Our review of three nights at Marriott's Sheraton Zagreb Hotel in Croatia
For a recent three-night trip to Zagreb in Croatia, we opted to stay at the Sheraton Zagreb Hotel, one of the 30 brands under the Marriott umbrella. Research suggested that this was one of the city’s best hotels, and given that we are members of the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty scheme and that the hotel had both a gym and a spa area, this appeared a sensible choice.
Location
First things first, Zagreb is a relatively small capital city, so for those like us who like to walk a fair amount, it doesn’t appear that you can go too wrong in terms of distance from the main sites and areas of interest.
Broadly, Zagreb is divided into the older (and smaller) Upper Town and the Habsburg-era Lower Town, the two of which are divided by either a short funicular railway or a walk that is either strenuous or invigorating depending on your perspective. In truth, the main areas for restaurants, cafes, bars and shops are towards the northern side of the Lower Town, abutting the Upper Town.
The Sheraton is located in the Lower Town, a short walk from a series of green park-like squares (Tomislavov Trg, Strossmayerov Trg and Zrinjevac Park), which are surrounded by some lovely buildings that make up many of Zagreb’s most notable cultural institutions. The taxi from the airport took about 25 minutes, and the train station is about a 10-minute walk away next to Strossmayerov Trg.
A walk to the main pedestrianised areas of cafes, bars and restaurants (Cvjetni Trg and Tkalcieva) takes about 15-20 minutes apiece. The immediate environs of the hotel are adequate, albeit relatively uninspiring. It is a short walk (5-10 minutes) to find the first points of interest and whilst we exclusively walked, those who are alone or less willing / able to walk might prefer to make use of a taxi or tram, particularly at night when some of the roads approaching the hotel are quite dark.
Lobby / Arrival
Upon arrival, this felt like a classic, if perhaps slightly dated upscale business hotel, and very typical of the properties of those large international chains that you will find in Central & Eastern Europe. The imposing six-storey, glass-clad hotel occupies a whole city block and has over 300 rooms.
The large, spacious lobby area is bordered on either side by equally large restaurant and bar areas. There is also a mezzanine balcony for the first floor. If you were parachuted in, it feels like it could be any year from 1990 onwards.
The front desk staff were friendly and efficient, and we were able to check-in immediately. Due to my Marriot Bonvoy status, we benefited from the late check-out of 2pm. On previous stays at Marriot properties, we have also received a room upgrade on account of this status, but this did not occur this time.
There are three key card-operated lifts to take you to the relevant floor, and both the lobby area and the lifts had hand sanitizer dispensers.
The landing and carpet hallways were a bit more worn that I would have expected, and their colour also meant the approach to the room was a little dark. Throughout our stay, I was also struck by how many guests left finished room service items outside their rooms – not just whole plates, but also glasses and the odd lonely discarded fork.
The Room
The room itself was perfectly spacious and adequate, if again slightly uninspiring. The wooden furniture was nice enough, but the carpet colour and relatively limited lighting did contribute to quite a dark feel. There also wasn’t any view to speak of.
Wear and tear was also evident in some places, including on the headboard of the bed and in various places on the walls.
It also felt like the technology in the room could do with updating, as the hairdryer was frustratingly weak and the TV was pretty small by modern standards. This wasn’t an issue for us as we don’t tend to watch TV whilst away, but that would likely frustrate others.
Helpfully, the room had some complimentary bottles of water, which were replaced each day. There was also the ability make cups of tea and coffee, but the tea selection was limited to English Breakfast and Apple. Fortunately, we were able to buy some others from a small supermarket opposite the hotel.
The bathroom was probably the nicest part of the room, with plenty of space and everything appearing clean and relatively modern. The shower had both fixed and removable heads with good water pressure and responsive temperature ranges. The only small problem was when the wall-mounted shower gel dispenser fell off the wall during the night and caused an almighty bang. Whilst this gave us a fright, it was certainly better than it falling on our foot whilst in there!
Food & Beverage Facilities
We rarely seek to have breakfast in a hotel, whether it is included or not. Partly because we generally prefer to eat a little later, and also because we really enjoy finding somewhere local to enjoy it. As breakfast was not included in our room rate here, we therefore opted not to pay extra for it.
We could see however that the breakfast area was large, bright and airy, with seemingly a good range of options. It was pretty full on each day of our stay.
Hotel bars tend to hold as little appeal as for us as hotel breakfasts, but we did however pop in for a nightcap after a somewhat chilly 15-minute walk back one night. As you might expect, there was a really extensive range most types of drink, and the prices were actually much more reasonable that I had anticipated.
Gym & Spa
One of the key attractions of the Sheraton for us was the gym, pool and spa facilities. As we would be staying for three nights and would have three full days in the city, we felt we would have the chance to make use of these facilities rather than needing to be up at the crack of dawn to ensure that we saw everything the city had to offer.
Located on the first floor of the hotel, the whole array of facilities was open until 9pm each night, with self-entry access to the gym once the reception desk had closed.
The gym itself was very impressive in terms of size, cleanliness and range of equipment. I made use of this each morning, and on two of the three days, I was completely alone. The only problem I had was that the cross trainer suddenly died about 10 minutes into my session on the final day, and would not switch back on.
The pool and sauna areas were very pleasant, with a stylish design and a good overall level of cleanliness. Again, they were very quiet, so engendered a relaxing and private experience. The pool was of a very decent size, and there were two Finnish Saunas (albeit one was broken), plenty of shower facilities and complimentary towels.
The major sour point was the Turkish Sauna / steam room, which had a pretty awful smell in it. This was noticeable when we opened the door to it each day - to me, it was vaguely familiar of the gent’s toilet, but my wife was convinced that it was due to mould. Either way, we couldn’t face using it and therefore limited ourselves to the Finnish sauna.
There were also massage and spa treatment options available, but in the interests of time, we didn’t explore these further.
Overall Impression
It is often remarked that the Sheraton chain as a whole has become somewhat tired, as evidenced by the fact that Marriott have announced the start of a plan to revamp a large proportion of the chain’s properties.
This general feeling chimes with our experiences on our visit. Whilst we really benefited from using the gym and spa, I will give some further thought to opting for a Sheraton again.
This hotel can be booked via the Marriott website (thus ensuring Marriott Bonvoy points). Alternatively, if you are not bothered by the points, or wish to check other accommodation options in Zagreb / elsewhere in Croatia, please check below:
Please also check out our article detailing the best things to eat, drink and do whilst in Zagreb. Additionally, for your return journey, you may be interested in our review of the Primeclass airport lounge in Zagreb airport.
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