DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Zagreb {HRV}
 

We checked in here earlier today for a two-night stay. It is a new property and so far we are tremendously impressed.

We arrived in Zagreb by train yesterday and spent our first night at the Westin, an excellent property itself where we were treated very well.

The welcome provided by DT employees was almost overwhelming. Along with the usual free Internet and breakfast vouchers, we had delivered to our room a note of welcome from one of the managers and a split of white wine, along with fruit, water, and beautifully presented pastries. We feel special. :)

The property is readily accessible from the main train station by taking the Number Two tram, possibly up to a 8 to 10-minute ride.

While we weren't upgraded to a suite, our "King Deluxe" room is large with a sofa at the foot of the bed that almost functions as a room divider and faces on a separate TV and office area. The room has floor to ceiling windows. One window opens a few inches, allowing us some fresh air and the chance to cool off the room for sleep.

There is a desk chair and two modern upholstered chairs that provide more seating than we need. The bathroom includes a tub and a separate shower. Everything is modern and sleek and environmentally conscious in an almost Scandinavian style.

After slogging around for awhile in the rain today, and visiting the very interesting archaeological museum, we plan to stay in tonight and try out the hotel's OXBO Urban Bar & Grill, which has gotten some good initial reviews.

So far this property is a definite ^ for us.

Edited to add: As we posted in #4 here, we enjoyed our dinner in the hotel restaurant.

On our second night, after a little advance research, we walked out the front door and rode the escalator down to a passageway that connects the hotel to the building next door. We rode the escalators up to the top floor to eat at the new branch of a downtown favorite, Sofra Bosnian Restaurant, a joint that receives very good reviews on a number of sites. This being the weekend, a six-member "gypsy" ensemble was entertaining, and we left a couple of hours later, stuffed with Buredziki and Burek and Klepe, washed down with Sarajevska Pivara and the house red wine, all for about $35-40.

For us it was a new dining experience, too rich with sour cream to eat every night, but wonderful for a splurge.

Their menu is lengthy and we just scratched the surface of a lot of new tastes and textures. If we were staying for another night, this is a restaurant to which we would definitely return, something we seldom consider. ^

Cool, I want to stay here!

Thanks for the review--I was curious about this property, as we're staying there in September for a couple of nights, along with of course a trip down to the Hilton Dubrovnik.

We enjoyed our dinner in the hotel's OXBO Urban Bar & Grill. I would estimate it's quite expensive by local standards. It certainly cost us well over a hundred dollars for a very good meal, about twice what we paid the previous night for a very good meal in a well-reviewed Italian restaurant, Carpaccio.

Still, it was rainy and miserable (what an extended winter in Europe compared to the heat wave we experienced in early March 2012!) and a good night to dine in so we're glad we tried it.

The restaurant's breakfast buffet is excellent. It's not overwhelmingly large but it includes an omlette station (or cooked to order however you want), and the grilled vegetables that were also part of the Westin Zagreb's breakfast. There were also several different cheeses, which made it possible to sample some of the local varieties. The service was attentive and friendly, as we've gotten quite used to here.

We'll have to try to make it to the fitness center and pool later to work off at least some of breakfast.

Thank you for your review, Fredd. I am happy that there is an addition to Hilton. Unfortunately the once planned Hilton opening in Split never happended. I personally find it a little bit 'out of the way' being located in the new part of Zagreb south of the train station. Given your rating it shows to prove as a viable alternative for accommodation.
In Zagreb I stayed at the Sheraton some years ago which was also very good. In Dubrovnik I stayed at the Hilton as Gold - I liked it a lot.

Stayed here for one night because I couldn't get a flight from Dubrovnik. Got an upgrade to an exec room which was the largest I have had in any Hilton anywhere by a distance - three chaise long use, a large round table and still loads of floor space. Bathroom had a separate walk in shower that was at least four times the size of a standard shower stall.

Really good welcome at reception and very helpful staff. Disagree with the comment about the OXBO being expensive - we were there a Tuesday night and on the waiters recommendation had the burger offer, 50 Krun for a nice home made burger, good wedges and coleslaw plus a beer. That is about £5, or roughly the same as the room service tray charge I am used to in London. We stayed on points plus cash which was 15K plus about £35 - excellent value (cat 4 I think) compared to the Dubrovnik (which was also impressive although we didn't spend much time in it as the old town is so nice).

