HIDDEN GUEST: Falkensteiner Hotel and Spa Iadera

The hotel, which is managed as a resort by the Falkensteiner group, is located on the Punta Skala private peninsula near Petrčane. Within the complex, you can find the Diadora family hotel, an apartment complex, and the luxury Hotel Iadera. The building is located directly by the sea and blends beautifully into its surroundings. It is one of the Adriatic’s best-kept resorts, with fine architecture enhanced by fine landscaping and beautiful Mediterranean vistas wherever you look.

Punta Skala is located 15 km from Zadar, which has great motorway connections, although the hotel signposts following the motorway exit could be improved. Air access is constantly getting better, however, most business guests rely on road access.

The cold appetizer at Iadera was prepared by the renowned and charismatic architect Boris Podrecca, who carefully selected every detail in designing this modern, snake-shaped hotel and set it prominently on the Punta Skala peninsula near Zadar. The colours of the sea and the landscape blend with the complex and the glass panel facades that change colour at different angles are striking.

The personnel is clearly stringently chosen, being mostly smiling, orderly and professional in their jobs. You are made to feel welcome by the friendly, communicative and polite staff, although some extra practice in solving issues and complaints would be beneficial. The culinary offer is well considered. The breakfast is based on the principle of ‘enough of everything for a great start to the day’. The bar by the pool fulfills the afternoon needs of the guests and the hotel dinner consists of an attractive range of self-serve cold appetisers, menu warm appetisers, and main courses.

The smaller congress centre is located on the ground floor, its five halls with the lobby being suitable for a maximum of 200 participants. The hotel is brand new and therefore with modern technical equipment. The centre is functional and cleverly designed with warm colours and daylight, offering all you need for a great incentive programme. The rooms are intelligently situated, almost all of them have a sea view, and under the eye of star interior designer Matteo Thun have been furnished in a modern Mediterranean style focussing on lots of light, clean colours and lots of detail, using the warmth of walnut in Mediterranean style furniture set against intensely pleasant colour combinations.

DESSERT – The extras

The focal point of the offer is the ‘futuristic’ spa and wellness complex, designed as a kind of ‘camera obscura’. The black interior plays with light coming through round windows and a cold stream run along with the entire feature, through the grounds and on into the sea. The exquisite earthy sauna with a view of the sea is unforgettable: pure zen!

FLOP – NEGATIVE SURPRISES

Relatively speaking, the weakest part of the hotel offer is the staff, still needing some training and coordination to offer a truly top-notch product. Having said that, comparatively the staff are still at a higher standard than many of the hotels in the region.

TOP – POSITIVE SURPRISES

The Falkensteiner Resort is very serious about green tourism and ecology – the hotel is heated by geothermal energy, it has a built-in water treatment plant, and the technical and drinking water are taken from sea water. There is no visible traffic in the resort – all vehicles are parked in subterranean garages.

The overall result of the resort is extremely good. The hotel follows the known standards of the Falkensteiner group and is an excellent choice for incentive and product launches and smaller conferences. It is important to avoid the high tourist season and go for less frequent dates, carefully planning the logistics of the arrival. From what we saw and experienced we can only give a firm nod of approval.

FINAL GRADE: 4.84 GOLD RESORT MEETING HOTEL

GOLD final score from 4.81 to 5.00
SILVER final score from 4.61 to 4.80
BRONZE final score from 4.41 to 4.60