Hotel Turist - Varazdin, Croatia     

Hotel Turist in Varazdin is located near the town’s centre. I was there in October 2006 and a big part of the hotel was under renovation. My room was a small standard 3-star hotel room, but newly furnished and OK equipped. The bathroom was a miniature. I was there for business and have heard complains from other colleagues about their rooms. As my room was OK so I wanted to check what is they are talking about, and to my surprise some of other rooms were really terrible. Old worn out furniture and bathrooms in desperate need for renovation. So make sure you ask for newly furnished rooms. We had a full board in the hotel. The food was OK, but nothing more than that and the service in the restaurant was kind of slow. The restaurant itself was dark and reminded me of old socialist days. Service was OK, but the staff could use some training on how to smile. This goes especially for people working on the front desk. As I said hotel was under some major renovation works, so hopefully it will become a good place to stay. Varazdin is a pretty little baroque town with a nice castle which is a town’s museum, many picturesque churches, cozy little streets and cafes, and a beautiful cemetery which is worth visiting. I would recommend visiting Varazdin for a day or two. It is also just one hour driving from Zagreb so it can be a good day trip from there.

Hotel Turist is a standard 3-star hotel located close to the bus station in Varazdin, and only 10-minutes walk from the main square and Varazdin Castle. When I stayed there in Oct 2006 a whole wing of the hotel was being renewed. The rooms are pretty basic, with own bathroom (very bad water pressure in the shower), TV with satellite programmes and a minibar. Breakfast was OK, the usual continental selection of bread rolls, jams, salamis, yogurts and juices. The staff were helpful, but with the notorious lack of any smile (this especially applies to ladies working at the reception!). The hotel's chef has apparently won few national awards so it might be worth trying the dinner here as well. I was even considering to try it, but the restaurant was already booked by noisy wedding party. Although I must say I was suspicious when I saw this going on at the ground floor, I must say I didn't hear anything in my room behind the sound-proof windows. All in all - average 3-star hotel at a nice location in a beautiful north-Croatian town.