Would highly recommend for a long weekend.

My wife and I had two nights here recently, bookending a trip to Croatia.

I think it was quite a nice property, and a good value for the price we paid.

Both rooms were upgraded, though the latter upgrade was to a much larger room (I don't know what I'd call it--maybe a junior suite based on various juniors I've stayed in previously). The first night was points + $$; the second paid (I think at the AAA rate). Both were standard king bookings.

Shortly after check-in, the staff brought up a bottle of wine (a 375 of a Croatian white), a tray of dried fruit and chocolate-covered fruits, and some fresh fruit, plus a bottle of cold water.

We ate in the restaurant the first night as we were exhausted and didn't feel like trekking out. OXBO wasn't all that pricey IMHO; I was expecting things to cost 50% more than they did. We both had beers; my wife had a white truffle and tomato soup and a truffle pasta dish, while I had a plate of carpaccio with white truffle shavings and a grilled bass. The food was quite decent.

For the second night, we arranged through the hotel to have a taxi meet us at the airport for pickup (flying back from DBV), which at 200 kuna was a decent deal. We also caught a cab into the city the next morning--a walkable distance, I suppose, but the cab was about 70 kuna and IMHO worth it over the walk. The hotel also arranged for a cab back to the airport, which they billed again to the room (200 kuna); this made things rather convenient.

Overall, I felt like they did really value me as a Diamond and went out of their way to make it a pleasant stay. Our waitress at the restaurant as well as the clerk at the counter both made restaurant and hotel recommendations for the remainder of our trip and provided much useful info.

One thing they could use is an executive lounge (yeah, I know, they're a DT), and a later closing for the restaurant. It closes right at 11pm, and as they use a big wood-fired grill for most of the cooking, once it's shut down, that's it. Due to a delay getting our bags the second night at the airport, we got to check-in right at 11pm and inquired about room service--unfortunately, the kitchen was shut down and nothing from the menu was available. However, the wait staff put together a couple of nice (large) sandwiches for us at a decent price (40 kuna IIRC for the two of them).

I stayed there as a Diamond a few weeks ago too, and had a similaly good experience. Friendly welcome, upgrade to a large corner room / suite thingy, half a bottle of wine and a tray of snacks etc. All good!

The restaurant is currently doing 50% off steaks on a Friday night, which turned it from good value into amazing value! I think they have a few other offers going too.

From the airport, I took the bus, which was kr 30. The bus station is within sight of the hotel, and it's then either a 5-10 minute walk or 2 stops on the #2 tram. The #2 tram has a stop basically outside the hotel which takes you to the city centre, and there's a couple of other lines there too if you want to go somewhere else (eg the Modern Art Museum). The tram is cheap for a single journey, or it can be worth buying a Zagreb Card which covers 3 days worth of all buses and trams, along with 25-50% discounts at almost all of the main museums and galleries. IIRC that was only kr 90 for the 3 day version, and I fairly easily saved money with it.

Oh, and if you're in the hotel around sunset, go for a swim (or failing that the gym). You get stunning views from the 10th floor as the sun goes down behind the mountains to the west of the city!

Zagreb Doubletree Pictorial Review (part 1 due to image limitations)

What an excellent city and hotel, highly recommended to anyone considering visiting or in the area. ^

Zagreb is very inexpensive compared to many other cities that have joined the EU and we were very pleased to find that many things were shockingly cheap here. Coffee at one of the downtown prime outdoor seating areas is only just over £ 1 when converted and a quick baguette with turkey and cheese is also only about £ 1.4 Taxi's do vary considerably but are still inexpensive. The taxi from the airport was a bit of a rip off at £ 35 to get to the hotel but we did get caught in some rush hour traffic so I maybe I am being unfair. The taxi the hotel arranged for us to get back on a quiet Sunday morning was only £ 13 by contrast and as others have said, getting about is cheap and easy (and safe as all the taxis are new and in good condition).

We had a great time and the Croatian people, food and city are brilliant.

