Camping Villa First Row - 5 persons

I stayed there for a week and realized that this campground isn’t suitable for people with disabilities or the elderly because there’s no way to get into the ocean. There are no steps, ramps, or handrails to help you get into the ocean. I also had to pay for my stay upon arrival, and I heard from other guests that you don’t get a refund if you leave early due to bad weather or illness. I won’t be visiting this campground again in the future.

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We’ve been coming to Arena Grand Kažela regularly for five years, and generally speaking, it’s a really great campground in a beautiful location. Unfortunately, that made our experience this year all the more disappointing.

We had already booked and paid for a luxury campsite right by the sea back in November for our entire stay. It wasn’t … until we arrived that we were told we’d have to move to a different site after two days. Anyone who travels with a trailer knows what that means: setting everything up—electricity, water, furniture, etc.—and then, two days later, taking it all down, moving the trailer, and setting everything up all over again.

What was particularly frustrating: we weren’t the only ones. Several campers with luxury sites told us they had the same problem. Since we booked back in November, this is hard for us to understand and, unfortunately, doesn’t reflect well on their occupancy planning.

As an alternative, we were initially offered a so-called “upgrade.” While the new sites are also right by the sea, they’re very far from the center of the campground, from Medulin, and from important amenities. For us, that would have been more of a downgrade. Other pitches offered, in turn, did not match the quality and location of our booked Luxury pitch.

We would like to expressly praise the young woman at the front desk. She really tried everything to find a solution, was visibly unhappy with the situation herself, and was probably the least to blame in the end. Our criticism is directed specifically at the booking and occupancy management, not at her.

On the positive side, the completely renovated restroom facilities have turned out really beautifully. The entertainment and activities are also good. The scenery, the sea, and the lovely path to Medulin are major pluses anyway.

However, we find the adjacent youth camps increasingly disruptive. The young people use the same restroom facilities as the guests staying in the standard and luxury campsites. As a result, it can get very busy there at times, and it gets quite loud, especially in the evenings.

We also see an urgent need for action regarding traffic on the campground. Some teenagers ride electric scooters and mopeds at very high speeds along the paths, even at night—in our estimation, sometimes as fast as 50 to 60 km/h. We hardly noticed any visible security personnel during our stay. There is also a lack of staff presence at the gate, which we used to see in the past.

The lighting also needs improvement. Many paths—including those along the beach and between the restroom buildings and campsites—are very dark at night or not lit at all.

Conclusion: It’s still a beautiful campground with many strengths, and we’ve enjoyed visiting it for the past five years. This year, however, we’ve been particularly disappointed with the booking management. In our view, anyone who books and pays for a high-quality luxury campsite months in advance shouldn’t have to pack up all their camping gear and move after just two days. Arena urgently needs to make improvements in this area, as well as in security and lighting. Read more Show less

I just took a look at the campground. It's a large-scale campground with separate sites...

We had a mobile home in the front row by the sea. Fantastic view, spacious garden. Plenty of space for lounge chairs on the patio, plus a gravel area next to the mobile home, a hanging chair,....
We didn’t use the pool—just the slide once. For the price, it would be nice if the lounge chairs were included.
The only drawback: day visitors who … aren’t from the campground (locals or guests from other hotels in Medulin) who don’t pay for an expensive mobile home and spend the day in front of the fence—they’re loud, smoke, and lie around shirtless even though there’s a designated nudist area.

There are many e-scooters that go very fast, especially those ridden by children. The 20 km/h speed limit isn’t being observed. Perhaps enforcement would be a good idea. Read more Show less

Reservation management is a disaster. Upon check-in, we were informed that due to an internal overbooking error, we cannot stay on one pitch for our entire 4-night stay. We are forced to pack up our caravan, equipment, and dog midway through our vacation and move to a different spot because they double-booked the pitch. For a Deluxe category and … as an Arena Rewards loyalty member, I expected a much more professional approach and automatic compensation for such a major inconvenience. Very disappointing logistics. Read more Show less