Isabella Island Resort, Valamar Collection

I honestly couldn’t fault the Valamar Isabella Island Resort. We have just spent 5 days all inclusive there as a family with two young children. The island is beautiful and the children’s facilities are amazing (why we chose this hotel in the first place). There are many indoor and outdoor play spaces for children of all ages, including a handy playroom accessible from the dining area which really helped our meal times. The maro club building is impressive with several different rooms with toys, space for activities (we didn’t join any of the organised activities but they looked fun) and a great soft play. We didn’t go in all of the pools as our children are very young and can’t swim but the baby pool was heated and kept them entertained for hours. We all enjoyed the food and drinks provision - even being vegetarian there was plenty of options and variety. I was surprised with how much food was on offer. Also With our uk agency package we had great selection of cocktails and spirits to chose from. But what really makes this place exceptional is the staff. Every single staff member we encountered greeted us instantly with warmth and professionalism. They went out of their way to help us, consistently bringing our Highchairs to us at dinner, offering to drive us and our bags around, immediately showing us alternative rooms and switching us without question when we were struggling to manage the hill and balcony with our additional needs daughter, creating a lovely atmosphere in the maro club where the staff are excellent with the children. It really stood out to me that we felt so welcome and I was touched that staff members seemed to personally care about providing guests with a positive experience. I hope we can return in the future. Thank you so much.

Unfortunately only giving 2 stars for this holiday. When we came in September 2023 I was raving about this hotel- from the location to the staff and the accommodation. Everytime someone asked me about this hotel it was always a 10/10. Unfortunately fast forward to September 2025, when we was looking forward to arriving. To find out that the hotel has been changed from half board to all inclusive. Hotel was booked in June 2024, all inclusive started May 2025. When we arrived on the 9th September and was booking in - we got asked if we had been before, when we said yes, the member of staff never mentioned anything about the changes that was disappointment no. 1. When we asked about getting something to eat as we had been up since 3 am thinking we could get at the pool bar to be told bluntly that NO we had to go back over to the mainland. Disappointment no. 2. We could upgrade our accommodation which we first booked the hotel room but we got the villa, so we could upgrade the room but not the half board to all inclusive. Get to our villa, the cleanliness has gone down hill. Food is not fantastic, it’s all rushed going from breakfast to lunch, to snacks to tea. Some members of staff are helpful and will come and talk to you, a lot wont give you the time of day. When it used to be half board, if you got a drink at the pool bar the staff would come and speak to you and ask about your holiday etc. For a company that is promoting helping the environment, not now with all the paper cups, paper plates. I am not recommending this hotel.

Two years ago I gave this hotel 5 out of 5 stars on Google, but now I have to update my review. Today it deserves only 2, or at best 3 stars. We have stayed at Hotel Isabella several times, but unfortunately, in recent years the quality has gone down while the prices have gone up significantly. Compared to the earlier half-board, all-inclusive has been added, but the offer is very limited and mostly the same every day. Guests naturally expect a higher level of service with all-inclusive, but this is simply not the case here. The food is repetitive and lacks variety or creativity. In the end, we often ate just pizza and pasta. There are hardly any proper meals for children, soups were sometimes too salty, and seafood was almost completely missing, even though this is exactly what many guests look forward to at the seaside. Fish was usually available, but always in the same form, with no real innovation. When we spoke with other parents, they more or less confirmed the same experience. In June the food selection was actually wider than in August, even though the August stay was more expensive, which makes little sense. Another unpleasant surprise was parking. The hotel automatically charged us for parking even though we didn’t use their parking lot at all. We only stayed one night but were charged for the entire stay. If the guest doesn’t notice, they end up paying unnecessarily. There was absolutely no apology from the hotel for the incorrect parking charge. This approach does not feel professional. We were also disappointed by repeated small issues that never got fixed, for example, the absence of children’s spoons at the tables. I mentioned this several times over the years, but nothing changed. This shows that the hotel does not really listen to its clients. The previous manager always tried to communicate with guests and keep the hotel at a good standard, but since then the quality has clearly gone down. June was already worse than the previous year, and August was even worse. I believe that if the previous manager were still in charge, the level of service would be much higher. One more thing that feels questionable is the hotel’s Google rating. For Isabella it shows 4.8 (96%), while on Booking.com it is 8.5 (85%). The reviews on Booking sound realistic, but the overly positive Google reviews simply don’t reflect the actual experience. The hotel impressed us on our first stays, but nothing has improved since then. After our June holiday we already considered choosing another place, and we only returned in August because we booked last minute. Unless the services improve, we will most likely stay elsewhere next time.

