My boyfriend and I just got back from our holiday in Makarska. We stayed for a week in Biokovo hotel. There is really a wide range of hotels to choose from in Makarska, most on a pretty high standard. We chose Biokovo because we booked pretty late, and there weren't many hotels left that had vacancies, also it was cheaper than some others that did. My overall impression is ok, I have a few complaints, however I also realise that for the price it is still a rather good deal. My first complaint is that like all seaside hotels in Croatia, at Biokovo charge more for a room with a "sea view". So we paid more to have a room with a sea view but what we got was a room facing the sea, on the first floor, with the view of nothing but a bunch of trees. That was pretty disappointing. And I was further disappointed to see that we had no balcony. If you are the type that cares about having a balcony and a sea view, I would suggest you ring the hotel a few days in advance to your arrival and try and request one. From what I could see, only several rooms have balconies, the rest only have windows. If you insist on a balcony though, be warned that the harbour in Makarska is very very noisy. Although I would have liked to have a balcony with the view of the sea, I'm not sure I would have spent much time sitting on it, considering all the decibels that constantly rose up from below. Don't worry about the noise coming into the room though. The windows are made of specially thick glass, and the amount of sound they insulate is astounding. When the window is open the noise from the street is so loud you can't hear the TV, but when you close it there is just silence. You will be able to sleep like a baby. My probably favourite things about the room were the air conditioning, which worked very very well, and the mini bar. Mini bars in posher hotels tend to have sensors which automatically charge you for each drink you pull out, but this one was really just a fridge and we could keep our own drinks and food in it. It also had a freezer which was such a pleasant surprise, it actually made my holiday so much better. When it's +35C outside there's nothing better than going to the beach with thermos bottle full of ice, and hours later when you're completely fried, coming back to a cooled down room to have a drink with some more ice jingling in your glass. It's just bliss.Surprisingly, the drinks provided in the mini bar weren't expensive at all, they were just standard price you would get in a cafe. For example that was 11 kunas (cca £1.20) for a 0.50L bottle of fizzy mineral water, or 14 kunas for an orange juice etc. I had never seen a hotel give such fair prices for drinks in their mini bar before, not even in Croatia, so for this I really take my hat off.
A bit more about the room - some may find it annoying that the "double room" is actually a twin room with beds pushed together. (Personally, it didn't bother me too much). The mattresses seemed a little too firm for my taste, however the pillows were excellent quality. Not too used down, soft but thick enough to keep your neck straight. There was plenty of storage space around the room, with a big wardrobe and lots of big drawers, if you like to empty your suitcase for the duration of your stay. There were also many power points, including one extension line. As for the internet, (I wasn't able to find this information anywhere online) it may be useful to know the hotel offers wireless internet access (no LAN). The bathroom was spacious and the shower worked very well. There were no problems adjusting the water temperature and the shower was the type that can either be fixed on the wall or you can take it off and hold it in your hand. There was a big mirror on the wall with good lighting, so ladies can apply their make up there easily. The cleaning staff did their job very well, provided clean towels every day, new toilet paper, emptied all the bins, and they also respected the "do not disturb sign" which is often not the case in so many hotels.
One great disappointment was the hotel food. We paid for half board but take my advice - it's not worth it. Both breakfast and dinner are served buffet style, however Biokovo isn't a very big hotel, so the choice is very limited. Although I am not a vegetarian I noticed that in case I had been one, I would have had no idea what to eat since the whole menu was just meat and potato. At breakfast the bread was usually a bit stale, and there didn't seem to be any type of tea that you could have with milk - only fruit teas.
We gave up on eating at the hotel pretty quickly. Luckily Hotel Biokovo is situated in the very centre of Makarska and this means there is something like a hundred restaurants for you to dine in within walking distance. Also about 50m from the hotel there is a small shopping centre where you will find a supermarket (Konzum), from which you can buy various things to make your own lunch or breakfast. However, British visitors should be aware that it is not a custom in Croatia to include "tea and coffee making facilities" in hotel rooms, so you won't have a kettle and you won't be able to make your own tea and coffee in the room. The front of the hotel contains a restaurant and a cafe though, so you don't have to go too far if you're desperate for some. Also the beach, which is also only a 10 minute stroll away, is surrounded by dozens of small snack bars and restaurants where you can have a drink or a meal.
All in all, it didn't take me long to realise there was absolutely no need to eat at the hotel, in fact you see more of the town if you just choose to eat out all the time. One great disadvantage of Biokovo is the fact it has no lift, which makes it not accessible to disabled people, and it also means you have to pull your own luggage up the stairs, since they don't seem to provide any help in that department.
A few more tips - if you're arriving by bus, don't bother taking a taxi to the hotel, it's only a 5 minute walk down the hill. Keep your eyes open when you come to the harbour though, as the hotel isn't very well sign posted, and it's slightly obscured by a big tree lane. You may find yourself standing in front of it and not notice it is right there (happened to us).
If you are arriving by car, you can't really park next to the hotel, you will have to park in one of the nearby streets, and you may have to pay for it. If you're arriving by ferry, as you step off it you will be right in front of the hotel.
I think these are all the tips I have.
Would I stay here again? Well, unless I had enough money to stay in a hotel with more stars, I probably would.