During a recent trip to Croatia in August 2021, with my wife and two young sons, we were looking forward to exploring Split and staying in the Residence at Vestibul Palace. It's reviews online are excellent. We however, did not have that experience and I believe the hotel broke a number of Health and Safety Laws, they rented a space that was unfit for purpose and unusable.
These are the facts, and this is my personal experience. I'd recommend you stay elsewhere.
Sunday 29th August - we arrived at Residence by Vesitbul, and were greeted by a lovely receptionist called Hannah, who showed us to our suite which on first appearance appeared as expected and very nice. While unpacking, I went to raise the electric metal shutters on the bedroom door (the only window in the room). The kids wanted to go out on the balcony, upon opening the door we found five peacocks living out there, which was funny at first, until we saw the amount of faeces, urine and plumage everywhere across the balcony, rendering the balcony unusable.
I asked Hannah to come up to show me how to open the shutters, and she informed me they were broken and they couldn't be fixed until Monday. I let her know this was a fire hazard, as if a fire broke out outside the door, we wouldn't be able to exit and I wasn't putting my families safety at risk. She was surprised at the mess on the balcony and called her manager. I also spoke to the manager, who didn't seem to take my issue of the fire door seriously, and told me that Hannah would clean the balcony, or they had a 2-person room available for that night (there were 4 of us) or would move us the following day. While I appreciate they were full, they rented a suite out that was not suitable for purpose. The fire hazard was serious, and when I saw Hannah trying to clean the balcony with some paper towels and water, I realized that the balcony was completely unsanitary. I told Hannah to stop cleaning, as without some gloves, and disinfectant she was putting her own health in danger. It became clear that the management, cared not for the health or safety of our family, or of their employees.
At this point, we told Hannah we wouldn't be staying, and booked a different apartment elsewhere.
I called Hotels.com later that day, to let them know the issue and get a refund. They told me they needed to speak to the hotel.
Sat Sept 4th - having arrived home to find no refund. I emailed the Residence by Vestibul. Prior to our arrival they answered emails within minutes. They now appear to be ignoring them.
Monday Sept 6th - resend email to hotel. No answer.
Tues Sept 7th - resend email as below and called Hotels.com once again. The customer service representative told me they needed to speak to the hotel, which they did but were told the manager wasn't available.
Weds Sept 8th - received the email below from
Dear Mr. Steven,
Thank You for Your email and kind explanation.
Regarding the peacocks our colleague Hanna told You that she will clean the terrace immediately and she did it. Iti s not true that the terrace has not been cleaned in days. Our housekeeping clean all the terraces every morning. The peacocks are a protected species in this area and they walk freely through the streets, we can not do anything regarding them, only to clean after them.
Regarding the window, as I told You it broked the evening before Your arrival, since it was a weekend all the services are off during the weekend.
We offered You to change the suite the next day since we were fully booked for Your arrival day.
Regarding the „amergency in a case of the fire“, all our suites have a detectors, the door for the terrace are fine, and in a case of the fire all the guests can escape through the door to the terrace and then around the building to the street. Alse we have the back door just opposite to Your entrance door to the apartment.
Unfortunately due this explanation we can not approve the money refund.
We stay at Your disposal for any further requests or questions.
Best regards,
Mija Medic
Sales Department
_____________________________________________________________________________
1. However Hannah was going to clean the terrace it was not going to be good enough with water and paper, and the peacocks would just have returned. While I appreciate that's part of the area, they've nothing to discourage them coming there. I'd be content with a peacock or two clucking around. Sitting in their urine and faeces, I'm less happy with. This has not been cleaned that day, dried faeces and the smell attested to that.
2. Ms Medic still doesn't seem to understand the fire issue. If there was a fire outside our door, there was no other exit. The 'terrace doors' are past the kitchen (most likely fire). I believe this is illegal, and doesn't suit.
3. Why would I stay for one night when we were unable to use the balcony for sitting out or breakfasting, and compromise the fire safety. I understand the issues - but that's their issues, not mine. They did offer to waive the parking, (10 Euro a night x3) but that's no good to me if we're ill or dead.
Her refusal to compromise and offer a refund, has led me to make this web page so others can be fully informed.
I don't believe Ms Medic is capable or competent in this job role, despite seemingly to have the relevant qualifications.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mija-medi%C4%87-832b54126/
https://www.facebook.com/mija.medic
With a myriad of other options available in and around Split, I'd advice you to look elsewhere otherwise you may have the same experience as we do.
If you want to read more of my travel reviews on TripAdvisor to show that this isn't just some bitter complainer, or malcontent please see my profile where I've reviewed other places in Croatia and over 200 worldwide reviews : https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Profile/BackinthUK