Avala Resort & Villas in Budva

Whilst the room and view were very good, the truth is that’s only one small part of being welcoming or hospitable. When I called to reception to ask how the TV in the room worked the response was ‘ why, do you not have a tv at home ?’ How rude. Also the ‘ technician ‘ who was being sent to the room never arrived. The dinner was a dried up buffet, leftovers from lunch. We chose not to eat there again despite it being included in our price. The staff most unwelcoming and grumpy looking. No tea and coffee facilities in the room. No iron and when asked about it was told to use their laundry service. The laundry service was about €8 to iron one item and they required it before 7am in order to have it back by 9pm that day ?! So if you are travelling and need to iron something to go out to dinner that evening it’s simply not possible in this 4 star hotel. We tried not to let the rude staff ruin our whole trip but thank goodness we were only booked for two nights. The rest of Montenegro and everywhere we stayed was just wonderful but NOT the Avala in Budva.

I rarely write a negative review for any hotel, as I understand how challenging it is to satisfy guests in this industry. However, this property made little to no effort to deliver even basic hospitality.
From the moment we checked in, the experience went wrong. Our room keys were mixed up, our reservation was entered for one night instead of two, and most of the staff we encountered were dismissive and rude. There was one front desk associate who was genuinely kind and helpful, but the rest of the team set an unwelcoming tone that carried throughout our stay.
When I addressed the poor service, I was told I should “understand” because the team had experienced a long season. That response is unacceptable. Every guest deserves to be treated with the same care and respect, whether they arrive on opening day or at the end of the season.

The situation was made worse when staff entered our rooms despite “Do Not Disturb” signs being displayed. This is an inexcusable breach of privacy and completely unacceptable.

It’s clear that the issue lies in management rather than the individual front desk staff. We observed a lack of leadership, accountability, and training. The team appeared unsupported, which directly affects the guest experience.

The rooms themselves were mediocre—something that could have been overlooked had the service been attentive and professional. Unfortunately, it was not.
Lastly, I urge future guests to review their folios carefully. We encountered billing inaccuracies and found the handling of charges to be misleading at best.

In short, this hotel is poorly managed, lacks basic guest service standards, and shows little concern for feedback or improvement. I truly regret staying here. Positives are the pool and the location but that is it!

The only saving grace of this hotel is the location. The breakfast was good. That’s about it.

The staff alternated between barely helpful to downright rude. The only time anyone was nice or even pleasant was during check out. The hotel is sterile of any character, design story, or charm. There is no iron or steamer available - only an ironing service. I was there for a wedding and urgently needed some ironing done. I had to call them 3 times and wait 2 hours to get this “service done” for 20€ and it wasn’t even well done. Our room was decent but multiple friends had issues with their shower flooding and the staff didn’t care or bother to help. Elevators were out of service, the hotel is a maze of hallways and stairs. For the amount of money paid I was shocked at the state of the hotel and service. Go somewhere else if you’re going to stay in Budva.

We wanted to leave early because the flight was cancelled, but we were not given a refund.