It’s probably no surprise to learn that the “Hotel Aquastar Danube”:http://www.hotelkladovo.rs/ is located on the shore of the River Danube, with Romania on one side and Serbia on the other. We stayed for one-night at the four-star hotel in Kladovo, whilst touring Serbia.
We arrived at 6pm after a full day’s sightseeing, so were pleased that check in was quick and simple. We were allocated one of the best rooms (3b), a suite with river view. There are 49 rooms, located over 3 floors, with two efficient lifts. The carpets in the corridors and our suite, were an impractical plain beige and I was conscious that the dried mud on my boots, left a trail behind me.
Our living area had a comfortable two-seater sofa, coffee table, large TV, well stocked mini bar, desk and chair. The bedroom had a large, but very low double bed, bedside tables, desk and chair, and a wardrobe with safe, robes and slippers which, for a single night, we didn’t trouble.
The bathroom was a good size with bath and shower over it, basin and loo. The lighting was good, but the wall mounted hair dryer was relatively useless. The water was hot and powerful, but unfortunately, the position of the shower head resulted in a flooded floor.
Although this appeared to be a relatively modern hotel, we only found two plug points for charging and both had lights plugged into them (one was behind the bedroom desk and therefore not easily accessible). The air-conditioning didn’t appear to work, making the room was very warm, but fortunately the windows opened.
The hotel has complimentary Wi-Fi, a circular outdoor pool plus indoor pool and spa which we didn’t get chance to explore. Instead, we wandered along the promenade for a pre-dinner stroll where we photographed a guy who’d just caught a huge fish. As it was such a lovely evening, we enjoyed a beer in their exterior café.
As well as the café, there are two restaurants, The Imperator and Fish Restaurant, all on the front to attract non-residents. At 7.30pm we wondered if the former was open as there was no one in: staff nor guests. However, a delightful young man quickly appeared and having asked for house white wine, produced a well-chilled bottle from Kladovo. The menu had a good range of starters, salads, and grilled meat dishes as well as pasta and pizza. Our guide had mentioned a typical Serbian dish to us Karađorđe’s schnitzel, which I chose. This was described on the menu as pork scallopina, stuffed with sour cheese, panned ‘Wienna style’ served with fried potatoes and tartare sauce. Roy chose a chicken dish wrapped in prosciutto with cheese and mushrooms and we had shared a šopska salata (tomato, cucumber and grated white cheese). Both mains were wheeled out on a trolley and were the biggest platefuls ever, with a basket of 8 large hunks of bread. The wine was good and as the food was freshly prepared and took a while to arrive, went down a treat with a bottle of sparkling water. The waiter spoke good English and was keen to know the difference between ‘being British’ and ‘being English’. This inevitably developed into a chat about football and the fact that we had four English clubs in the two European football finals. He was also a big Harry Potter fan and wanted to visit England and Hogwarts. We finished on espresso with hot milk and, whilst our guidebook suggested the restaurant was expensive, we thought it was good value at 3,100 Dinar or £23.
During our meal, we could see the fisherman we’d photographed earlier, through the window where his bike was propped up. Each time he caught another fish, he tapped on the window and posed with his latest catch.
On the opposite bank of the Danube was a Romanian industrial area with cranes and factories clearly visibly especially when I was photographing the sunrise at 5am.
At breakfast we were the only guests. We were served by a delightful young girl who offered a range of cooked dishes, orange juice and coffee. The ham and eggs had three fried eggs and the cheese omelette was huge. The dishes were accompanied by a large bowl of tomato chunks and cucumber slices and the breadbasket once again had 8 hunks of bread. Feeling rather full, we walked along the promenade to the ‘town beach’ which was littered with plastic bottles and pieces of broken glass.
On paying our bill, there were four staff behind reception: our guide confirmed we’d been the only three guests in the hotel overnight.