Le Meridien Lav

Nice hotel in a lovely setting. Great gym and sauna facilities. Some good restaurants and bars in the complex, especially the beach bar. Breakfast is decent. Beach is nice to relax and spend a day in the sun. I would return, although some of the staff are a little odd.

I am an American who has been living in Croatia for 6 years. I love the country deeply and truly care about how it is perceived by foreign tourists given the impact they have on the local and national economy. This hotel is not at all representative of the quality, hospitality, or level of service that Croatian establishments can and do offer. This is a lazy, dirty, and unprofessional establishment that piggybacks off a recognizable brand name and impressive external architecture. Upon checking in my girlfriend (a Croat) was aggressively upsold to a higher room category and unnecessary add ons. While I did not appreciate the high-pressure sales tactics the sea view ended up being the only tolerable part of my experience here. Staff also would not allow me to park near the hotel and had blocked off literally dozens of spaces for seemingly no reason. I was directed to an overcrowded parking lot which required a 5-minute uphill walk to get back to the hotel. We arrived in the room to find holes in the wall which had been lazily plastered over, in some cases the plaster already breaking. We also found appliances such as the mini-fridge did not work. The shower was in a horrible state with hair from the previous guests still in the drain. The room itself is beyond dated and unacceptable for a hotel that markets itself as 5 stars. We ordered room service one night and waited for well over 2 hours. despite advertising both an infirmary and hairdresser on site we were told none of these services were working during our stay. My girlfriend needed a simple Advil and the hotel's only solution was to call a 25 euro taxi to a local hospital. This was proposed in an almost sarcastic tone. Regarding food and drink: The prices they are charging vs the national norm (even for luxury hotels) are egregious. The admin at the beach bar is totally out of whack I was given the wrong bill several times. In the lobby bar I asked for a wine list only for a waiter to disappear for 30 minutes and return with a damaged binder from the mid 2000s. By this time I had consumed two drinks and when I told him that I was no longer interested in ordering a bottle of wine he was visibly annoyed. Breakfast is a joke. Food is cold bland and I would not be surprised if it was leftover from the previous day. The beach facilities are fine but low quality by Croatian standards. You are literally swimming right next to the marina so the water is far from pristine. The pool area is a chaotic mess that has not been updated in years. There was a physical overflow of people spilling out towards the parking lot complete with kids (and adults) screaming and creating a less than desirable environment for relaxation. Nothing about the hotels facilitates are 5 star by international standards and you can tell that the parent company does not care about this property. Nothing about this place is relaxing and while some staff are friendly they clearly have not received the proper training to work in a 5-star hotel. The most unacceptable part of my stay was when upon check out the receptionist insisted that I had a 3,000kn cash balance that I had not spent. As such she informed me that my room charges were covered and she in fact had to pay me 560kn. I told her and 2 managers that this was incorrect and I had no cash balance. I presented them my credit cards in a very direct way and told them I wanted to pay I began to repeat this in frustration as time went on. They INSISTED it was not a mistake and told me that they could not check me out (nor produce the invoice I required) until this process was completed they then paid me out with no type of receipt. I tried to leave without the money but the staff protested saying it is not allowed for them to take the money back. I was running late for a ferry I eventually ran out of time trying to rectify their error. I will be blunt I never thought I would experience such a level of unprofessionalism to see cash changing hands in a major establishment with no written record. I later received a call from a clearly vexed general manager who instead of apologizing seemed upset with me for the entire situation. Of course, I agreed to pay for my room charges I asked to be sent the correct invoice for my records once he processed this. instead of atoning for his mistake and charging me for what I had spent he updated my invoice to include falsified charges in order to cover the cash that his staff had paid me out off the books despite an explicit protest from me. In essence, I paid for their stupidity. Essentially an unofficial cash advance. This is not only unacceptable for a hotel but it is illegal. Never any sort of apology for wasting hours of my day dealing with their mix up just rude staff and shady business practices. Had it not been for American Express I would still be dealing with this administrative nightmare. As anyone who has ever balanced accounts knows you cannot just have phantom cash in your bookkeeping which is exactly the situation this hotel put me in. It saddens me to see other reviewers on this form saying that their experience at this hotel has pushed them to choose places like Spain and Greece over Croatia for future trips. Croatia is an amazing country with a long and storied tradition of hospitality, especially on the Adriatic coast. Unfortunately, if this was my only experience in Croatia I would also assume it to be a country of lazy cheats as that is the style in which the hotel is run. For the sake of your holiday and for the sake of your lasting perception of the beautiful country of Croatia and its people I beg you to stay elsewhere.

Overall, we had a wonderful 2-night stay at Le M??ridien Lav. With 380 rooms this is a huge resort. Extra points go for having three Tesla destination chargers that work great! Check in and the front desk staff are slick and professional and everything carried out in an efficient manner. Currency exchange carried out here effectively. The sea view suite was well appointed with a great desk for working in, sufficient storage space and great toiletries. The house keeping requests made through BONVOY were carried out very efficiently. Our first night dining at the Italian/Mediterranean restaurant the food was very average however the waitress Sara was outstanding! Our second night at 7palms the food and service were both exceptional. Our time spent lounging around the pool and ordering delicious food from the pool bar was a great asset to the resort. The ladies working at the pool bar were extremely friendly and perform a wonderful service. In general, the staff went above and beyond which makes a huge difference in such a gigantic room resort. The only thing that let the hotel down was the cleaning around the indoor pool. The sauna was unacceptable in terms of cleanliness as was the pool floor. Sad. Breakfast was a standard, international affair with something there for everyone. I thoroughly enjoyed the infused water. The location is just a short 15 minute (without traffic) to the city Centre of Split and taxis are surrounding the hotel. There is something here for everyone. A wonderful few days, highly recommended and would return.