Hotel Neptun

Hotel Neptun stands on Veli Brijun, the largest of the Brijuni islands, a small archipelago just off the south-western coast of Istria, near Pula, that is protected as a national park. Access to the islands is controlled, and visitors arrive by boat from the village of Fažana, so the islands have a quiet, private character that is very different from the mainland resorts. The hotel is one of a small number of places to stay on Veli Brijun and is part of the historic fabric of the island, rather than a modern resort.

The islands owe their present appearance to the Viennese industrialist Paul Kupelwieser, who bought the archipelago in the 1890s, when it was a malaria-ridden, neglected place, and set about turning it into a health resort for the aristocracy and the wealthy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He engaged the famous bacteriologist Robert Koch to help eradicate malaria, planted parks and olive groves, and built villas and hotels, which were completed in the early twentieth century. Hotel Neptun dates from that period and still reflects the architecture of the time, with stone balconies, tall windows and a quiet elegance. After the Second World War, the islands became the summer residence of Josip Broz Tito, who received heads of state, film stars and other visitors there, and in 1983, they were declared a national park.

Staying in the hotel means being part of the island, not a visitor passing through. Rooms are comfortable, with the usual modern conveniences, but the experience is about simplicity, silence and nature rather than spa or entertainment. Guests swim from the rocky shore, walk through the parkland and pine woods, and watch fallow deer and other animals grazing under the trees. In the evening, when the day visitors have left, the island is very quiet, and the sky is dark enough to see the stars.

Everything on the island is within reach. Veli Brijun has a safari park, with animals that were given to Tito by foreign leaders, a museum dedicated to his life, the remains of a Roman villa at Verige Bay, a Byzantine fortress known as the Castrum, and footprints of dinosaurs on the shore that are about a hundred million years old. An olive tree thought to be around sixteen centuries old, still bearing fruit, is another of the sights, and bicycles, golf carts and walking routes let you explore at your own pace.

Book well in advance, since the number of rooms is small, and check what is included, as the national park fees and transport may apply. The hotel suits couples, nature lovers and those who value peace and history. Allow at least a night to feel the quiet of the island.