My stay in Grand Iberostar Perast, a heritage hotel {Sponsored}
Disclaimer: this post has been written in partnership with Iberostar, views are my own.
At the end of May, we travelled for the first time to Montenegro to spend a long weekend in Perast, which is located in the Bay of Kotor. To be completely honest. Montenegro was not a location on my radar until I received the invite and it totally should have been.
Montenegro is a 2 hour flight away from London, on our way there we flew with Montenegro Airlines (thumbs up for great leg room) directly to Tivat, the nearest airport to Grand Perast Iberostar we were staying in. On our way back we had a lay over in Belgrade, so I would recommend checking direct flights availability before booking your holiday. The hotel organizes pick up and drop off for guests from/ to the airport, which is such a pro, as it is one less thing to plan and worry about.
Arriving to the hotel is quite an experience, as we drove through Perast and I couldn’t contain my excitement about our stay and couldn’t wait to start exploring, but first thing first we had to check at our hotel, which is perfectly located and, even though it is brand new, it blends perfectly with the surrounding Baroque architecture.
The 5 star hotel has been opened for just over a year and it is housed in a 18th century palace which has been renovated to offer luxury rooms and suites, the hotel has two restaurants, a spa and two swimming pools. Our beautiful Deluxe room had a breathtaking view overlooking the Bay and the two islands, one is called Sveti Sveti Diordie (St. George) island, and the other called Gospa od Škrpjela (Our Lady of the Rock). The latter is a tiny, artificial island which features a 17th-century Roman Catholic church with art and a museum. I could have stared out of our window for hours!
Prior to our trip, we have made a list of nearby places we wanted to visit, however upon arriving in this picture perfect town, we decided to just relax and make the most of our stay. During our three days, we enjoyed long leisurely breakfast- my favourite moment of the day- sipping the best cappuccino in Perast, taking in the view from the terrace whilst savouring the most delicious food. We would order from la carte menu and then we would grab a selection of pastries from the breakfast buffet.
The breakfast area..
The restaurant.
Breakfast was my favourite time of the day at Iberostar.
Dinner with a view at Iberostar restaurant.
We had many cappuccino…
Breakfast at Iberostar.
I also made the most of the SPA, going for a swim and sauna every day. Bliss. The service we experienced has been outstanding, from finding a little treat every evening in our room to remembering our coffee order just after a couple of days there.
Seafood for days!
Perast is such a gem, a town where time has stopped and it is easy to disconnect from the world, which is just what we did. Exploring the small town, we started to notice a high number of churches (16 to be precise) and there are historical Baroque buildings in nearly every corner. It reminded me so much of my hometown, Venice, I later learn that Venice owned the city between 1420 and 1797 and that is when the city’s Baroque palaces were mostly built, as were its seventeen Catholic churches and two Orthodox churches.
I don’t think we have ever eaten so much seafood as those few days in Perast, we always dined with the most amazing views and never had a bad meal. We became regular diners at Djardin (I couldn't find a website for the restaurant, so I linked the Tripadvisor page), their menu had an extensive choice of dishes and very good value for money.
We loved our stay in Perast and we already thinking going back to explore more of the surrounding area.
