The Best Places To Stay on Brač, Croatia

Like its sister hotel the Elaphusa – with which it shares spa facilities – Borak is close enough to the iconic Zlatni rat beach to make it the main reason why so many families book it in the summer. With its own pool, children’s area, and family-friendly entertainment, Borak also encourages guests to make a day of it on-site, and leave Zlatni rat until tomorrow – it even has its own beach nearby. All the standard amenities are also here, such as a restaurant, a gym, and a sun terrace.

Accommodation in Bol is typified by large, communal holiday hotels – efficient but impersonal. Here at the Villa Ana, the Eterović family has been looking after guests for years, even down to making the wine that they’ll enjoy sipping as the sun goes down over the terrace. It’s family-friendly – one of the two pools is ideal for children – while three beaches lie within a short walk. Each of the four apartments has kitchen facilities of some sort, but you’re a stroll away from a string of local restaurants on the Bol waterfront.

Set close to the waterfront at Postira – a quiet community around a pretty bay that’s a short drive from the ferry port at Supetar – the Hotel Lipa offers four-star facilities without the crowds of Bol. All 20 rooms and eight apartments have a terrace with a sea view as well as access to the spa, communal jacuzzi, and outdoor freshwater pool. There’s a restaurant and grill terrace with fresh produce grown at the nearby farm that’s also run by the owners.

Also known as the location of a Dalmatian restaurant that puts fresh produce to the fore, Nono Ban is a small complex of traditional villas that focuses on healthy living. Set back from the main road that runs from the inland community of Gornji Humac to the south-coast resort of Bol, Nono Ban offers comfort and relaxation around two pools and pretty greenery. While almost typifying the term ‘rural retreat’, Nono Ban also provides hotel-like services such as 24hr reception and dry cleaning.

This sprawling holiday complex lies just off the pine-lined path that leads to Zlatni rat beach. Its amenities – serving families in 300 guest rooms – are plentiful that it’s almost easier to say what it doesn’t have. Both indoor and outdoor pools contain seawater. There’s a pool for kids, too, plus a top-quality thalasso spa centre. Tennis courts, indoor golf, bowling, and a discothèque are also available. Massages, treatments, and tennis tuition are paid-for extras. Throw in a restaurant, a café, a lounge bar, and cocktail bar and there’s little reason to leave during the length of your stay.

A contemporary boutique hotel on Brač, the Hotel Bol is several steps ahead of the resort-type lodgings catering to beach-focused families. In terms of geography, too, this 18-room four-star is away from the streams of tourists heading to or from the sea front –although it offers a shuttle service and the views from its elevated location are sublime. In many ways, you don’t need to move too far from here at all, given the on-site swimming pool, sauna, gym, bar, and restaurant. Parking is also a boon, if you’re hiring a car to explore the island.

Within easy reach of Zlatni rat beach and the dining options and nightlife of Bol, the Villa Jadranka comprises a series of well-fitted apartments situated around a large pool. Each has a terrace, a fully equipped kitchen, and washing machine, plus a nearby supermarket lending itself to those looking to enjoy a self-catering holiday here. You’ll find a barbecue in the communal garden. Guests are also offered discounts for boat trips to the nearby island of Hvar, and the further one of Vis.

Though it contains the main ferry port with regular services from Split, Supetar lacks the range of lodgings that you find in Bol on the south coast of the island. This imbalance is gradually being redressed, partly thanks to the four-star Hotel Amor, built in 2007 on the site of the former Hotel Lučića. Facing sea or parkland, 48 modern rooms not only provide comfort and privacy but form part of a wider complex that includes two pools, two restaurants, a cocktail bar, and a spa centre, where a full range of body treatments and regenerative massages are available.