The “Hotel Porto In”:https://www.kotor-hotelportoin.com/index.php/en/ is situated outside the old town of Kotor in Montenegro. Staying in the old town itself, may be more atmospheric, but you need to be prepared to carry your luggage as it’s completely pedestrianised. We felt the Porto In offered proximity, being only a five-minute walk to the sights, but ease, as we were dropped off right outside the hotel.
Our welcome was relatively cursory: passports were photocopied, we were told breakfast was from 7am to 10.30am and that our key card told us how to access the complimentary Wi-Fi. Later I requested a city map to be told they didn’t have any (despite the room information saying they were available at reception) and on asking to see the dinner menu, was told it was available in the dining room, but there was no one there (hmm, a la carte meals are said to be available between 7am and 11pm).
The modern hotel has 17 rooms spread over three floors and although there was a lift, as we were on the second floor, we tended to use the stairs for exercise. Our room, 204, was spacious with large double bed, long shelf/desk with chair, plenty of space to open two suitcases, wardrobe, safe and slippers. The mini bar was so well stocked with a vast range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and chocolates, it was hard to find space to put our own purchases (a supermarket was ideally located between the hotel and the old town). A kettle was supplied, but strangely there was no tea, coffee or cups. Only one side of the bed had a bedside table and plug points, the other cabinet was against the wall opposite the bed. It appeared to be a case of buying the cabinets and finding both wouldn’t fit. On the plus side, there were lots of plug points in useful, accessible places.
There was a tiny bathroom with good open shower and a large oval basin, plenty of space for toiletries and a wall mounted hairdryer near a mirror. The loo was separate and although it was a small room, they’d squeezed in a tiny handbasin which made it even more squashed. It would have been more practical to have them together to maximise space.
All rooms had a small balcony with two chairs and table, but ours overlooked a busy road and so it was a little noisy (even with the windows shut, the noise of traffic was heard). However, we also had spectacular views of Mount Lovcen: Kotor, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, lies in its foothills.
There was air conditioning, but we couldn’t make it work on our first night and as day-time temperatures were 30 degrees, we spent a rather hot night. The following day, we returned to our room to find our hung-up towels had disappeared and robes, which had not been there before, had been hung in their place. The manager apologised for this and for the lack of AC which was due to a central problem. She offered to switch us to a room at the back away from the main road so we could leave the window open or to find another hotel for us. However, as we’d been travelling for some weeks, neither were appealing, so she offered to send lemonade to our room. It took a while but turned out to be a large jug of tart homemade cloudy lemonade with a huge bowl of freshly chopped fruit along with plates and cutlery. Returning to our room on the second day in the late afternoon, we found our room hadn’t been serviced. Once again, the manager apologised and sent up a fan as the AC still hadn’t been fixed.
We fared better at breakfast when a delightful young girl presented us with a laminated card saying that “after a continental breakfast which will be presented soon” we could choose anything from the remaining items, which included everything we wanted including eggs anyway, sausage, bacon, salad, fruit, cereals, juices, coffees etc. The ‘continental breakfast’ turned out to be a basket of bread, plate of jams and honey and another of charcuterie and cheese. We ordered fruit (diced banana, pineapple and orange), yoghurt and juice and could have shared all three as they were so huge.
Our stay at this hotel wasn’t without its problems, but we still loved the location.