The location is great, rooms and service are what you would expect at this price. But I paid for all inclusive and was very disappointed 😞. We met guests who had paid for half board and had the same options us us, but without the midday meal. There was only beer and wine included in the package. Cocktails were all priced considerably higher as in Poreč. The food was repetitive (you can interpret that away way you like and it would be correct). Also, there was a total lack of lifeguards and liferings by the beaches and swimming areas. I could not in all honesty recommend this resort until they sort out the food.

We had a lovely holiday here. The food was plentiful and excellent; beaches, pools and slides kept everyone occupied for a week. We didn't even get to most of the organised activities.

Amazing location. A great free ferry service running every 15-30 minutes from dawn till late evening. Plenty of great restaurants along the harbour in Porec. However not quite the 4-5 stars hotel that we anticipated. Air con wasn't working for the whole visit (late May and temperatures rising) - apparently the whole hotel was still in "heating mode". Reception desk not overly helpful on a number of issues. We booked all inclusive and bar staff didn't seem to know what drinks/cocktails that actually included.

The island of Sveti Nikola on which the Isabella Island Resort is based is spectacularly beautiful with some amazing views. The hotel itself is modern with good rooms and very friendly and helpful staff. The ferry to the attractive town of Poreč works very well and always on time. However, there are some issues which potential guests should be aware of: The Tui description of the resort can be misleading with many of the limitations confined to the small print. The TUI transfers were not well organised; coaches have to drop you at the bus station, a 10-to-15-minute walk away from the ferry. Minibuses were supposed to be organised but we had to wait 40 minutes with our suitcases for this to happen. The Tui rep should have pre ordered them before the coach arrived at the bus station. Similarly on the return the TUI rep who arranged to meet everyone off the ferry did not arrive and there was a mad scramble for a minibus with many forced to walk. The all-inclusive drinks package does not work well. During our visit in early September only the lobby bar was available to serve the limited all inclusive drinks, the pool bar having closed from 1st September. The drinks package was confusing because if you requested a drink with a zero-sugar mixer it was either unavailable (tonic water) or you were charged extra (sugar free cola). No other bars on the island were included in the all-inclusive drinks package. As the pool bar was closed all drinks had to be obtained from the lobby bar which had limited re-usable plastic glasses (I understand that glass is inappropriate around a pool and I am not advocating single use plastics) but a gin and tonic in a cardboard coffee cup is not what I expect from a 4-star hotel. The majority of the guests were European, mainly German, and included a significant number of smokers. There were no designated smoking areas so it was difficult to avoid the smoke. Also, as European children do not return to school until mid-September there were many kids, this is primarily a family resort! There appeared to be many activities for kids but limited for adults. There was no real adult only areas except a small part of the self-service restaurant, The Isola restaurant, and even then, kids cut through to exit the dining room. The Isola restaurant food is if reasonable quality but very repetitive with a considerable lack of choice; 1 soup each day chicken or beef on alternate days. The salads are very limited in choice; there is only 1 cheese. No specialities. If you like pizza, pasta and chips you will be fine. Also, dishes are not regularly topped up further limiting the choices. There are no other restaurants available on the all-inclusive package. The main activity pool can be very full of kids, the infinity pool, a short uphill walk is much nicer but is not adults only and many beds are reserved for v guests and no all-inclusive drinks available. The lounge area in the hotel, between reception and the lobby bar is quite comfortable, however with table football and pool tables placed in the middle it is not a relaxing place to sit Day guests may visit the island for a few euros and they appear to take advantage of the hotel amenities, including the pool, and can overcrowd the ferry. The holiday was more expensive than many all-inclusive hotels in Europe but did not deliver good value This is the first year the hotel has offered all-inclusive and the management admit that they are still learning. The management acknowledged the shortfalls and were very generous to us and offered us an upgraded package, hopefully next year many things will improve.

We stayed here last year and had an absolutely amazing time. We don’t often return to the same resort as a family but after much deliberation decided we loved it that much we wanted to return to explore more of the mainland and decided to pay the increased prices. Last year, it was half board and the food was amazing, with the option to dine in the evening in Oliva and a sunset BBQ. This year with the resort going all inclusive, oliva closes on an evening and there is no sunset BBQ. The buffet is extremely repetitive and the food not to the standard we had last year. The UK drinks package, only available at one bar, and the staff lacking any service or knowledge of what is included. Even have to pay for additional coffee capsules to use in the hotel room. We’ve found ourselves eating on the mainland or having a paid for meal in Oliva during the day because a 10 day holiday with the only options of pizza, pasta or a variation of grilled fish for both lunch and dinner was not the experience we were expecting. Tried to upgrade to V-level for some variation but the hotel is full, so mainland dining for the remainder of the holiday it is. Seems the focus has shifted to the new hotel being built. Such a shame as we thought last year we found a real gem, Porec is so beautiful but we won’t return to this hotel again.