After a few flights, I finally arrived at my destination in Split, and more precisely at Le Méridien Lav Split.

For the record, articles related to this trip:

#	Type	Review
1	Hotel	Moxy Charles de Gaulle
2	Lounge	Sheltair Lounge Roissy Terminal 2D
3	Flight	Paris-Vienna in business class on Austrian
4	Lounge	Austrian Business Lounge (Non Schengen) in Vienna (T3 G)
5	Flight	Vienna-Split in business class on Austrian
6	Hotel	Le Méridien Lav Split – Deluxe Sea View Room (here)
7	Restaurant	Restaurant Süg Split
8	Restaurant	Restaurant Kadena Split
10	Flight	Split-Zagreb in business class on Croatia Airlines
11	Flight	Zagreb-Dubrovnik in business class on Croatia Airlines
12	Hotel	Sheraton Dubrovnik Riviera Hotel – Deluxe Room
13	Restaurant	Restaurant Konoba Bonaca Dubrovnik
14	Restaurant	Restaurant Heritage of Dubrovnik
15	Restaurant	Restaurant Zuzori Dubrovnik
16	Restaurant	Dubrovnik Restaurant Dubrovnik
17	Flight	Dubrovnik-Vienna in business on Austrian
18	Flight	Vienna-Paris in business on Austrian

Booking

As usual, I booked a standard room with no particular view on the Marriott app.

Location of the hotel

Le Méridien Lav is located outside the city, opposite the airport, but still in an urban area. It takes a good half-hour by cab to reach the hotel from the airport, and between 10 and 20 (depending on traffic jams) to get from the hotel to the city center.

It’s a conscious choice to take advantage of infrastructures that can’t be found in the city center, and given the price of Uber there, it’s a more than reasonable choice. There is also a way to reach the city center by bus, but I haven’t evaluated this possibility.

Arrival at the hotel and check in

So I arrive at the hotel by Uber, and he enters the resort (because it is a resort) to drop me off in the main building where the reception is. The complex is truly imposing, but more on that later.

I go to the check-in…

I had checked in online, so the formalities were quickly completed, but with courtesy and respect for protocol. Before boarding my flight to Vienna, I had used the Marriott app chat to express my surprise that no upgrades were visible in my reservation, even though there were a large number of superior rooms and suites available.

I’m told that I’m upgraded to Deluxe, but that they’ve decided to give me a renovated room in the newest building overlooking the Marina instead of a larger, non-renovated room in a less well-located building and with a poorer view. It’s a choice I fully understand, and one whose relevance I’ll be able to confirm once I’ve had a little look around.

Introduction to the hotel

Before we get to my room, let’s have a quick look around. As I said, the complex is quite large, especially for a resort which, while not in the city, is in an urban area.

So I’ll be staying in the building you see along the Marina, which communicates directly with the main building.

Next to it you can see buildings of various sizes and styles, which suggest a hotel that has expanded over the years. And frankly, when I see the two tall, 80s-style buildings, I’m glad they’ve moved me to a lower, more stylish and less impersonal wing.

Here’s an example of what I wanted to avoid…

And here’s where I’ll be staying:

Having seen the unrenovated rooms on the site, I’d like to add that I’m glad I avoided them, even though they must have been popular 15 years ago, with their colorful wallpaper.

That said, the huge central building that serves as the lobby is, as always in the Le Méridiens and especially in the recently renovated ones, very pleasant and well designed.

There’s also a superb bar, which we’ll talk about later.

So much for the general background, let’s go and see my room.

The Elegant Sea View Room

Not particularly large, it does include a small lounge area with armchairs and coffee table. On the other hand, there’s no real office area with a table at “normal” height, which is a real disadvantage: in 2021, I’m not sure that even in a “leisure” hotel, some guests won’t need to do a bit of work.

The tones are light, pastel, the furnishings sleek and all very tasteful.

The bathroom is a decent size with a bathtub/shower.

And once again, it’s in good taste.

And last but not least, the highlight of the room: a good-sized balcony where I often sat with my computer (for lack of a desk in the room) and a beautiful view.

Admit it, there are worse ways to enjoy a cup of coffee when you get up in the morning.

All in all, a very pleasant room to live in, even if I admit it’s a bit small. If there are two occupants, they must be stepping on each other’s toes, especially as they also have to manage to fit in their belongings and suitcases…

The bedding is also excellent and, again, the view puts you in a good mood as soon as you wake up.

Let’s end this chapter with the traditional video.

Swimming pool, beach, gym and spa

Le Meridien Lav Split offers comprehensive facilities. Let’s start with its two beaches.

