My name is Norbert. I am a single parent of two children, and like every year, I save up some money to take my kids to the seaside. We are not demanding, but like 90% of people, we just want something decent—a place where you don’t just sleep, but where you can comfortably spend more time if the weather turns bad.
However, this year, at the end of August 2026, turned out to be a complete catastrophe, all thanks to the travel agency Globtour Slovakia. When we booked the trip, they provided us with fake photos, misleading information, and an inaccurate description of both the room and the surroundings.
It is clear they do not care that the children were looking forward to the sea, as long as they make money for themselves. It is sad that in these difficult times, there are still people who lie and rob others not only of their money, but also of their dreams.
It never even occurred to me that I would create a website like this. However, I believe that many people fall for travel agency tricks, only for the agency’s greed to ruin a wonderful vacation they had been saving for all year. That is precisely why I want to raise awareness, so people are careful and verify the hotel or apartment they are booking wherever possible. So, let me start with our arrival at the resort reception.
After a 14-hour bus ride, we arrived at the reception where we realized that our travel agency had deceived us. We were supposed to have a 3-star apartment, not a 2-star tourist hostel. It was a shock, but we hoped they might still have the apartments, so we took the keys and headed to our room.
On the way, we passed hundreds of apartments that looked outdated at first glance, with the overall buildings being quite damaged. We arrived in front of the Daniela hostel, where our dream apartment was supposed to be on the 3rd floor.
When we reached the door, our disappointment was already huge. The shutters and doors looked as if homeless people had been living there, and after opening the door, we were engulfed by the smell of musty, moldy furniture. The sight of the room—stuck in the year 1970—was absolutely terrible, and our disappointment with the place where we were supposed to spend our dream vacation was simply disgusting.
Compare the travel agency’s photos with these.
The first thing my children asked was whether they seriously had to sleep there and if there would be mice, lice, or similar filth in the beds. I felt awful at the thought of having to spend our time here on our “great vacation.”
I wrote to both the tour rep and the travel agency saying that there must have been a mistake, so they sent us to the reception, where they gave us the key to another room. However, upon arrival, it turned out to be even worse than the first one, so we kept the original room.
We bought disinfectants, and together with the kids, spent 2 hours cleaning everything from the floors to the furniture. Sleeping in my room was impossible because every time the door opened, plaster fell from the ceiling, and there was an unbearable stench. So, I moved my mattress to the floor in the kids’ room and slept there the entire week. On the very first night, something bit me on the stomach, and a sharp spring came out of the mattress, which I had to tape down.
We travel every year, but this is truly an unhygienic and even health-hazardous environment full of mold on the walls and musty old furniture. Most importantly, it does not correspond to anything where you and your children would ever want to sleep. We didn’t even use the blankets or pillows because they stank.
After a few days, a storm hit us, and that brought yet another surprise. Water poured in on us from all sides because neither the windows nor the doors were sealed properly. Water was even running through the electrical sockets. My children were placing towels on the floor and wiping up the water. I wouldn’t wish anyone to experience this—hours of pure horror.
We visited the resort reception again, but they claimed all the rooms were the same. Plenty of other people were complaining about rodents, droppings, and foul-smelling kitchen units, beds, and wardrobes. .
We travel every year, but this is truly an unhygienic and even health-hazardous environment full of mold on the walls and musty old furniture. Most importantly, it does not correspond to anything where you and your children would ever want to sleep. We didn’t even use the blankets or pillows because they stank.
After a few days, a storm hit us, and that brought yet another surprise. Water poured in on us from all sides because neither the windows nor the doors were sealed properly. Water was even running through the electrical sockets. My children were placing towels on the floor and wiping up the water. I wouldn’t wish anyone to experience this—hours of pure horror.
We visited the resort reception again, but they claimed all the rooms were the same. Plenty of other people were complaining about rodents, droppings, and foul-smelling kitchen units, beds, and wardrobes.
Laterna Resort belongs to the largest travel network, Valamar Riviera, which I contacted, but they merely replied that they would look into it. The Croatian authorities are clearly unconcerned about the situation in this health-hazardous resort; otherwise, they would have closed it down long ago. I also contacted the Ministry of Health, but they wrote back saying it was of no interest to them. Unfortunately, this is how tourists from all over the world are treated in this resort.
The surrounding area for children, which was supposed to be new according to the photos, was yet another lie. No one had maintained it for 30 years, and the same went for the access to the water. It was completely unsuitable for children due to the sharp rocks. Even for August, there was hardly anyone around—just two restaurants and a single shop that charged huge markups because they had no competition. Everyone we met was just complaining about how awful it was.
The Valamar Riviera Group owns and operates beautiful, luxurious hotels, so I do not understand why they are doing nothing about this resort, which is a major disgrace to them.
A few photos of the surroundings to conclude
