#1son

Slovenia is still a relatively poor place and these Soviet hangovers will still take years to recover from, hotels charge for early check-in in this part of the world and of course have little knowledge or appreciation for loyalty programs

few local people will be hanging at the hotel unless they are "working girls"

no question that the owners, managers and staff could use a visit to the IC HK or Park Lane to understand international guests high expectations

I do not believe the hotel is worth USD 200+ a night for a normal room but RA treatment was quite decent and I think the hotel will likely improve

Chinatrvl

Sheesh, are you serious?

lebowski2222

Slovenia ranks 59 in GDP per capita, its just below Italy and Spain and ranks ahead of places like Poland, Hungary, and Portugal, would all those places be considered poor countries? It also ranks high in Quality of Life. We are spending a week in Slovenia first week of August and will be staying that this hotel our first night and really looking forward to our trip. Don't be surprised if Slovenia experiences are big tourist boom in the next decade.

#1son

EUR 1600 a month is average in Slovenia, please tell me how you will be at 5 star hotels partying on those wages?

meanwhile gasoline is EUR 1.70 a litre

new hotels are definitely being planned now, I was there for a meeting about a future Four Seasons

jaymar01

Frankly, I'm shocked by the comments on this thread. I just spent five days at the IC Ljubjana, and found it to be an excellent hotel

The hotel was packed with Japanese, Italian and German visitors.

My status is only that of a lowly Spire, and I was upgraded to a Suite, and my party was provided with a full complimentary breakfast. The room was very comfortable. It was cleaned daily. Housekeeping came by every evening to see if there was anything they could do for us. Drapes were provided to block out evening light. The hotel spa was excellent, including a wet and dry sauna, whirlpool, and lounges. There's an indoor pool large enough for swimming laps..

Location was excellent. Just a short walk to the old town riverfront or the castle.

I realize there's a big segment of Flyertalkers who demand to be treated like royalty, and whine incessantly about anything that falls below their demanding standards....but these folks just need to keep out of Central and Eastern Europe, because they'll never be satisfied.

This is a very solid hotel.

Chinatrvl

Agreed, absolutely a very solid hotel and how a new IC should be.

yurtripper

Soviet?

1) Yugoslavia was not part of the USSR or Warsaw Pact. It was not even part of COMECON, having only observer status. It was one of the five founder members of the Non-Aligned Treaty Nations.

2) Slovenia, unlike other Balkan countries, was historically in the orbit of the Austro-Hungarian empire, and so had a different character to countries like Serbia and other former Yugo countries. In that sense it is not really 'Balkan' in the way that its neighbours are.

3) During the Yugoslavian break-up it was the one which separated first and most easily (the 'ten days war'). Milosevic cared so little about it that he made no attempt at a full scale invasion - because (Unlike Croatia and Bosnia) there were so few Serbs living there.

4) Of all the EU8 former communist countries that joined in 2004, it has the highest standard of living and one which is comparable to Western countries.

5) It is the ONLY country from former Yugoslavia that is in (A) the Eurozone; (B) the Schengen Zone. No other former Yugoslav country is in either of these.

Honestly, when I hear people saying 'Soviet' about places like Slovenia it just tells me they have no idea what they're talking about.

yurtripper

So how come they have five star hotels in Portugal or Greece? Both of those countries are poorer than Slovenia. Average monthly income in those countries is around €1100.

GDP per capita figures for 2017 (USD)
Slovenia 23,654 (#38 in the world)
Portugal 21,161
Greece 18,637

saaveraward

Ok, I'm going to settle this once and for all as the tiebreaker when I'm there shortly 😁

Already booked a club room so looking forward to what upgrade I receive.

#1son

I lived in Eastern Europe for 7 years, so no need to give me a geography or history lesson about the region (but thanks anyway ;-) and I gave the IC Ljubljana a good review

in the former Yugoslavia, the people did develop a sort of Soviet mentality about business + added bureaucracy (posters were looking for an explanation of why the Club Lounge was not better)

I visited the local government offices about opening a local LLC (d.o.o.) and the whole process was quite Eastern European, Soviet, provincial or Comecon style (pick one)

yurtripper

If you're talking about business formation and related bureaucracy then all bets are off, as each country is so different. For instance, Macedonia and Estonia can be far more business friendly than most Western Europe countries and certain 'Old Europe' countries (e.g. France, Belgium) may appear 'Soviet' in comparison to EU8 countries when it comes to corporate/tax bureaucracy.

Deez Nutz

Owners of IC Ljubljana are Serbian for what it's worth.

jpdx

Ok, people! This off-topic banter needs to stop! Please post hotel reviews, but omit the political musings!

--jpdx, IHG Co-Moderator

retirementdreams

THANK YOU

saaveraward

When did your ambassador upgrades clear? App is showing no upgrade and all higher categories are now sold out... of course there was plenty of availability for months up until now.