NEW, YET FLAWED
LOCATION
City Island Zagreb is a brand-new business hub developed in the Buzin business area, a stone’s throw away from the main traffic artery. Pullman Zagreb found its home in this strategic location. The city centre is only ten minutes away by car, as is the Franjo Tuđman International Airport. The ultra-modern business centre is also the headquarters of several high-profile Croatian companies and is poised to grow. Buzin is a business centre that comes to life on weekdays but turns into a ghost town during weekends. If you choose this hotel for prolonged stays, keep this in mind. It is true, though, that everything is nearby in Zagreb. Perhaps the weekend will also bring you some much-needed peace and tranquillity. Guests arriving in the city by car will find the location ideal.
ACCESSIBILITY
The hotel is within spitting distance from the Buzin exit. Still, the navigation might lead you to the parking next to the business centre or Bauhaus instead of the hotel. The hotel must label the entry and the parking area more legibly. Nonetheless, once you arrive at the spacious parking house, you will find plenty of space, including for EVs. If you come to the hotel directly from the airport or use other modes of transport, you will need to hail a taxi to reach the city centre. Luckily, Zagreb has everything from Bolt and Uber to classic local taxis. Only the bravest and fittest should attempt to walk the journey to the heart of town. The city centre may be far, but the location is a positive advantage, given the vicinity to the Zagreb Airport. Located only ten minutes away, the rest of Croatia is at your fingertips from the nearby airport.
COLD STARTER - Architecture and aesthetics
Hotel corridors are rarely a source of inspiration. The best architects understand that and change them into experiences. You will not find such ingenious solutions in this hotel unless you cherish the odd engineering cable hanging from the wall or ceiling. In this hotel, you will only find gloomy areas reminiscent of a subterranean complex of corridors. It is a shame – simple use of light, music, art, photos, and greenery would make a world of difference. The entire architecture is similarly generic and predictable, which is unsurprising, given the hotel squats in the suburban business area. The colossal building does not stand out from the string of new constructions in the area. It may sound exaggerated, but the nearby Bauhaus could be more expressive than the Pullman Hotel. According to any guide, a hotel needs a visible entrance and markings. Here, you will not find any. In any case, you can put up with the functional architecture if you forget about aesthetics and design. Our search for details or features that would leave a lasting impression was fruitless. The architects prioritised function over sustainability, which is reflected in the “timeless” design. If we understood correctly, business guests are one of Pullman’s target groups. In our opinion, they did not take care of them very well. Or did they? Times change.
WARM ENTRÉE - The staff and the culinary experience
The staff was professional but nothing more than that. We understand it takes time to assemble an excellent hotel team. Still, considering the brand’s promise, we expected more of the funky style the hotel brand embodies, coupled with more passion and spark in the eyes of the employees. Unfortunately, the entire story is rather dull, even bland.
The cuisine in Tanto Restaurant is touted as Mediterranean. For most guests, this does the trick, yet we hoped to find more local creative twists. To our disappointment, they were absent on the menu. We had to be content with average pizzas, mediocre salads and pasta. Zagreb has more to offer. Even the selection of beverages is generic; the otherwise chic bar is hungry for cocktail concoctions and outlandish ideas. The breakfast met our expectations for the brand, although nothing local was on the horizon. A more generic offering is hard to find. Accor can do much better than a pathetic rocket salad sticking to your throat.
MAIN COURSE – The meetings offering at the hotel
Hotel rooms
As we set foot into the room, we thought it was incredibly spacious and bright. Our other impression was “deja vu” – have we not seen this somewhere before? A room copied from a designer magazine is solid, but we hoped to experience more originality. The coarse concrete ceiling, quality wooden flooring and dark furniture are trending. But we believe a gigantic LCD TV nobody watches is no longer a fad in the hospitality industry. If the hotel is all about business, as the location suggests, they should prioritise workspace. The open bathroom was the silver lining, adjoining a separate toilet blanketed in dark hues of green. The bed, enriched by a beige upholstered headboard and the bed linen, were splendid. The mini bar, truly miniature, was surprisingly well-stocked. Still, flaws, such as the air conditioning, should be addressed. We could not set it as we wished. Given this is a new hotel, they should devote more attention to this. We would also like to know who the mysterious author of the artwork adorning the walls, signed as D.S., is (those in the know are acquainted with Damir Sobota, an aspiring Croatian artist). Guests are interested in more than just the bed or the air conditioning. They expect an experience in their hotel room.
Meetings centre
Plenty of daylight floods the meeting halls, which is a key competitive advantage. The largest one, Isola Hall, accepts up to 150 attendees in a theatre setting. Verde and Terra Halls, of smaller size, are, in essence, conference rooms. You can also organise an event in the restaurant, dotted with charming corners perfect for intimate meetings. Perhaps the designers could have considered creating larger rooms for events, which would match the number of rooms and the spacious underground parking garage.
DESSERT – The extras
The lounge area on the ground floor is a captivating space for quick business meetings. Many business guests seem to use this practical and charming space.
FLOP – NEGATIVE SURPRISES
The air-conditioning story deserves scrutiny in its own right. It is dismal that a brand-new hotel did not include smart room management. The loud, non-functioning air-conditioning has no place in a novel hotel. Another remark: when booking the room, guests can falsely believe a sauna will await them in the room. That would make Pullman the first Croatian hotel with a sauna in each room. Reality is far from the truth, as the hotel only features two saunas on the seventh floor. We hope the management promptly removes the tag that says the hotel rooms include saunas.
TOP – POSITIVE SURPRISES
The lobby was the brightest part of the story. It reminded us of other Moxy, Aloft and Mama Shelter hotels around the world. Accor took notes from similar brands. The lobby is, by far, the best part of the hotel design.
SUSTAINABLE ENDEAVOURS
The bathroom and the hotel cosmetics are exemplary. Yet, we have no clue about sustainable practices in Pullman Zagreb. Given Accor’s prestige, we expected more. To begin with, they could acquire a certificate about their sustainable aspirations. There is room for improvement.
FINAL IMPRESSION AND CREDIBILITY
The novel Zagreb hotel has the strengths to compete with hotels in Zagreb thanks to its spaciousness, number of rooms and facilities. Its hotel service is less convincing, particularly the gastronomy and staff, where the hotel has room for improvement. If the hotel aspires to edge out its competition among meeting hotels focused on hosting events, it will need to go the extra mile. However, if they only wish to host tourist groups, the hotel ticks all the boxes. Event organisers are more demanding and want more than the industrial design on display. Pullman is cheaper than hotels in the city centre. Does that matter, too?
FINAL GRADE: 4.79 TWO MEETING STARS⭐⭐ City Meeting Hotel
3 MEETING STARS⭐⭐⭐ final score from 4.81 to 5.00
2 MEETING STARS⭐⭐ final score from 4.61 to 4.80
1 MEETING STAR⭐ final score from 4.41 to 4.60