One, the smaller of the two, is located in the extension of the Marina.

Not much space or depth…we were almost out of season (early September) and it was already full.

The other is on the opposite side, facing the hotel’s main building…It’s bigger, but once again I invite you to put this into perspective with the size of the hotel in high season and not in a year when the COVID has restricted travel possibilities…

On the way back up to the hotel, you’ll find the first pool, an outdoor one.

With a little perspective…

Adjacent is an indoor swimming pool.

Beautiful facilities in excellent condition. That said, when I see the number of deckchairs around the pool and on the surrounding grass, I’m a little worried about the high season. I’m really afraid that when the hotel is full, you feel really cramped, (I am still haunted by thecatastrophic experience at a Westin in Honolulu) that it would be difficult to find a seat on the beach, and that even when you manage to find one by the pool, you feel really packed in, and that the pool, which is large by the way, suddenly seems very narrow.

When you see how far the deckchairs are installed…

The hotel also boasts an excellent gym: large, bright and well-equipped. It is on a high floor overlooking the swimming pool.

There’s also a spacious, modern and well-equipped spa.

Infrared sauna :

Scandinavian sauna

Hammam :

The treatment rooms are beautiful, and the treatments pleasant and high-quality.

The hotel also has tennis courts.

Bars and restaurants

A property of this size is of course well endowed when it comes to catering.

Let’s start with the three restaurants.

One (Spalatum) in the lobby serves breakfast with international cuisine. I didn’t try it.

The second (7 Palms) is more of a grill and seafood venue, with a very large seafront terrace.

I dined there on the first evening with a rather mixed impression. Simple dishes (normal for a grill), hearty but it’s more like mass resort cuisine. It fills the stomach, it distracts, but that’s all. If you ignore the setting, the friendly waiter and the good wines, the rest is anecdotal for a price that isn’t, especially compared to the excellent meals you can get in Split for much less.

And finally there’s Conlemani, an excellent Italian restaurant. Nice setting, friendly and fast service, hearty and really good dishes.

In terms of bars, I’ll skip the two by the beach and pool, which are of little interest, and concentrate on the main bar in the lobby, called “La Vue”. (The view)

Why such a name? Probably because of what you can see from its bay window and terrace. Lovely (small) terrace, by the way.

The bar and the huge room are, in my opinion, superb.

The service and the staff

The staff at the property are very professional and friendly, always very helpful. I found myself chatting with them a lot, and they really give meaning to the word hospitality.

Just as an example, I asked room service for a fresh bottle of sparkling water with a lemon. It arrived after 15 minutes and the waiter apologized for the delay, telling me that the bottle was complimentary.

Check-out

Since all good things must come to an end, I had to leave at some point, and as my early flight to Zagreb left at dawn, I had to leave the hotel just before 4am. Bad surprise: the mobile check-out on the Marriott app didn’t work.

So I stop off at the reception, something I hadn’t planned on. After 5 minutes and not seeing anyone, I give up because my Uber is waiting and I don’t want to miss my plane. At worst, once at the airport I’ll send them a chat to tell them it wasn’t working and that’s it.

But when I got to the airport and went to the app, I saw that the feature was working. I deduce that it activates at a specific time (4am?) and not at midnight. On the other hand, who would pay for a room only to leave it at 2am?

As a bonus, a photo of a bus parked in front of the hotel building when I left: it was the Croatian national soccer team’s bus, which was staying at the hotel before a match, and I even ran into some of the players in the gym.

Bottom line

Let’s get straight to the point: I was delighted with my stay at Le Méridien Lav Split. The hotel (at least the part I stayed in) is very beautiful, very well equipped and the staff are friendly as well as competent.

The relative distance from the city is not a problem at all (I’ve made between 1 and 2 round trips a day), and that’s the price you have to pay to benefit from such infrastructures.

I may have been harsh on the restaurants, but in any case you can eat so well for so little in the city that it’s a non-issue.

I don’t have the benefit of hindsight to know whether, as some locals have told me, this is the most beautiful hotel in town, but I’d tend to believe them.

I would, however, like to add a note of caution. I was lucky enough to be there out of season when occupancy was average and they were able to give me a well-placed renovated room.

I’m frankly afraid that in high season it’s very difficult to make the most of the facilities because of the density of customers. and if you add to that the fact that you’re entitled to a room with colorful wallpaper in a high-rise building overlooking a tennis court… maybe in that case my comments would be much more nuanced.

So my verdict would be: go to Le Méridien Lav, but in the off-season. September is very pleasant there.