So, on to the Doubletree that was our place of residence for this trip:

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King Bed DT Zagreb by BA_pics, on Flickr

(King bed and here, King means King…240 cm wide at least I think so room for you and three friends)

I had booked a suite here (which aren't really as there is no separate room or door to close one area off from the bedroom, however, it was a lovely big corner room with excellent views and floor to ceiling windows for a reasonable price (around Euro 200 / night). This is the floor plan:

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8th Floor plan by BA_pics, on Flickr

If I was coming back (which we will), I think I would stay at the DT for a night or two to enjoy the lovely quality of the rooms and friendly staff and then spend a night or two in the Regent Esplanade hotel that is just outside the main train station and much closer to the downtown area as it is also very comparable in price and has the old world charm with liberal Art deco interior as well…Anyway, walking around Zagreb was a delight and it is really only about 1 km from the hotel to the main city centre where the people, attractions and such are...

This interesting chap was in the park around a gallery near the city centre:

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Wooden Chap by BA_pics, on Flickr

St. Mark's Church at the top of the city:

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St Marks Church by BA_pics, on Flickr

A typical boulevard here with very wide streets (usually 4 to 6 lanes in total) and massive buildings with courtyards behind. This one is from the gallery near the centre and looking towards the cathedral in the distance that is the city centre:

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Massive wide streets by BA_pics, on Flickr

We had arrived on a BA flight so this is once a day and gets you to the hotel around 13:00 which is really a bit too early to check in, however, we asked kindly and luckily our rooms were ready! I had booked the best room available so wasn't going to be upgraded. My friend is a Silver card holder working up to Gold and wasn't upgraded but he was already in a Queen deluxe room anyway and was put on the 7th floor (and had no upgrade expectations as a Silver anyway).

We dropped our bags in our rooms and went out to explore the city as the weather was excellent and sunny if a bit cool in early Oct.

I was stunned by the quality of the room and hotel and the views from the 8th floor were excellent...

The view into the room once you go round the corner of the entrance to the room:

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View from Entrance by BA_pics, on Flickr

Another one of the views from the bed to both windows:

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Chaise lounge and views by BA_pics, on Flickr

The view to the main window from the entrance:

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Table and Chairs by BA_pics, on Flickr

Upon entering the room, you see this electronic panel. The electronic do not disturb button is something you find in other hotels but is nice to see in a Doubletree. I mention this panel as the keycard is different to most rooms, there must be an RFID transmitter in the hotel cards here as you can't use a standard (other) card to keep the air conditioning on while you are out, etc…I tried this and it didn't work. You need to use their card so get two and then you can leave one in the slot when needed if you are just out to get some ice or at breakfast, etc…

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Hi Tech Electronics by BA_pics, on Flickr

The outside panel looks like this (sorry for the poor picture but the hallways were quite dim and my iPhone wasn't up to the task). The RFID tag in the card triggers the door entry and you only need to press the card up to the panel instead of putting it in a slot.

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Exterior room indicators by BA_pics, on Flickr

A picture of one of the hallways, showing they are a bit dim but wide and modern:

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DT Zagreb hallway by BA_pics, on Flickr

This is also how the elevator works, you need to press the keycard up to the BOTTOM wireless symbol in the panel and then press your floor to go up a floor or between floors. You can go down to the ground floor without the keycard but for everything else you need it. (the panel is irritating as there is a big explanation of the need to use the keycard at the top of the panel which makes you think you have to press the card up there…you've been warned!:

The entrance to 803:

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Entrance 803 by BA_pics, on Flickr

Back inside the room, all of the lights are electronically controlled and can be turned on or off from many locations in the room, you can see one such panel below that is beside the bed:

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bedside controls by BA_pics, on Flickr

Below is how the view back towards the entrance looks (the door ahead is actually an adjoining room), with the entrance around the corner to the right here. There is a full length mirror as you can see just before you enter the room proper and the main wardrobes to the right in this picture:

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Entrance w adjoining room by BA_pics, on Flickr

There is a small side wardrobe immediately to the left once you enter the room which was suitable for putting shoes in or maybe some small items you would want to take with you when leaving the room (only about 30 cm deep but maybe about 40 cm wide and about 6 foot high)

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Small Wardrobe Entrance by BA_pics, on Flickr

DT Zagreb review part 2

Wardrobe:

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Wardrobe safe by BA_pics, on Flickr

The ironing board and iron looked completely new (as did all of the furniture and rooms) even though the hotel has now been open for a year (Nov. 2012 opened apparently):

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Iron and board by BA_pics, on Flickr

There is a provided Ethernet cable in the wardrobe for your computer if you want to use the wired interface (wifi was available and worked fine for me during our several day stay) as well as a hairdryer and the usual laundry bag...

