Испорченный отпуск ruined vacation

The review will be not only about the hotel, not even so much about the hotel, but about the entire tour organized by the tour operator "Center" in Kiev, the general director is Vitkovskaya Svetlana, the manager of the Croatia-Montenegro direction is Krupskaya Galina. Why I write such details, you will understand further.
So. The choice for this tour for my wife and I, as well as for the other 21 people, was not accidental. Tour from 07/16/2012 to 07/26/2012.
The tour price includes:
Air flight Kyiv - Split, Tivat - Kyiv;
Transfer airport Split - Trogir, Trogir - Herceg Novi, Herceg Novi - airport Tivat;
Accommodation in hotels with half board: Jadran 3+ Trogir (5 nights) in Croatia, Hunguest Resort 4* Herceg Novi (5 nights) in Montenegro;
Three excursions without entrance tickets: Dubrovnik; Split-Trogir; Boka Kotorska Bay
Guide services;
Medical insurance.

The tour included an interesting excursion program: three excursions were already included in the price. The possibility of visiting two countries, relaxing on the magnificent beaches of the Adriatic with an emerald, clear, deep sea, without screaming and running around "European" children, because such beaches are not very suitable for children, the absence of long journeys to places of excursions (everything was at a distance of 20 -30km), early departure from Boryspil, late departure from Tivat - all this determined the choice of this tour. Of course, all the reviews about the hotels and the resorts themselves were reviewed, everything was fine and we paid for the tour on 06/18/2012. They began to look forward to such a long-awaited vacation, but for some reason, anxious fears did not leave me. And as it turned out, not in vain.
We received tickets, vouchers and a detailed tour program only on 07/14/2021. at 11:00.
Everything seems to be fine, pack your bags and go. But…. .
Three hours later, they call from the travel agency and report the “good” news - the hotel in Montenegro is changing. I was doused with ice water. To my question - why? followed by the answer: because the high season and the hotel is full. This is despite the fact that the tour was paid for a month, confirmation was received, documents were on hand. As soon as I could get to the Internet, I immediately began to look for reviews about the new hotel IBEROSTAR OTRANT BEACH 4 * Ulcinj.
I didn’t find much, but it was enough to make the mood disappear altogether. We couldn’t change anything, so we packed our bags and drove off.
We took off from Boryspil according to the schedule 08-10, the flight a / to Windrose was great, we landed clearly. This is where the tour program loses its predictability.
Irina, the representative of the Panoramic Travel group, who met us, immediately said that she had nothing to do with us, but only showed where our bus was, the driver knew where to go, and on the spot you would sort it out yourself and somehow settle down. The group took this manifestation of hospitality with some grumbling, but we are going to rest, the mood is positive!! ! Go!
The hotel is 30-40 minutes away. We unloaded at the hotel at 11:00.
Hotel Jadran 3+ . A small main building with a reception, restaurants and five separate buildings. The territory is impeccable, well-groomed, clean, beautiful. The first minus is a really huge number of steps - they are just everywhere, so calculate your strength for luggage, you will have to carry it yourself. Settlement at 12-00, but this is only a theory, in fact, with luck, our group was settled at 12-40 - 13-20.

The rooms in the hotel are tiny, it can be seen that after the renovation, but they did it in some places and a long time ago. I can’t speak for everything, but our No. 204 was with a closet in which the door was kept on parole, a window from the 70s with putty to strengthen the glass, tulle with huge holes and stains, a bathroom of 3 square meters with a shower . cabin, in which it is hard for an adult to turn around, the safety valve in the boiler constantly works and it dumps water from above onto the toilet bowl. At my request to eliminate the shortcomings or replace the room, the administrator on duty said that she would send a master who would check and repair everything, but no one showed up before our departure. We decided not to pay attention to the little things, because we are on vacation, the mood is positive!
The food is normal, no one went hungry, though I agree with several reviews - monotonous, but tasty. Fruits, pastries, dairy products, cereals for every taste. Dinner is just great. Lots of variety, delicious food. The only product that everyone did not like was the melon.
The beach is concrete, sun loungers and umbrellas by the pool are free of charge, on the beach on the left under a canopy too. People are located along the entire coast, who is where - on the stones, on the lawn under the pines, but on the second day the lawn began to be heavily flooded.
18.07 was an excursion to Split and Trogir. Overview, short, especially in Trogir. We were there a day earlier, but we saw much more ourselves. Boat to Trogir 15 kunas (1 euro = 7.42 kunas), every half an hour, sail 10-15 minutes, the last one returns at 23-15.
We entertained ourselves, there is a local travel agent Slavko on the coast, he offers excursions much cheaper than the rest. Minibus Ford, air-conditioned, talkative, in short, who drove, everyone was satisfied. We were with him in Sibenik and the Krka waterfalls. 290 kunas per person.
In general, Croatia left a pleasant impression, although the sea cannot be compared with Opatija, and the Split-Trogir region itself is certainly not so popular. Be sure to take mosquito repellent with you - otherwise they will bite you!
Then the most interesting begins. On the eve of departure on 20.07 in the evening, hoping to find at least some information about the transfer to Montenegro, I saw an announcement: the whole group of 23 people flies to Kyiv, only the departure time has changed. ????? ? Mid rest!

