Palmon Bay Hotel & Spa

“Fantastic Stay in the Bay of Kotor”

After a tour of Slovenia and Croatia my wife and I and some friends wanted to spend a few days in the Bay of Kotor area in Montenegro which is just over the southern Croatian border. We engaged the services of a local tour company to prepare an itinerary and they chose Palmon Bay Resort for our fou… more

After a tour of Slovenia and Croatia my wife and I and some friends wanted to spend a few days in the Bay of Kotor area in Montenegro which is just over the southern Croatian border. We engaged the services of a local tour company to prepare an itinerary and they chose Palmon Bay Resort for our four night stay. It was the perfect location for the following reasons. The Bay of Kotor is shaped like an octopus with many peninsulas sticking out from the central bay. There are at least a dozen villages located around the bay of which Kotor is the most famous. As a UNESCO World Heritage Site it attracts a horde of visitors most of whom arrive by cruise ship, completely overwhelming the narrow streets of the old town. There is almost no accommodation in Kotor that is not a guest house or a hostel. Igalo is the first major centre over the border from Croatia and this is where the Palmon Bay Resort is located. Driving around the bay to Kotor or Prevast would take hours, but from Igalo you can get to these places and others by speedboat much quicker. Bottom line is you stay in Igalo and go everywhere else by boat except Herceg Novi which you can walk to. The Palmon Bay is the only resort with direct water frontage in Igalo or Herceg Novi. It has beautiful grounds, a great small beach, large swimming pool and fantastic views of the Bay of Kotor from its oceanside rooms. Running directly between the hotel and the beach is the Pet Danica Promenade which is traffic free and runs for many kilometres along the seafront. There are dozens of restaurants, shops, gelato places and local tour operators along it. It is a joy to walk into the historic town of Herceg Novi and most of the people you'll meet along the way are locals. Completely the opposite of Kotor, Igalo and Herceg Novi are not overloaded with tourists as the cruise ships don't dock anywhere near here and the day trips they offer don't extend this far. Finally, the Palmon Bay has great staff, a good spa and the fifth floor Olive Terrace restaurant has great food and even better views. Almost right next door is the top-rated Trip Advisor Igalo restaurant, Jedrenjak. So those are all the reasons to stay here, but there are caveats. The standard rooms are minuscule and not all face the ocean. To get the best of this place book a superior room with an oceanside balcony or really splurge on a suite which is what we did after spending the first night in a standard room. The Bay of Kotor is justly famous and from Igalo you can enjoy the best of it without the hassle of driving.

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“Deserves to be rated higher”

I had so much wanted to give this hotel a 5 star rating but there are a few minor things that collectively held me back. This is a really nice hotel which is well maintained. The bedroom was quite well designed with ample cupboard space and a nice sized bathroom and a reasonable sized balcony. Th… more

I had so much wanted to give this hotel a 5 star rating but there are a few minor things that collectively held me back. This is a really nice hotel which is well maintained. The bedroom was quite well designed with ample cupboard space and a nice sized bathroom and a reasonable sized balcony. The owners invested a lot of money in reclaiming land in front of the hotel and built a great swimming pool which is easily accessed by walking across the pedestrian street outside the property. Unfortunately we didn't get to use it as were were out sight seeing every day and the pool is closed at 6pm. We spent 5 nights at the property and unfortunately there was no noticeable variation in the breakfast offering in that period. I appreciate that they cater to a large volume of guests and so they're probably trying to get as much food out as quickly and easily as possible, but it would be nice for longer staying guests to have a bit of variety. The coffee was absolutely appalling, so much so I went and bought a coffee at their coffee counter outside the breakfast room each morning, which was a bit galling when you consider how much we paid for our stay. One of my friends is a GM of a 5 star hotel in Asia and he makes his chefs eat their own food to make sure they know it's good enough for the guests. The GM here needs to try the coffee at breakfast! In the 5 days we stayed, the bedsheets weren't changed once. Not a big deal as far as I'm concerned but most hotels of this standard would have changed them once in that period. This was a surprise trip organised by my wife. What she hadn't factored in was how far the hotel is from the airport. It took us over an hour to get there and we had to negotiate a price with a private taxi tout at the airport. On the way back, we took a metered taxi and the total cost, including the return ferry fee for the driver, was €55 versus the €90 we were charged from the airport. So look for a proper taxi when you arrive. Better still, if you plan on traveling around to see the sights rather than sitting by the pool the whole time, hire a car at the airport. The hotel was very good and arranged for a local car hire company to bring a car to us at the hotel and at the end of the rental period, we simply gave the car key to the receptionist and the car was collected the next morning. Whilst the rate was good, for the 4 days we had the car, it would have been more cost effective to have hired the car at the airport. Don't be put off by the above as this is a really nice property and I'm glad we stayed here. With the right training and attitude of the staff, this property could easily rank as 5 star.

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“Love Montenegro”

Our second stay at Palmon Bay hotel and we would come again. We are on bed and breakfast. The reason that I havnt scored the hotel as excellent is that the breakfasts are very basic and dissapointing. The hotel is very good, well managed and with excellent staff. Special mention for Jacob from Colu… more

Our second stay at Palmon Bay hotel and we would come again. We are on bed and breakfast. The reason that I havnt scored the hotel as excellent is that the breakfasts are very basic and dissapointing. The hotel is very good, well managed and with excellent staff. Special mention for Jacob from Columbia waiting on around the pool. Excellent member of staff. The pool area is superb as is the roof top bar.We didnt try the spa so cannot comment. The hotel is in a great spot in Igalo with lots of bars and restaurants close by. Dont be put off by the Communist type blocks of flats it just indicates how the country is progressing. Two wonderful places to eat out are the Amber restaurant and the Joy restaurant both within a 30 minute walk of the hotel. Enjoy this special place!

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