Personally I'm very happy I rented because we had the freedom to come and go as we pleased, and stay out late at night in Split, etc. If I recall correctly I did something with the hotel that got me free parking, but I don't recall the details. And I didn't have a problem finding free parking in Split or anywhere else in Croatia or Montenegro.

Major reason to visit Croatia: Travel inland to Medjugorje; Purpose: The Blessed Virgin Mary has been appearing to 6 children there since 1981 up through today 5-11-16. No joke. (Chief Communicator, US Govt Official). 50 Million have pilgrimaged; at least 700 Miraculous healings are documented thee; Many see "Signs & Wonders" from Heaven unaided; Consider- Our world needs God's intervention right now! Agree?

I stayed 3 nights at LM last July. On the last day, I rented a mid-size car at Oryx Rental in downtown for 1 day for about $130 all-in. Pickup the car in the morning, drove to Splitvice Lakes, return to town in the evening, had a really nice meal in old town, drove back to the hotel, left for the airport the next morning. No extra cost for dropping off at the airport. Saved about $50 for the taxi cost from hotel to the airport and had the flexibility of driving to the Plitvice Lakes without worrying about the early morning bus schedule.

Car was rented online at rentalcars.com

I paid about $40 per day with Avis, but that was with a corporate contract and Presidents Club upgrade to a nice VW.

Anyone know about the Gold Benefits here??

Anyone know what is going on there for the night of Sept 9?

I have a 4 day itinerary including the last night to be on the 9th but it looks to be booked solid on that specific date but thats it.

I'm hoping it will open up.

@SFOisHome: if you see my last post here, you can have only better room.
@lamscott: I think thay block rooms for congress event

Thank you.

Hopefully something opens up.

i got an upgraded room but that was it

I wish I could say something nice about this hotel. I'm checking out today and other than the views being pretty, it's bad. The hotel is dated. Rooms are terrible. I booked a Deluxe Seaview and got just that as an SPG Platinum. SNA was denied. I offered to pay once I saw what the room was like and was denied. The bed was awful. Super thin mattress. The room was not that cool. Bathroom was small. Good luck with breakfast. It's a zoo. Food is subpar and tables are dirty. The staff runs around doing nothing. Everything is picked over and not refilled. More Le Soup Kitchen than Le Meridien.

The pool/beach was nice. It was super crowded. We booked a cabana (very reasonable) and that got us away from most of the crowd. The spa is bad. The jacuzzi area smells like an overchlorinated YMCA. The casino was closed the entire time we were here.

No SPG recognition at all for this Platinum. This is supposed to be the only 5* hotel in Split. It would be nice if another opened. I felt like this was akin to the Le Meridien in Rimini before that was deflagged (hint, hint Starwood). Disappointed overall.

Did they denied upgrade, comp or paid, even though there were better rooms available or they were simply sold out? :confused:

Sorry for your bad experience but I had a great stay. My part of the hotel was well-kept, and modern. Had a great upgrade - room was compact but not tiny. Breakfast was busy but the food was as good as most others and constantly replenished - certainly not sub-par. Dirty plates did pile up after a while but they got to it eventually.

In my short stay and from talking to the staff I gathered that this huge hotel has 5 blocks - probably some are older than others? My room was over the Marina and definitely was not dated. The casino has not been running for ?more than a year and I vaguely remember them mentioning it was being revamped as something else? Anyway the previous owners recently lost a bankruptcy case and the hotel has been bought over by some conglomerate... perhaps this is why things were on hold.

For me plat-wise: I got my plat amenity. I got my upgrade. I got wifi. I got free parking. I didn't need the 4pm checkout even though it was offered (this should be a resort? so they didn't need to offer it). My rate included breakfast. There's no lounge and no happy hour.

Surprised your stay we 'so bad'......

I would agree some of your comments are in line but I wouldn't personally give it such a bad rap.

I also agree with many other posters, that the room I had last year - on Marina side - was new and was EXCELLENT in quality.

HOWEVER 100000% agree mattress was worst in my life.....to this day my neck is still sore from that stay. I even complained while onsite and they swapped it out. Some problem on next bed.

So I don't think the overall experience was as bad as your review (my opinion) but WARNING BED IS TERRIBLE....Marina rooms are quite nice.

TerryK: I'm not sure if they were booked. The hotel was busy. Just not much in terms of Plat recognition. I don't mind paying for rooms (I booked suites at all of the other hotels on our trip). The quality of this hotel is not 5*, it's more like a low 3. I was much more impressed with the Hilton in Dubrovnik. I hear that one is coming to Split. It won't have to do much to be nicer than here.