Despite this being my first blog post ever (woo!), I have in fact been lucky enough to travel a fair bit. I can’t wait to tell you all about previous travels in future posts (and no, this isn’t an episode of Back to the Future). I’m going to start at the very end, contrary to the classic Julie Andrews, and share my week in the sun in Montenegro.
We chose Montenegro simply because it was somewhere that I had never been. My partner had been with his family ~7 years ago but it’s a different experience going with your partner than your family. The country looked beautiful in all the photos; and I’ve got to say, it didn’t disappoint.
We booked with Jet2 and we flew into Dubrovnik (Croatia). It was then a hop, skip and a jump in the transfer bus over the border to Montenegro. Below, I’ll go into detail on the price we paid, what was included and the booking process. Afterwards, join me for a review of the Palmon Bay Hotel and some basic words and phrases: one large draught beer please!
In the next instalment, Volume 2, you can check out the places we visited within the country and the food and drink we very willingly swallowed. My fellow beer enthusiasts will need to hold their horses until Mountainous Montenegro: Volume Beer hits the net to discover the local brews I sniffed out and sampled.
Plans Booked and Pennies Spent
We booked the following Jet2 Holiday around mid-March 2023 to travel mid-June 2023:
7 nights Bed and Breakfast, Superior Double Room, Express transfers, 10kg Hand Luggage and 22kg Checked Bags per person, return flights to Dubrovnik.
The Superior Double Room was not our choice; the normal rooms had unfortunately sold out. We would usually choose the cheaper room, but after looking at the hotel’s pictures and reviews, as well as the surrounding area, we decided to opt for this one. Not generally being spa-frequenters, we thought it wouldn’t hurt to have a peek at it, but more on that later. Keep reading for a review of the Palmon Bay Hotel – please note that I am not being paid to promote anything. It’s purely my review and my experience.
Flights and Transfer
Our flight time going out was awesome. 7:20am. Who doesn’t love a really early flight? And no, I am not being sarcastic. I think it sets the precedent for the holiday as one you are going to enjoy and in which you will fully immerse yourself. That first day there is actually time to do something: perhaps time to take in the area in the daylight, get out and see your surroundings or even just have a nice bite to eat.
7:20am -> 11:40am. Edinburgh -> Dubrovnik. The security lines were surprisingly busy at 5am when we arrived and you know it’s always me that gets pulled over for additional scanning, always. I always buy bottles of water from Boots past security (used to go to Superdrug before it closed down) before the flight and I always pack some sandwiches for the plane because the sky-high prices they charge are just astronomical and I am economical. Did you know that you are allowed to take your own sandwiches and food on flights/past security? They can’t be too messy or have any liquids or restricted products in them. So, a simple ham and cheese sarnie is grand.
The transfer was no bother; there are always easy-to-find Jet2 representatives in their red shirts waiting to guide you and I do feel comforted and confident in that service. We got onto the bus and off we went. The waiting time at the border was quite lengthy, perhaps 30 minutes, but the journey itself too perhaps 30 minutes in total, so about an hour on the bus. Not major.
Our return flight wasn’t at the best time, but not the worst: 12:25pm -> 2:55pm from Dubrovnik -> Edinburgh. Straight from breakfast onto the transfer coach and no final moments in your destination, although I suppose it saves waiting around with luggage after check-out time. On our transfer back, we were obliged to exit the coach and approach the security desk individually with our passports. This went smoothly, however, and we arrived at the airport in good time.
Price is important for everyone, and others just like a good nosey, so the price we paid for this holiday was £960pp. There was actually a wee £10pp discount too for booking on the Jet2holidays app for the first time. Pretty simple to book and pay, you can put down a deposit and pay later, depending on your departure date.
Accommodation Evaluation
The Palmon Bay Hotel and Spa won the Tripadvisor Award for Travellers Choice 2023 and to be honest, it was a lovely hotel. Upon first arrival, you enter the reception and the desk is clearly marked. For us, our room was not yet available but they advised we go up to the 6th floor (top) to the restaurant to grab a drink and take in the view until our room was ready (approx. 20 mins time). We easily found the lift and ascended to the rooftop bar. The service was really great and despite the prices, we enjoyed our first moments of our holiday. With the panoramic view of the bay, how could you not instantly feel excited and happy?
Nikšićko being the local beer, this was my first taste of it as we gazed out on our new home for the week, but more on that later… Our waiter was very nice, spoke English well and was very welcoming: a good start.
The Room
Once we checked in and entered our room, we were pleasantly surprised at the size of the space allocated to us. It was huge! Remember, we had no choice in selecting the “Superior Double Room” and the bathroom alone could have fit a pickup truck. The bed wouldn’t have fit in my entire living room back home I don’t think; I could barely see my partner when we were at opposite sides. Okay, so perhaps that was a slight exaggeration but it really was a huge bed. The balcony also ran the length of the room, so was pretty long in itself. More than what we needed, of course, however the space was nice.
They came to clean multiple times a day which we did find to be overkill, especially as we were getting ready on an evening and they were knocking at the door, but I guess you can’t fault the service. The freebies in the bathroom consisted of shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, shower cap, razor and shaving cream, cotton pads, toothbrush and toothpaste (!) and then there was shoe shine and a sewing kit in the cupboard. Plus, the hotel supplies you with your own robe and flimsy slippers. You wanted for nothing in terms of supplies.