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Ethernet cable hairdryer by BA_pics, on Flickr

A picture of the drawers with soft closing feature (as all drawers and even the loo lids have!)

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drawers in wardrobe by BA_pics, on Flickr

On the bed were two bathrobes and slippers;

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bathrobes and slippers by BA_pics, on Flickr

There were three opening windows in this room, one in the bathroom and one on each side of the room that had the floor to ceiling windows. The windows open outward and push out at the bottom creating an opening about 6 inches wide when fully opened. The room was very, very quiet if you had the window shut even with the 6 lane major road beside the hotel and a tram line as well…couldn't hear a thing from it if you had the window closed.

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3 windows that open by BA_pics, on Flickr

The TV and sideboard on one wall:

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42 TV Music player sideboard by BA_pics, on Flickr

The Minbar in the sideboard under the TV. Well stocked but not free and one of the ones that charges you if you lift anything out of its slot:

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Minibar by BA_pics, on Flickr

The Coffee, Tea and such are in the sideboard under the TV:

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Tea and Coffee service by BA_pics, on Flickr

View from window towards the bathroom:

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Painting and entrance to bath by BA_pics, on Flickr

The bathroom….ah, the bathroom, what a lovely place in this room. Plenty of space and such a massive floor to ceiling window with an opening window as well. You can close the curtain for privacy but I didn't! The bathroom here was bigger than some hotel rooms I have stayed at in Europe so very welcome indeed.

This is the stand alone bath with enough space you can walk around it and the floor to ceiling window to enjoy while soaking in the tub:

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lovely bath and view by BA_pics, on Flickr

The smoked glass door and loo:

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Loo by BA_pics, on Flickr

As others have mentioned, the shower is gigantic and you really could have a party in there. It was at least 1.5 x 1.5 meters and has a nice glass door so you can shower with natural light coming in from the window and see the park and Zagreb views while showering without fear of being seen as the shower is at the back of the room and no one would see you from the street level. There is a rain shower head and a separate hand wand as well, excellent pressure and temperature available. The floor slopes gently down so the water runs off without pooling.

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Rainshower and hand wand by BA_pics, on Flickr

The very long counter with plenty of space to put your things and a lovely big mirror with background light as well as ceiling LED's:

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huge counter space by BA_pics, on Flickr

I liked the fact that two sets of wash amenities were in the room so you had one per person or at least one for the bath and one for the shower area:

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Amenities by BA_pics, on Flickr

In the bathroom, the shaver plug in and TV volume control:

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shaver and radio by BA_pics, on Flickr

DT Zagreb review part 3:

After coming back from our day out walking around I found this pleasant setup in the room as the diamond welcome amenity:

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Diamond Welcome by BA_pics, on Flickr

We decided to try the restaurant out on Friday night as the 50% off offer was still running and we were tired from walking around the city all day. An excellent choice. I am not normally one to eat at the restaurants at Hiltons as I usually find them too expensive and lacking imagination, however, the staff, food and ambience was very good here.

This is a picture of the entrance to the restaurant (to the left is the bar area and the main restaurant is to the right hand side of the photo…the restaurant has a double story ceiling throughout.

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Restaurant interior by BA_pics, on Flickr

Above the main seating area is a design element that I found interesting but didn't turn up so well in the picture here:

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Design in Restaurant by BA_pics, on Flickr

This double story vitrine held champagne on the top and the wines below and was the quasi divider between the bar and restaurant areas:

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Champagne and Wine Vitrine by BA_pics, on Flickr

We decided to try out one of the local wines and the waiter was very helpful and informative about them. This was a lovely medium body local Croatian red that they decanted properly to let it breathe before we enjoyed it and you can also see some of the homemade bread as well (a mixture of plain and bread with olives in it) along with some local olive oil which was very nice!

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Local wine and olive oil bread by BA_pics, on Flickr

It doesn't do it justice but this is a picture of the (200g advertised but much larger in reality) fillet with peppercorn sauce, baked potato (two sides come with the steak free) and grilled veg:

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300g fillet meal for 15 quid by BA_pics, on Flickr

I asked for medium and it was cooked to perfection.

