For my first visit to Albania, I chose Valza Boutique Hotel in Vlora, how did I like it there?

Address: Valza Boutique Hotel, përballë Marina Bay, Rruga Aleksandër Moisiu, Objekti Nr. 3, Vlorë 9403, Albania 

Web: www.valza.al 

Valza Boutique Hotel 4* review

Valza Boutique Hotel is a stylish boutique hotel in Vlora, offering modern accommodation, a location close to the sea and a pleasant atmosphere for a relaxing holiday in Albania. An ideal choice for couples and travelers looking for comfort and quality service.

How to get from the airport to Vlora? I recommend renting a car at the airport to see as much of Albania as possible. There are many rental companies at the airport, choose carefully and check the conditions and reviews. I tested Eurocaralbania.com and you can read my full review in a separate article.

Location

Valza Boutique Hotel is located in the popular Uji i Ftohtë area of ​​Vlorë, right on the coast and just a few minutes from the beach and the Lungomare promenade. The center of Vlorë is approximately 10 minutes by car. The great advantage is the quieter location with restaurants and grocery stores nearby. The hotel is about 147 km from Tirana Airport (TIA), which is about a 2-hour drive. An ideal location for exploring the Albanian Riviera and trips to the south.

The hotel is on a hill above the sea (this part of Vlora is on a cliff), but it's only a few steps from the main road, it's not a hike. On the corner of the hotel when you arrive, there's a sign that the reception is upstairs, I recommend going there first and unloading your suitcases (the elevator then goes from the mezzanine, not directly from the garages), going down under the hotel and putting your car in the garage, which can fit about 10 cars, or you can park outside in front of the garages. Parking is free.

Accommodation

The hotel opened in 2022, so everything is new, modern. You will find 44 rooms here. The rooms are double with twin beds or a double bed, family, or suites with a sofa. And I praise that the room was always perfectly cleaned, towels changed, cosmetics replenished. I will describe my room.

Valza Suite:

Double room with a comfortable double bed, sofa, desk with chair, balcony and sea view on the 4th floor. Comfortable space for 2 adults, approx. 25 m2, spacious bathroom with shower.

Room facilities: small fridge, air conditioning, TV, wifi, safe, wardrobe, iron can be borrowed at the reception.

Bathroom facilities: towels (be careful, there are no beach towels, you have to bring your own), shower gel, shampoo, hand soap, hairdryer, toilet paper, small basket. I praise the dim night lighting of the mirror in the bathroom.

Restaurant

The hotel includes breakfast. However, you can go for black tea or drip coffee at any time of the day. There is a bar in the reception and you can sit outside in a small garden in the shade of beautiful lemon trees and palm trees. The hotel has a popular rooftop restaurant, Eden, with a view of the sea and Mediterranean plants. It opens only in the afternoon, so don't go there for lunch. Watch the sunsets with a drink in hand over a good dinner. The menu includes cold and hot appetizers (soup, salads, cheeses, seafood), main courses (fish, seafood, meat, pasta, risotto, vegetarian dishes). You can complement your dinner with a dessert, cocktail or wine.

As for breakfast, boutique hotels usually don't offer full tables of food and an extreme selection, but you can still eat very well from both the hot and cold buffet: eggs in several ways, bread in an egg, sausages, omelets, pancakes, local breakfast specialties, cereals, fruits, vegetables, jams, Nutella, yogurts, juices, water with lemon, milk, pastries, butter, cheeses and pastries. Coffee is only drip coffee and tea is only black. I would appreciate a larger selection of teas, honey and espresso. This can be purchased, but in 4* hotels it is usually included in the breakfast.

From the restaurants in the area, I can recommend the Pomodoro al Mare pizzeria (excellent pizza from a wood-fired oven) and if you want a luxurious view of the sunset right above the sea, opposite this pizzeria there is the Liro hotel on the cliff with a beautiful restaurant where you can also go for an evening drink, but the prices are not the lowest. However, it is worth it for the view. What bothered me, however, is that you cannot buy coffee or tea here in the evening, they probably want you to spend on more expensive drinks. I did not eat here, but the restaurant was full. I was also at the Kepi Blu restaurant right below the hotel (pizza, pasta, meat, seafood, fish) and I also liked it there. Albania is not as cheap as I thought, so at least in tourist destinations the prices are higher. But it is still cheaper here than in Croatia.

Beaches

Most beaches in Albania are pebbly, so I recommend water shoes. If you don't want to pay for sunbeds, take your own beach towels or blankets, but better some more padded ones. In the first half of May, beach clubs were just getting ready for the season, so somewhere they let us on sunbeds for free and we were more or less alone on the beaches (not counting Ksamil). The water was still very cold, though.

If you go to the right from the hotel, after about 10 minutes walk there is one beach, but we didn't go there, it's already a long walk to the city beaches in Vlora, you have to go by car, however, the beaches there didn't really impress me at first glance, and the next beach is a walk from the hotel to the left, about 15 minutes. That one looked the best, however, there is no shade. We preferred to drive about 10 minutes 10 km to the beaches near the town of Orikumi (still in front of it), where there are several beach clubs next to each other, but you can also bring your own towels, there are nice toilets, a nice new restaurant (you can pay by card), and there are also grocery stores across the road, convenient parking for free right by the road. You can enter Vela Restaurant into your navigation, it's about in the middle of the clubs, but you can't miss it, the beaches are right by the road, when you see a lot of sun loungers and parasols on the right, that's it.

We also went to the beaches in Dhermi on recommendation, it was also beautiful there, but it's an hour drive by car and you have to go through a paid tunnel (during our visit they let us in without paying, I have no idea why).

And where you should go at least once are the sandy beaches in Ksamil, but it's 4 hours by car from Vlore. Not that it's that far, but you drive most of the way on narrow roads along the cliff, where you can't drive very fast. The beaches here are sandy, with white sand and turquoise water. Opposite is the island of Corfu.

Trips

I will describe what to do from Valza Hotel for trips in a separate article What to see in Albania. So far I can outline that I have been to the Blue Eye, Vlore, Dhermi, Ksamil and Saranda.

Summary

Valza Boutique Hotel in Vlore is a great choice for anyone looking for stylish accommodation by the sea in a convenient location. Located just a short walk from the sea, it is an ideal starting point for exploring the Albanian Riviera and day trips around the area. There are a number of restaurants and grocery stores within walking distance, so everything is conveniently close at hand. A big bonus of the hotel is the beautiful rooftop restaurant Eden by Valza - I recommend having dinner here, enjoying great food and enjoying the magnificent sea view and unforgettable sunset surrounded by Mediterranean plants.

I would like to thank the management of this hotel for allowing me to write this article for you.

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