We had a quick meeting with Adriatic Luxury Hotels’ event manager Zrinka Marinovic today, where we learned about what the Eastern European group was doing to attract new audiences to the region.
The company has categorized its member hotels into three levels: Dream, which includes five-star hotels and villas; Escape, which includes affordable luxury hotels; and Unwind, which includes lower-starred properties geared more towards adventure travel.
Marinovic was eager to share the details of the Hotel Dubrovnik, which is set to reopen from a renovation on April 1. The team behind the refurbishment, she said, is all Croatian, which will lead to a stronger vibe of locality and authenticity. More than 1,000 pieces of Croatian art will be displayed in its halls, and a full 90 percent of the hotel will use Croatian materials. (Since Croatia does not have an electronics industry, she acknowledged, the tech elements of the hotel will have to be international.)
Adriatic Luxury Hotels is offering some unique packages for travelers, including one for Game of Thrones fans to see filming locations from the hit series (true devotees, of course, will know that King’s Landing is really Dubrovnik). Art fans, meanwhile, will want to stay at the Hotel Bellevue, which offers a tour with free access to the Maritime Museum, Natural History Museum, House of Marin Držić and the Dubrovnik City Walls, Art Gallery Dubrovnik, Cultural and Historical Museum, Rupe Ethnographic Museum and Gallery Dulčić-Masle-Pulitika. “American clients like this package,” Marinovic said. “It shows Dubrovnik as it really is.”
Fans of the performing arts, meanwhile, will want to visit over the summer, when the annual Dubrovnik Summer Festival runs from July 10 to August 25. This event—which can include everything from performances of Shakespeare plays to concerts to dances—attracts celebs like Daniel Day-Lewis and Judi Dench, and has been running continuously for 65 years. It even ran during the Croatian War of Independence, she noted, and few who attended during those years will forget hearing the orchestra perform the festival’s theme song—”Libertas” (“Freedom”)—while the city was under siege.
Good to know: The opening night festivities for the Summer Festival are an invitation-only event, she added, but visitors staying at Adriatic Luxury Hotels may be able to attend. Contact [email protected] for details.