5 things when booking apartment in Croatia

PAY ATTENTION ON THESE 5 THINGS WHEN BOOKING APARTMENT OR VILLA IN CROATIA

So Croatia is your new holiday destination this year!!! Great choice!!

After you decided what your preferred location is, you have to make decision which apartment or villa in Croatia you want to book. Sometimes this can be very tough decision, especially if you are traveling on a long term vacation so the place you are staying would be your second home for 2, 3 weeks. You can find yourself checking 200 apartments in your dreamy location because you do not know which preferences to look for in an apartment so you do not get lost in the bunch of offers presented to you.

Follow these steps and you will easily make the right decision on which apartment or villa in Croatia you need to book!

1. PHOTOGRAPHS IN HIGH RESOLUTION

Most of the adverts will use the best photo (sea view, balcony view) which is most appealing and that catches your eye. Scroll down through the photos section and check how apartment visually “speaks” to you. Did it made you more interested in? By visualizing things you can promptly decide if something will suit you or not. The apartment or villa should be advertised with photo of each room (if you like some apartment, but you do not see picture of bathroom for example, you can always ask for more photos). The photos should be in high resolution (do not book apartment with 3-4 low resolution photo, this is risky) and you should see minimum 20 photos. Beside the photo of each room in the apartment or villa, there should be photo of the house, building, and exterior.

2. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Pay attention on the description! The most important facts about the apartment or villa should be stated. Therefore, look for the size of the apartment or villa (interior square meters + exterior square meters), number of bedrooms, kitchen equipment, living room and dining room amenities. Depending on your preferences, if you want a nice, big terrace to enjoy morning coffee, afternoon relax or evening sunset, you can exclude the apartments without terrace or balcony immediately. Also, if you are to cook each day and you are coming to holiday with your family, children, you should pay attention on the kitchen equipment. Most of the apartments or villas in Croatia have basic kitchen utensils such as cutlery, refrigerator, stove, but if you are looking for more equipped kitchen this would not be enough for you.

3. MAP

Each apartment should be located on the Google Map and you should check carefully location. Keep in mind that Google was creating map for Croatia in 2010, so some things have changed, but the main features (as distance to the beach), remained the same.

Also, sometimes you will not be able to find the exact street address, if it is some side street even in the bigger Croatian towns (unfortunately, not every street is on Google map).

When locating apartment or villa in Croatia, use the advantage of Google where you can position yourself in front of the apartment or villa and search around. You should always, “walk the street” to the nearest beach, shop, restaurant and compare it with the description on the advert. If you are noticing big difference between the facts advertised and what you see on the map, you should not spend your time on those unprofessional presentations.

4. PRICES AND AVAILABILITY

On each advert, prices of the apartment or villa should be stated. Check if the price is stated as price per night, per apartment or price per night, per person! Usually, you will see daily and weekly price. Pay attention on the minimal stay per season, arrival/departure days and if any discount for long term vacation is offered. Be aware that most of the apartments charge extra 10, 20, 30% if the stay is less than 4 nights.  The calendar of the availability should be updated daily and most of the advertising sites show you when the calendar was updated. However, the availability can change in few minutes, especially if you are a last-minute traveller, so you have to get the confirmation from the apartment owner, agency. The best is to start your search as early as possible; apartments are booked the whole year round; from January the booking seriously progresses. Book on time your perfect apartment or villa in Croatia.

5. REVIEWS

Checking apartment’s reviews, other people experiences and impressions, must be part of your perfect holiday apartment hunting! The apartment that you are considering should have at least 2 good reviews! Sometimes you may find some negative comments from other guests, but think about how everybody has different opinion and expectation.

Also check if the owner answered on the negative review (this is very easy to do, shows good will and politeness) with the explanation and/or apology-this also speaks much of the owner and what you can expect.

These 5 things should be on everybody’s mind when searching perfect holiday apartment or villa in Croatia. Therefore, organize yourself before your travel, list your wishes and expectations, your budget, it will help you not to waist too much time on numerous apartments.

Use these advices and enjoy the hunting of your perfect apartment or villa in Croatia!