Type: Spa Hotel
Price Guide 120-150 euros/room Minimum nights: Single booking: 3, Itinerary booking: 2
Don't treat yourself - get the staff to do it!
OUR VIEW
Vitarium probably offers the best range of spa facilities (and the staff to match) in Slovenia. They also run some excellent programs, all of which are based on good science mixed with a healthy dose of pampering. The usual sauna suspects, massage baths, thermal waters, massage people and healthy treatments are available, along with chocolate massage, chroma-therapy and what we believe should be compulsory for all UK citizens: stress relief therapy. Being part of the Krka group, which owns Otočec, you can also go for a round of golf, if the fancy takes you.
As with just about all Slovene spas, Vitarium is part of a larger, 'ex-socialist' complex. We're telling you this bit because we think that Vitarium is an excellent spa hotel, and worth traipsing through the naff place with which it shares it's reception, to get to it. Sorry about sounding like damning with faint praise - but really it's more like praise with a faint damning!
Anyway, don't worry about that - just get yourself along there and treat your body, mind and soul: all three of them deserve it.
ACCOMMODATION The guest rooms are very nicely designed, being modern but not minimalist, slick yet comfy and furnished with great beds. There are the usual facilities, while the bathrooms are very nice indeed.
THE RESTAURANT The restaurant is good for a spa hotel, but is tacked on to the rubbish bit. However, the food is OK and well up to the standard you'd expect at a spa hotel. There are also some very good restaurants nearby so ask the staff to guide you to the best of 'em during your stay. After all, you'll be wanting to treat your insides as well as your outsides, so to speak.
SPA FACILITIES
As it says above - the spa facilities are probably the best in Slovenia. Just about every spa treatment you can imagine is available, as well as a few you can't: bio-feedback stress therapy (not that I need that - I DON'T I DON'T), colour therapies and chocolate therapy thingummies. Plus various massage types, saunas and pools, facials, make-overs and hairdressing... basically everything you need to get those batteries recharged. Oh, and the staff are really, really nice. Here are some typical programs:
THINGS TO DO
The surrounding countryside is a gently rolling backdrop for hiking, biking or trail riding. Fishing and splashing in the Krka river, paragliding down into the valley, or partaking in the local delicacies (not least of all, roast suckling piggy-wiggy).
Or you could drive to Ljubljana or Zagreb (about an hour each), or perhaps Mokrice or Otočec castles.
Maybe a visit to Brežice for the music festival - there really is plenty to do, when it's not being done to you.
LANGUAGES Slovene, English, German, Italian
CHILDREN More than welcome.
WEATHER Summers are warm, with July and
August are the hottest months, with daytime temperatures
around 25C, while during spring and autumn you can expect
around 15-20C.
Winters can be very cold indeed, with deep snow sometimes
during January and February.
WHEN Vitarium is open throughout the
year.
TO TAKE WITH YOU In the summer, shorts, T-shirts,
sturdy shoes or boots (if hiking), something warm for the evenings
and something waterproof in case it rains, for daytime
adventures. In winter: wrap up!
CAR HIRE AVIS - click on this link and you will open a new window for the Avis Slovenia website, from where you can book your car.
HOW TO GET THERE
Closest destination airports are in this colour.
Click on the airline name to open their web page in a new window. From Gatwick: Ljubljana with Adria (the national airline).
From Stansted: Ljubljana or Rijeka with EasyJet. Trieste, Klagenfurt, Graz or Balaton with Ryanair. From Luton: Zagreb with Wizz. From Manchester: Ljubljana with Adria (summer months only). From Bristol:
Venice with EasyJet. From Birmingham: Trieste with Ryanair, Wednesday and Sunday only.
Buffet breakfast, daily cleaning,
daily linen/towel change, access to all pools
Price excludes:
Tourist tax at €1.30/day
Children:
Under 4: free. 4-12 50% if
share with parents, 20% if not.
July and August: first child under 12 with parents... FREE!
Open:
All year
Minimum stay, nights:
Single booking: 3, Itinerary booking: 2
Deposit:
A deposit of between 10% and 25% will be required at the time of booking. The remainder will be payable directly to the hotel by you upon your arrival. Note that we do not add an extra margin to the hotel's prices: the price you pay by booking through us is exactly the same as the hotel's.
DRIVING FROM LJUBLJANA TO VITARIUM
Take the E70 south-east towards Novo Mesto and Zagreb. About two kilometres past the turn-off for Novo Mesto is Otočec. Stop and have a look at the pretty castle. From Otočec, take the smaller, parallel road in the same direction - in about five minutes it will take you over the main road and onwards to Šmarješke Toplice.
Journey time is about 1.5 hours. Zagreb is about another hour further on, should you wish to visit for the day.
NOTE: there is now a vinjeta system on Slovenian motorways for collecting tolls. You can buy a vinjeta at any petrol station near the motorway or the airport. For 95/30/15 euros per year/month/week, you will receive a sticker that must be displayed on the front windscreen of your car.
