HOTEL SIPAN

Lovely location, Nice hotel, very clean. Lovely historic building. Very friendly staff. Amazing views at the front. Would give it 5 stars but for the restaurant. Breakfast very excellent and unhurried, but the evening menu is expensive, portions are small and ingredients cheap. Such a shame. Try the pizzeria a bit further down. Free sunbeds during the day that vacate in the early afternoon, so lovely for cooling down and watching the sunset after a day at the fantastic beach. Canoes available and a stock of books to raid. Internet area in lounge. A lovely relaxing stay. Would go again. - Luka is a fishing village first and a resort second. The normal business of a community is going on around you. This is refreshing, but be warned -the resort is quiet, but occasionally the locals do like to party.

Firstly, this hotel is in a perfect location! Sipanska Luka is absolutely beautiful, so quiet but with atmosphere in the evening. The stony beach is stunning and only 500m walk from the hotel. Has to be the most calm, tranquil setting and was exactly what we needed for a relaxing week. Secondly, the staff couldn't be more helpful, polite, and friendly. Really great service! Our overall experience was very good but there are definite areas for improvement: - Breakfast was okay, but definitely could've been changed a couple of times during the week. Scrambled eggs and sausages were nice but bacon and poached eggs were inedible. Shame to see tinned fruit when on holiday but perfectly fine, along with nice bread rolls and pastries. - There were dark stains on our carpet (had a superior village-facing room) which looked a bit nasty. The room was very spacious which was great, but the layout hadn't been thought through - no power socket or light at dressing table. We felt overall the whole hotel needed a lick of paint. - The facilities could be improved. A small gym and/or a pool would enhance this hotel tenfold. The activities that were on offer were good though - paddleboards, kayaks, bikes etc. One you get to the island you understand that it's not a resort, which was absolutely perfect for us, but we did think a couple of additions would make it perfect. I would definitely recommend this hotel to anyone. I feel absolutely rejuvenated and I've never spent a holiday in such a relaxing, tranquil haven. Just don't expect luxury if you book Hotel Sipan - it's not that kind of holiday, and you'll enjoy it a lot more if you go open-minded and expecting barefoot, laid-back fun. Thanks to all the staff for a really lovely stay! A couple of areas for improvement but we still loved our holiday there

Have just returned from a fabulous holiday at Hotel Sipan. The location is amazing in a beautiful unspoilt village. The hotel and staff were amazing with absolutely delicious food. We certainly plan to return.

The views from the outdoor dining area were amazing and located in a beautiful village setting. Amazing walks in the area and located well for trips to the mainland and other islands. Transfer was great by boat..

My wife and myself have just returned from a wonderfully relaxing week staying at this hotel. I am going to try not to repeat too much on what everyone else has commented on as I think it paints the picture. We expected peacefulness and friendliness and we gathered this in bucket loads. The hotel is not five star but its a more than adequate three star - think people need to bear this in mind given the cost. The bedroom was functional for us, we had a classic village view with a lovely vista of the Church (see photo). Everywhere was clean and if I have one minor gripe is that landing carpets were slightly marked as were some of the walls in room - we expect this at near to end of season. The lounge area is lovely and on the one rainy afternoon we encountered we were happy to relax here. We had booked directly with the hotel and if people are thinking of doing this then their help and assistance can not be faulted. Jelena especially would respond almost immediately and was so helpful during our stay - she could teach a few in UK about customer services! Transfers from hotel were on time and efficient. Unfortunately we arrived late so did not totally appreciate the forty minute minibus ride to the port, the ten minute boat trip to Sudurad or the ten minute journey though this luscious Isle. The return journey however almost became a highlight itself with the most amazing sunsets seen over Sipan and Dubrovnik. In our opinion breakfast was excellent and we gorged every morning on the terrace just looking at the view and the world go by. To review the hotel however has to be in context of its location. It is the central place in this village and although our other experiences were really nothing to do with venue it is why I recommend it wholeheartedly. Our days were mainly taking the ten minute stroll to the beach area which in early September was quiet and peaceful. A friendly bar operates which is fairly cheap given it has a captive audience eg 30KN a beer. Evenings we would meet at the No Name Bar which as we had read served the cheapest lager in the village at 16KN and in our opinion much better the Cafe Bar Luka which is next door yet is double the price. I shall reserve fuller comment on their pages. Now the rub for us is that we are not huge fans of fish so we did worry that we would struggle to eat. We ate once at hotel however and it was fine but expensive and service was not as good as the daytime. We ate once at Konoba Taurus which we found poor but a lovely location. We thus dined most nights at Konoba Pizzeria-Lukrecija and feasted on wonderful pasta, pizza and kebabs. Our evenings would end at the far side of harbour at Cafe Bar Aramis which has no listing yet on here despite it being open since 1984. This is by far the best bar as it has a lovely location and a buzz from the various small cruise ships that visit. We met some lovely people over a beer which was slightly more expensive at 20KN but worth it for the better quality Lasko. So that was our basis of week at Hotel Sipan but my overriding memory will be simply wandering around the village and always being greeted by people with a smile. Here you actually feel part of the community from the elderly men putting the world to right outside the well stocked little shop, to the fishermen in the harbour and the women going about their daily work. There is so little traffic so even sitting out front of the hotel itself was a joy. The only noise during our stay was the peaceful tones of the church bells, the odd yelping of the local Golden Jackals (not dangerous and almost impossible to see) and the wake up crowing of a cockerel. There are many cats that frequent the village. They appeared to be very well looked after and for non cat lovers they do not scavenge or make a nuisance of themselves. For cat lovers, most appreciate a stroke but seem overly spoilt on the fresh fish that is given to them by locals. We did see one that had been in a fight and found a Facebook site for SOS for Dubrovnik cats who responded immediately and confirmed the cats are well looked after. I am a keen photographer so the village provided loads of scope to capture the essence of the village. It is a shame that many buildings have fallen into disrepair but it is a photographers paradise to photograph the various textures of the buildings. A walk up the Stjepan Church Tower is a must. I am a very early riser so my day would begin at 4.30 on a walkabout on the Island and thus I managed to see most of it. Thank you to Boris the nightwatchman at the hotel for his helpful advice although I suspect he thought I was crazy as I entered the night before the sun had risen. The highlight is the clamber up Velji Vrh, the highest point on the island, and watch the sun rise. We dont make holiday friends but you soon get to know a few other couple and its always nice to share experiences. Sipan is just that sort of slow paced lifestyle. It just feels safe here away from the mayhem everywhere else. Thank you Hotel Sipan for a relaxing break and now of course we have to adapt to the stupidly busy lifestyle we seem to think is acceptable.