We managed to get through to Irina, who met us, who reassured us a little - there was a mistake, who made it is unknown - because she has nothing to do with us. But a group from Ukraine came to our hotel on a bus tour, accompanied by Natalya, an employee of the t / c "Center". Naturally, all questions are directed to her. And there weren't many of them. As it turned out, only my wife and I knew about the replacement of the hotel in Montenegro, that's where the group's calmness about this came from during these days. The positive has disappeared completely, only questions remain. Investigations continued until 23:00. We are not flying away, but the hotel was indeed replaced, and it turns out, according to all the employees of the Center, that all travel agencies were notified of this as early as 13.07. But the WHOLE GROUP received the documents on 14.07. They clearly indicate the hotel Hunguest Resort 4 * Herceg Novi !!!
Morning 21.07 day "H" - what to do and what to expect. We loaded onto the bus, on the way another tour of Dubrovnik awaited us. We decided not to leave the bus (Ukrainian) until all our questions were answered. But we never heard the specifics - there was everything: threats, up to calling the police, some vague promises about nothing, persuasion to leave the bus, because in Dubrovnik it should pick up tourists who were traveling towards us from Montenegro to Croatia along our mirror route. In short, after a long debate, to which this group also joined, there was a tour of Dubrovnik (the guide Tatyana was just great, a storehouse of knowledge, it's a pity that there was little time). As a result, we change buses. We change to Montenegrin, after the promises of the director of the "Center" in a telephone conversation with Natalia to consider our claims upon arrival in Ukraine. But there is only a driver on the bus, there is no representative of the meeting party "Prometeus", which was promised. Our question should be answered: the phone number of Alexander, which is written in the voucher, cross out and write down the other one - Larisa.
The question arises - why are we actually so nervous, because there should be a seemingly equivalent replacement. I answer.
The distance between Herceg Novi and Ulcinj is 129 km, including a ferry crossing, a mountain narrow road, the speed along which physically cannot be higher than 40-50 km / h, plus traffic jams. We left Dubrovnik at 16-30, we were in Herceg Novi at 19-20, on the way to Tivat we picked up, as it turned out, a representative of another company, Kompas, Larisa, who was instructed to accompany us, although to find out from her - what is it? happens, failed. There was only one answer: they called me, they said to meet me, to settle in a hotel.

We were at the IBEROSTAR OTRANT BEACH at 23-35!! ! One can imagine the state of people who spent seven hours on the bus without technical stops and without food, besides, after crossing the border, they had to transfer again to the third bus.
By the way, I do not write the city of Ulcinj, because the distance to it from the hotel is 5 km.
A cold dinner was waiting for us at the hotel (thanks for that), the resettlement went very quickly.
Morning has come………
At breakfast, we already remembered Croatia with its delicious buns, etc. The general menu of the restaurant is meager, dinner is even more or less, and breakfast only worsened from day to day.
All the way Larisa told us about the wonderful healing volcanic sand, which is only here. In fact, it is gray dust that penetrates everywhere.
The sea is just terrible, you will see in the photo - up to 150 meters of buoys, and the depth is waist-deep for an adult - they dived in the deep clear sea! The water is dirty, there are heaps of garbage on the beach, cigarette butts everywhere you look. And for all this you have to pay 5 euros per person. Yes, people come here from all over Europe with children, but why? We have 100 times better and cheaper at the Arabat Spit or Kirilovka.
There seems to be no complaints about the hotel as such, except for the meager food, dirty dishes and the tactlessness of the maids, who could at any moment just look into the room, as if under the pretext of cleaning, catching you in a different form. Also, the water disappears several times a day, there were cases that people remained soapy in the shower to wait for water.
After dinner, there is simply nowhere to go, zero entertainment. There is no SPA or indoor pool. The pool is open, but not very big for such a hotel, besides, most of the adult tourists, and our whole group, sunbathed and swam only here.
Was it worth it to travel several thousand kilometers to sunbathe by the pool. And in the group there were people from Odessa and Sevastopol, their condition simply cannot be called a disappointment.

We did not go on an excursion to the Bay of Kotor, because my wife was very sick when moving from Croatia. We were on an excursion in Albania, or rather a trip, since the guide was the same Larisa, who limited herself to only general phrases. To Albania 35 km, 45 euros, the city of Shkodar. The country itself reminds us in the early 90s with its devastation and dullness.
There is no opportunity to go on excursions in Montenegro, since the hotel is so far from all interesting places that no one even wants to organize it.
Minibuses run to Ulcinj for 0.5-1 euros, you can walk around the old town, but there is nothing special, except for the interesting Amfora restaurant, where you can try the Mediterranean shark, just caught and other seafood. The owners are old Montenegrin brothers - one is a fisherman, the other is engaged in a restaurant.
In general, Montenegro is an interesting and beautiful country. If not for such tour operators as "Center", the rest would be just super.
On departure from Tivat, another surprise awaited us - it turns out that we had to control the Montenegrin border guards, who did not put a mark on entering the country on July 21, and at the exit on July 26, their colleagues now did not know what to do. A group of 23 people, as it were, came from nowhere. After a short meeting, they decided to skip it, but they said that next time the stamp should be mandatory.
At the airport, after passport control in the departure area, there is nowhere even to drink coffee, a cafe is only in the waiting room, in Duty Free prices are exorbitant, if you buy drinks, then only in stores in the city. A bottle of wine costs 4 euros cheaper than at the airport.
Back flew 40 minutes faster than scheduled.
This is how we got the Croatia-Montenegro tour from the tour operator "Center".
Have a good rest and decent tour operators.