This is my second draft of the review. My first was snarky. I don't write reviews often, but I want to let the owners know what's going wrong in their hotel. There are some real design problems with The Almayer: the website photography is beautiful and misleading. The Deluxe Mezzanine Double seems spacious and suite-like on the website. It is pretty, but entirely not fit for purpose. Lights and sockets in the wrong place, sharp staircase edges jutting out at head height, no mirror for makeup or shaving, bathroom is tiny, but described as "full." The living room is more of a corridor and there is nowhere to put one's luggage. Air conditioning only works on the lower floor so the loft bed area is very hot and there is a fire detector on the ceiling very close to the bed that flashes brightly every 30 seconds.
On arrival, Elena was front of house. Within seconds she was rude to us, hiding behind the facade of "edgy." She made me and my husband feel uncomfortable with every encounter, implying she was far too educated for her position, intimating that the owners had no day to day interest in the hotel, stating that "it's like communism: leaving the workers to run the place"
We slept terribly but were pleased with the warm welcome for breakfast and a genuinely delicious offering. Pretension re-emerged when my husband asked for ketchup and was haughtily informed that "we have no sauces anywhere in the hotel"(they bring you tomato sauce at any Four Seasons, without question)
It's close to old town Zadar, and the courtyard is charming, but it's Motel6 service, for Four Star prices.
Happy to have discussed this with the hotel at checkout but non one asked us as the place is under-staffed and not managed.
