October the 10th, 2026 – There’s an empty Croatian hotel that has been waiting for its very first guests for 18 long years. It boasts 36 rooms that nobody has ever stayed in.
The somewhat eerie Hotel Velebitska kraljica by the A1 was constructed 18 years ago and has never received a single guest. After six tenders and two failed contracts, it is still waiting for an investor. Putni kofer writes that most of those who have driven from the interior to the coastline have noticed a large red-and-white complex that stands right next to the A1. It appears just after you exit the Sveti Rok tunnel on the way to the sea.
the velebitska kraljica hotel has stood empty for almost two decades
Only recently, when I again passed the Maruni rest area where Hotel Velebitska kraljica stands, did I realise what was strange about it. No matter how many times I had driven past there over all these years, I had never noticed a larger number of people or parked cars; the space was always somehow eerily empty. I only discovered the explanation for that a few days ago. Although it looks like a hotel that is just about to open its doors, that “just about” has already lasted for eighteen years. Hotel Velebitska kraljica was built back in 2008, has three floors and 36 rooms, and the accommodation section has never received a single guest. The restaurant and shop operated for a while, but the hotel part remained unfinished. And this is where the story becomes interesting. Because it is not a ruin hidden far from view, but a large hotel right next to one of the busiest roads in Croatia.
IT ALL STARTED WITH THE so-called “KING OF PROSCIUTTO”
The story begins in 2006. The company Mataš-M.N., behind which stood the Posedarje entrepreneur Mladen Nekić, then concluded a contract with Croatian Motorways on the use of land at Maruni, according to Tportal. Nekić was known as a successful producer of prosciutto, so the media nicknamed him the “king of prosciutto”. The idea was clear: to create a year-round catering and accommodation complex where rivers of cars pass towards the sea during the season. The construction of Velebitska kraljica was financed by a loan from the Croatian Postal Bank of 22.4 million kuna, or around three million euros, and in 2009 HAC assessed the value of the complex at around 27.84 million kuna. Everything then looked like a project that had both location and logic.
THE HOTEL REMAINED, but THE BUSINESS DISAPPEARED
The financial crisis arrived before the hotel welcomed its first guests. Mataš-M.N. ended up in bankruptcy in 2010, and the assets and obligations were taken over by another of Nekić’s companies, Jasen. It too later ended up in bankruptcy. From that moment Hotel Velebitska kraljica became the subject of a long-standing dispute. The building stands, looks finished and is located on a site that many caterers would desire, but for years it could not be normally disposed of. In June 2023, the Municipal Court in Zadar ruled that Nekić must hand the facility over to the Republic of Croatia. The County Court in Split confirmed the decision on 15 May 2024, and in November of the same year the complex was handed over to the state through enforcement proceedings, and then to Croatian Motorways.
AS MANY AS SIX TENDERS HAVE BEEN HELD
The first three tenders ended without a single bid. In the fourth HAC lowered the price and adapted the concept. Additional accommodation capacities were abandoned, and TRCZ and Pag Spa Hotel, behind which stand Chinese investors, appeared. Both bids fell through because the bidders did not prove the required capability. The fifth procedure, announced in 2025, brought an interesting turn. Among those interested was again Mladen Nekić, the man who originally built the hotel. The job was nevertheless awarded to Flota Energy from Sesvete.
THE STATE DEMANDS ONE THING, but all INVESTORS want ANOTHER
The contract was signed, but the company did not provide the required guarantee and withdrew. The sixth tender attracted only one bidder, the company Degusto from Grebaštica. HAC declared its bid the most favourable in February this year, and the contract was signed at the end of the same month. The plan was first to arrange the facility and open the catering section, and to prepare the hotel for the next season. HAC, however, demanded a bank guarantee of 300,000 euros. Degusto warned that this amount would slow down the renovation and proposed a smaller one. The condition remained the same, the guarantee was not delivered on time and the contract was already automatically terminated in March.
the hotel awaits successful investors… still
According to the latest available information from August 2026, Velebitska kraljica still has no investor. The state has twice found an interested party, twice a contract has been signed and both attempts have failed before the start of renovation, both times over the guarantee. Perhaps that is precisely the most reliable lesson of this story. The building is not the problem: it stands, it is visible and it is located on a road that millions of travellers pass every year. The problem is in the gap between what the state demands and what investors can or want to offer. Until then drivers will continue to slow down before the Sveti Rok tunnel, stare at the red-and-white floors and wonder what purpose is served by a hotel that has never opened its doors to anyone. The queen on Velebit is still waiting; we can only hope that one day she will finally welcome her first guests.
