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> SlowTrav > Other > Vacation Rentals > Reviews > Croatia Review 2268: Maria Apartments, Apartment A
3bed/1bath apartment in Zaton, near Sibenik, Croatia 
WhenJuly, 2006, Two weeks ReviewIt's easy to zip right by Zaton, on the Dalmatian coast. There's a just a small sign pointing out the turn, right after you cross the big bridge outside Šibenik on the way to the tourist mecca of Vodice. We drove past Zaton every day during our 2005 trip without ever visiting. We rectified that mistake in 2006, by staying there for almost two weeks. Zaton is a pretty village which sits on a bay formed where the Krka River flows into the Adriatic. The water is a mixture of fresh and salt, which makes it a great place to swim and fish. Fishing and boat repairing are the two main industries in Zaton, with tourism playing a supporting role. We liked that - tourists are accomodated without being catered to. Most of the people we encountered during our stay were locals. The center of Zaton is fairly lively, with a beautiful church, several cafes and restaurants, a small Konzum grocery store, and a place selling mighty fine "sladoled" (ice cream). Our rental was a two-minute drive/ten-minute walk from the center of town. We found Maria Apartments on the internet and reserved Apartment A for our two week stay in July. We couldn't have been happier with our choice. The owners were terrific hosts. Mile and Maria don't speak English, but sons Dushko and - especially - Marijan - are close to fluent. The entire family welcomed us warmly, and treated us like VIPs. The building is large and the apartments are comfortable and very, very clean. Ours featured a large central hall with a very nice bath at the end, two double bedrooms with access to the large terrace, a third single bedroom that we used for storage, and a large, well-equipped kitchen with dining area, complete with satellite TV. There's no "lounge" with a sofa or easy chair, so we watched the World Cup games while sitting at the kitchen table. The terrace had a nice view out across the water, and was furnished with two tables and eight chairs. We had breakfast outside every morning, and ate dinner on the terrace several nights as well. The ceiling in our unit was high, and even though it was in the 90s every day, we never ran the air conditioning until bedtime. With doors and windows open, the apartment was perfectly comfortable even on the hottest days. My wife's relatives from Hungary stayed in the even-larger Apartment B, right above us. It, too, was clean and comfortable, with an even better view across the water. We really felt like family staying here. The owners' grandsons played with our young twins, and Mile showed me how to use the massive BBQ that he makes available to guests. He speaks German, which I understand slightly, and somehow we always managed to get our points across. Mile gave us two bottles of his homemade wine, while Maria cleaned the apartment twice and even surprised us by doing our laundry. She also made some wonderful pastries and shared them with us one day. Their son Dushko works as a fireman, while Marijan has the www.zaton-online.com web site to keep him busy. They could not have been kinder, or more helpful. Zaton is a 15 or 20 minute ride to the center of Šibenik, about the same to Vodice. All the attractions of this part of the Dalmatian coast are an easy jaunt from town. For the first two weeks of July, 2006, we paid €60 per night. Our stay was nothing short of wonderful, and we hope to return someday to enjoy Maria Apartments again. This review is the opinion of a Slow Travel member and not of slowtrav.com. |
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Recommended.
Review by Cobblehill from
NY
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