Breakfast. Was. Banging. It was really very good and the restaurant was located on the lower floor with an automatic door. There were boiled, fried and scrambled eggs, as well as pre-cooked vegetarian omelettes. The types of sausages varied daily, as did the cakes and the wee pies. They also had smoked cheese, homemade cheese (which I found varied in quality/flavour each day as I guess it was made fresh every day) and a local Trappist cheese. A selection of meat cuts, pastry, roasted vegetables, salad options, breads, cereals, bacon etc. was also on offer and orange juice, apple and sour cherry juice too. Worth it.
The Palmon Bay Hotel Beach Club
A stone’s throw from the hotel itself you will find the Beach Club. This is the hotel’s private pool and own private pebbly beach. This author greatly recommends taking beach shoes as in this resort, there are mainly pebble/shingle beaches or just stone ledges. If you don’t already own a pair, you can purchase them at local tourist shops for around 9€.
The sea was fairly cold in June with a fair amount of floating seaweed and whatnot. Whilst it was beautiful to look at from the shore and to walk next to, we didn’t really love being in it. We made an effort with our inflatable ball and once used to the temperature, it was pleasant enough, but we didn’t feel the desire to spend any significant time in the sea.
Tell the staff member your room number when you enter the Beach Club area and you are given complimentary towels. These are deposited into a washing basket at the end of the day. The sunbeds are of fairly good quality, metal with plastic-material covering and can be found at all sides and angles around the pool. The water is cool and there are bubbly bits in the centre.
A lifeguard sits on the poolside, just in case. ATTENTION: The pool is the same depth all over. There are no shallow and deep areas. The depth of the pool was approx. 1.6m which for me at 1.58m is quite deep. I could breathe outside of the water if I was on my very very tippy toes. However, as I was there with my 1.8m partner, I often just let him carry me and float me around. They are useful sometimes, you know 😉.
The child’s pool is 0.5m deep and has a mushroom-shaped fountain in the centre, which we never actually saw switched on. I would like to point out that whilst the pools are clean, I think they use something other than chlorine. I may be wrong, it can happen, but there was no strong smell of chlorine and the freshwater pool had a metallic taste towards the afternoon like the inside of a metal pipe, I’d imagine.
There was also another outdoor swimming pool on the roof of the first floor to the left, but this was very quiet, devoid of life and you couldn’t gaze out to sea… so, back to the beach club. The adult pool has a small jacuzzi-type area where you can sit in and relax. This author recommends getting a wee inflatable pillow for this, as the shops sell them for 2-3€. Without it, I found that I couldn’t quite sit in the position without floating away…
The bar does not allow you to take your own drinks or food in. Although if you’re sneaky and don’t flaunt it, you may have some crisps, water or small things in your bag. They actually confiscated my partner’s Monster energy drink he bought in a local shop. They did, however, keep it nice and cold in their fridge for him until he left the bar area at which time, they returned it to him. A 500ml beer from the hotel (all over hotel same prices) was 6€ and a smaller beer was 4€. The beer price from establishments outside the hotel was around 3.20€ for 500ml.
Spa and Previous Reviews
Who isn’t at least tempted to try a spa when the opportunity presents itself? My partner and I aren’t huge spa-goers but we thought: when in Rome… The saunas, steam rooms, jacuzzi, indoor pool and salt room (?) were free to use for all hotel residents, without booking. We tried five minutes of a sauna and went for a two-second sniff in the salt room. I’m not sure the benefit of the latter, but we were informed it was to be inhaled. Lastly, we relaxed a wee moment in the jacuzzi. Pleasant. We even splashed out on booking a general full-body massage each (50€/pp for 50 minutes). The massage was fairly hard, painful at times but it was overall a nice and relaxing experience; she was obviously a professional. Being the novices we are, we could not fault the facilities and service and we were pretty happy.
Now, the reviews were mostly positive for this hotel but we did read some negative ones. I want to dispel a review that we read claiming there was a club next to/close to the hotel. Whilst there are bars and restaurants a few hundred meters away, you cannot hear these from the hotel. There was a concert on at the fortress on our last night, and you could hear it from the balcony but not the room. The only thing negative I have to say apart from the prices was when I asked the reception to post my postcards, the response was pretty much “Post box is in this direction, post it yourself”. Not ideal. Honestly it was only 5 minutes away from the hotel: we found it fairly easily. So perhaps I’m being slightly Karen-y here, but I did hope they would post it for me.
Wise Words
An extremely limited list of words I used when in Montenegro:
Dobar Dan = Hello/Good Day
Hvala = Thank you
Molin = Please
Doviđenja = Goodbye (pronounced Doh-vi-jen-ya)
Izvini = Excuse me (pronounced Izz-vin-ee)
Da = Yes
No = Ne
Yeben = 1
Dva = 2
Tre = 3
Točeno Pivo = Draught Beer (pronounced Toh-Che-Noh Pee-Vo)
Veliko = Big
Mali = Small
Join me shortly for Volume 2, where I recount both the trips and voyaging we did around Montenegro, and the scrumptious food and drinks we indulged in. Additionally, if you have any comments or questions about what I’ve told you so far, let me know below! Do you have any other vocabulary words you’ve found useful in Montenegro, or have you also been to this hotel?
