Great trip, but hotels were mixed.
Noteworthy:
1) SPLIT:
Hotel Jupiter in Split was located very centrally, inside the palace walls (very cool!), however it was right next to a bell tower that went off each day starting at 6 am...and it was LOUD and not the wake up call needed if jet-lagged. The breakfast area at this hotel was tiny and very crowded in the morning.
The porter should carry your luggage, so you should not have to worry about all the stairs with luggage as you get to the hotel through the palace. Lots of cruise ship tours right near your hotel, so it can be crazy at times.
The hotel porters were timely and made us feel comfortable coming and going. (Love that they have a sign with your name printed on it). The Catamaran from Split to Hvar was cancelled (due to weather -we were told - but the weather was just fine. Perhaps it was a business decision by the boat company?) Luckily, I asked the porter which boat to walk to, and asked him to confirm the slip. (There are lots of boats in the harbor). He is the one who told us the Catamaran was cancelled. The hotel staff was very helpful and got GVV on the phone for us. GVV quickly got us on a different boat (a ferry) that departed shortly after, however it arrived at a different port 40 minutes and a $50 Euro ride away from our hotel. We had to pay that ourselves and are hoping that GVV will reimburse us for that. The tickets showed that the Catamaran was $25 Euro each and the ferry was only $6 Euro each. So... assuming the Catamaran company refunded GVV, we would appreciate the difference of $38 Euro to help pay us back for our taxi ride to the hotel. GVV also did NOT have to pay the porter who would have picked us up at the HVAR port and taken us to our hotel (more money saved for GVV - but not by us).
2) HVAR: The Amfora Beach Resort:
Great hotel and great location! Large resort feel, great paved, walking trails to town (about a 1/2 mile walk) and around the water. Our vacation in Croatia was for 10 days starting Oct 6....great weather in the high 60's... but too cold for us to swim... and the pools are NOT heated. If you enjoy hot tubs on vacation, we did not see ANY in Croatia.
Catamaran ride from Hvar to Korcula was lovely and no problems finding our porter and getting there.
3) KORCULA: Hotel in Korcula- Liburna -
This is a 2 star hotel. The positives...the location was a 1/2 mile walk or so into town, on the water with a nice balcony off our room. Our room was upgraded, but still very tired with stains (looked like blood) on the couch and the carpet.
The original itinerary had us booked at a different hotel, that looked nicer and was closer to town. I would NOT recommend this hotel to any future travelers.
Catamaran ride was nice and without any problems.
4) Dubrovnik - Hotel Lapad -
Quite a large "city" hotel and a 45-55 minute walk into town. We did this walk once, and it is on a noisy, busy street with buses, etc. going by. The hotel is quite large, with a great breakfast and near the marina where cruise ships and ferries are - but away from everything else you would want to see. We had lunch at a Hilton that was right near the Walled City which would have been a much more convenient hotel...as we were paying for Uber in and out of the Walled City the rest of the trip. (Taxis are double the price of Ubers, FYI)
The original hotel (yes, it was switched again), is one we walked by a couple of times that is on the water called the Lapad Prominade. Very nice area with local restaurants and great views - and one we wish we were not moved from. I understand the itinerary suggests a hotel "or a similar one" - but it is a bummer when you see what you could have stayed in that is much nicer than what did get booked for you.
Travel from the Dubrovnik hotel to the airport was smooth and again the porter was great. Arrived early to pick us up for the 30 minute drive to the airport.
FLIGHTS:
We had a 6 hour lay over in Frankfurt on our way to Croatia and a 5 hour lay over in Newark on our way back. We contacted GVV early on to try to reduce this wasted time after long flights, and it was cost prohibitive. So, buyer beware!
Also - when you originally book your trip, be sure to pay the extra to have flexibility to move your seats and flights. (I think it was $200 more ...?) If you don't do this - you will NOT be able to upgrade your seats or change your flight (at your cost) if you need to. Worth the money for us!!
Overall, great trip at a great price - and will use GVV again- but will look at the hotel options closely.
