Hotel Granit

Amazing location on lakeside. Freshwater swimming is amazing. Lake is huge. You won’t miss the sea. Beach is stoney. We always got a sun-bed without reservation. Sun-beds included in AI. Beach has area for guests and a public section. All inclusive is beer, wine, a few unbranded spirits, soft drinks. Food selection is adequate. Choice limited to what they have available. If you are a picky eater go elsewhere but if easy going, buffet is fine. We found the food served in town very good. Prices are cheaper than UK except for fish as it’s illegal to take fish from the lake due to repopulating. Staff are friendly. Only 5k walk into town. Road is busy but walk along stony beach is ok. Town has nice promenade. Small town with history, restaurants & shops. Taxis cheap. Set price before you ride though. Drivers are opportunistic. Some of the rooms are tiny. We had a suite (due to hotel relocation) which was bedroom, lounge, 2 balconies, 2 WC’s, whirlpool bath & shower. Plenty of room. But we heard some rooms very small. Very laid back country. No health and safety. Cons Local boys turn up on mass in the afternoon and take over the beach, try and get in the pool & steal free drinks. 3 flights of stairs from pool to all inclusive bar. Hotel is ready for a refurb. Currency. Taxis take Den & Euros. Even beach cherry sellers are getting card machines. But Den cash is still king. This is an amazing country. Very beautiful. It’s a bit like going on holiday when I was 18. How holidays used to be. Drop your expectations and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

The location is 1st Class, the staff are helpful, the food is good but beware of the lifts. We had all inclusive, there was enough menu variety for the week but I wouldn’t recommend for vegetarians. The free bar was okay for endless lager, wine and brandy but pretty limited apart from that. The pool areas large enough to cope with the people that put towels on beds early morning ready for their afternoon siestas. The short walk to the lake makes up for all shortcomings.

We stayed for 10 nights. The rooms are as has been previously mentioned small and dated but OK as you don't spend too much time in the room. I'd recommend a Lake View room as the sunsets are lovely. The food was nice and there was plenty if you eat no later than 8.30. After this time the staff start clearing away, Either get there earlier than 8.30 pm or be prepared to get all your dishes at one hit. I should have suggested to the staff that a microwave would be a great addition to the restaurant as sometimes the meals were lukewarm as is the norm in this part of Europe. Anyway apart from the early evening meal times everything else was fine. The staff are lovely once you smile and are friendly. Once you make the effort to be friendly they are friendly back. Maybe a throwback from the soviet times? The hotel is a short taxi ride, about 5 euros, from the town of Ohrid. The lakeside restaurants are lovely. I feel that once North Macedonia is "discovered" as a tourist destination things will get busier and more expensive. Get there before it does! Happy to answer any questions.

We booked through Tui all inclusive as we have 2 small kids so easier for drinks snacks ect. Get a call 2 weeks before we go no longer doing all inclusive, get a refund, get there and they do offer all inclusive just not to British people as all we do is moan and all they have had is complaints since the start of the summer. (The Tui rep told us this). So that instantly annoyed us, hotel was nice very basic but clean but our room drainage system was shocking it absolutely stunk we bought 2 cans of glade air freshener and bleach but it didn’t even touch it, we left the door open one night to allow some fresh air in and we got bit like mad and room was covered in flies. The food in the restraunt was good and a lot of it, our kids could share one portion of the chicken fingers it was that big. The breakfast was ok too hot and a bit of variety. The staff were all nice but not a lot of them you could be sat in restraunt for ages before anyone comes over to take your order. It is meant to be non smoking hotel but at the end of floor 3 the cleaners all sit in a room smoking so all the towels and bedding stinks of cigs. There’s bottles full of cig ends it’s not nice. Really easy to get in to Ohrid by taxi and there’s a few restraunts either side of the hotel if you want a bit of variety. We liked Ohrid but we wouldn’t come back as nothing to do for children.

Although it wasn't perfect, overall we had a wonderful holiday so I feel 4 star is justified. Negatives first -The rooms are outdated and could be in a better condition. We had a family room and one of the toilets often smelt, the air conditioning unit had mould in it, the mattresses were stained, the balconies had big holes in and we definitely had to supervise our 2 year old as he could have easily climbed over the side -2 lifts and 1 was broken for most of our stay, with both of them not working at some points. We had to ask a member of staff to help carry our buggy up 4 flights of stairs -Seriously inaccessible if you are a wheelchair user. The only way to get down to the pool or the lakeside is via a steep service road down the side of the hotel. We struggled as it was with the pram! -The food did get repetitive and was not properly labelled. For religious reasons my partner and kids don't eat pork or beef and we frequently had to check what the food contained as it wasn't clear -Smokers! The absolute worst part of our holiday by a mile, smokers everywhere, whilst eating, by the pool. Not great with little children around Now onto the positives which do far outweigh the negatives! -The views! Absolutely stunning. Even the staff were taking pictures of the sunsets in the evening as they are so beautiful -I think we got an amazing deal for the price we paid, and in the summer holidays too. We booked with TUI and were all inclusive although looking at future dates it seems that you can only go half board now. -The pool and lake areas are fantastic, even the locals visit them. Whilst they could get busy you could always find at least a couple of loungers and there were plenty of water activities available and for a reasonable price, about £4 to hire a paddle board or a pedalo for an hour. We did this a couple of times, so relaxing. You could get free towels from reception which was useful. -The wine and beer were excellent, local and very drinkable, not like the usual vinegar you get when AI! -Although the food wasn't amazing, you could always find something to eat - chips, a variety of fresh salads etc. Some days we really enjoyed our lunch/dinner, it just depended what was being served. -The terrace and bar areas were superb Overall, we really enjoyed our stay and would definitely return. Easy access by taxi to Ohrid town, which is absolutely stunning. I didn't have high expectations for the price we paid and the reviews so it definitely surpassed what I was expecting.

This review is a mixed bag. We booked with TUI and it must be noted that there seem to be some ongoing contractual issues between TUI and the hotel that meant we had to pay again for all inclusive then claim a refund from TUI. However, other than that the hotel was generally good. Not much food choice but what was there was tasty. The hotel is a little worn and old in places but the important parts (beds, pool and food area) were clean. The lake is truly spectacular and the views from the restaurants and bars are to die for. Just be warned if you enjoy walking and exploring you have to walk a section on the main dual carriageway in either direction to find more paths to walk on which was a little frustrating.