Not specifically related to the DT but at the Sofra restaurant mentioned in an above post, some pics of the meals there: (this restaurant was refreshing as it was almost like a home cooked meal and less polished but very tasty, definitely worth a visit)

The veal escalope with veg and mashed potato (and spicy pepper sauce):

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Sofra Bosnian Veal meal by BA_pics, on Flickr

Less appetising to look at but tasted good nevertheless, some minced meat skewers with pita bread and raw onions:

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Sofra minced meat skewers by BA_pics, on Flickr

I hope these pictures entice you to try this excellent Hilton chain hotel and go to Zagreb as it is truly a gem still, let's see if it remains so after a while in the EU which will inevitably drive prices up. The staff at the hotel and the people in general around Zagreb were always friendly, polite and helpful and spoke a surprising level of English.

Well and truly one to recommend. Everything that has been posted so far on this thread was true and I only hope the pictures I have posted reinforce the positive impressions so far.

I have to say that the Doubletree hotels in Europe are really turning out to be gems in the portfolio and bring some interesting boutique like atmosphere to the chain. ^

Hope this is of use and interest.

Awesome review, thanks for sharing. I'm glad you had a fantastic stay, genial images and info too.

Indeed, a super hotel. It's on our list.

Thanks for reviews, pictures and tips.
It helped me make up my mind.
I will now be going there for 4 nights in April and I am already looking forward to this stay.

Stayed here last week thursday to saturday at the very end of our two week vacation in Croatia (first Dubrovnik for few days then visiting with befriend family in the Croatian core land of Hrvatsko Zagorje northwest of Zagreb). I booked a King Deluxe Room the first night and a King Room the second night to benefit from a considerable difference in prices.

Staff here is absolutely friendly, most of them extremely attentive and very, very welcoming. On arrival I was told that they discussed an upgrade to a corner suite but upgreaded us a King Deluxe Room to save us from possible noise from the night club (?). When inquiring they said there is no Corner Suite available at the moment but the next day we might look into one and then change rooms, if we want to. However, I was reassured, the King Deluxe Room is very nice and still very spacious. And when commenting that I already booked a King Deluxe Room (for the first night) he was somewhat puzzled. I was suprised that my back-to-back bookings have not bee reckognized by the system. The reason was that the payment transaction had not yet been completed.

The front desk agent was right: a spacious and bright room with two windows. And a large bathroom with a bath tub (though on the small side) and a separate walk-in shower.

In the room he contacted me to notify us that water, a small bottle of wine(!), nibbles and some fruits will be delivered to our room. And he inquired whether I would like any news paper at the door knob in the morning. This was a very nice gesture which unfortunately has become rare in other Hilton hotels I stay with.

Breakfast was very nice. A good choice of hot and cold items, nicely presented. Staff again very pleasant!

We bought passes for the public transport. The tram stop 'Olipada' (if I recall correctly) is just to the right when leaving the hotel. Trams towards the city center go to the right, too. Tram no. 2 goes via bus station (autobusni kolodvor), which is only two stops away, all down to the central railway station (glavni kolodvor). There you could walk the central Zagreb square (Trg Ban Jelacica), a pleasant walk, or change to no. 6 or 13 for two more stops. The positive thing is, tram no. 2 has low-floor vehicles. Tram no. 13 has street cars from older days and goes via an alternative route directly that central square.

So, while not staying in the old town itself, the location of this DT is still good. I think you could walk into the city center without problems.

After check out we took tram no. 2, went to the bus station and boarded the airport bus which leaves every 30 minutes to the full hour. It leaves from the airline terminal which is adjacent to the bus station. So do not enter the bus station but go to the right and then into the airline terminal. You will pay 30 kuna to the driver. The journey to the airport was 30 minutes.

I stayed in this hotel in March and was bowled over by how attentive the staff were for a relatively obscure location. I would also thoroughly recommend the hotel without any hesitation.

With reference to the trams in Zagreb - all routes share the same pool of stock, and low-floor and traditional high-floor trams run on all lines. It's probably just coincidence that the ones you took on Line 2 were all low-floor.

As an aside, if you can find one of the older Tatra trams they have a large standing area at the rear with a huge panoramic window. This is a great way to see the city and orientate yourself for very little cost.

Finally, if offered, do take the offer up of the hotel taxi service to the airport. They use a dedicated company and the rate is pre-agreed. I can't remember for the life of me what I was charged (110 kuna comes to mind), but remember it being very reasonable. The taxi arrived bang on time too.