning. Our room was 26 degrees Celsius every time we came in.

2. Speaking of the air conditioners, ours wouldn’t work, despite us lowering the temperature, it didn’t get under 24 degrees. Additionally the air conditioners were moldy (see my pictures).

3. I said this earlier, but sheets should be on the bed. One of the most enjoyable things about staying in a hotel is getting to your room to a freshly made bed, but here you have to put the sheets on yourself, which I don’t understand. This is so easy to do and there is no reason not to do it. We didn’t stay for more than a night, but I saw in other reviews that the cleaning staff just gives you new sheets and doesn’t do anything. I cannot confirm but can totally imagine this is correct.

4. I could see why people would say it is noisy. We stayed in the annex apartments which were a little quieter, although we got some of the noise from the people going out for the night.

5. The place did look a little run down. There was a broken glass window to the door of the annex rooms. It looked unprofessional.

Also be warned if you are driver, there is no parking - which we knew - but you will probably have to park just outside of the old city which you can get an all day pass for not that expensive, if you can find a spot.

Overall, I probably wouldn’t stay again, unless I was penny pinching. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of staff members to help you if you do need something as well.