As Novac/Dora Lozica writes on the 25th of August, 2019, Novac met Zlatko Fabris, 41, at his hotel on Korčula, engrossed in figures and tables. He received the journalists cordially, though limping, telling them that he had injured his leg when splitting firewood, he had to undergo surgery, but that there’s no time for that now!
When the season starts, there’s no time for health either, Zlatko says, only work! The times of hotel owners simply sitting back and watching as hotel and restaurant workers do the hard work have passed.
With this philosophy, Zlatko came from South Africa to beautiful Korčula exactly fifteen years ago. Born in South Africa, Zlatko has always dreamed of one day returning to his roots, his old Korčula surname, Fabris, called him back to the Dalmatian island. However, it was not easy to decide to come to Croatia without knowing the language and the everyday ways of life, Fabris revealed.
His family is engaged in construction and tourism, but South Africa’s dark history of the coexistence of blacks and whites was turbulent, to say the very least.
”Back there, people will put a gun to your head there for money,” Zlatko admits, so he decided to come to Korčula, hoping to find his peace there and a place where life is worth more than just money. And he wasn’t mistaken. First, he tried his best to learn the Croatian language, because how can someone named Zlatko not speak Croatian!? It’s simply impossible! And then he got to grips with what’s best for him – his business, writes Slobodna Dalmacija.
With his initial capital, he bought a house on Plokata, the main town square in the very centre of Korčula. He bought the house from the City of Korčula itself, who then bought the birth house of Marco Polo with that money. The house soon became the famous “Happy House” hostel, with dozens of backpackers staying overnight. There was always a loud and cheerful atmosphere at “Happy House”, Zlatko admits they had a good time with alcohol, song and laughter, but that it annoyed the people who lived nearby.
”They were absolutely right and I understood them one hundred percent, I started thinking how I could change the concept. I have to say, hats off to the team from the Lešić Dimitri Hotel and the Korsal Hotel, they were the first to start the story of the boutique hotel, they had the courage to do it first.
When one begins, the other is encouraged, and in 2015 one of them was me. The Fabris opened its doors,” Zlatko says, referring to his four-star boutique hotel, which is not really a hotel because it has no elevator. Namely, in order to register his facility as a hotel, he has to have an elevator for four floors, and circumstances don’t allow him to install an elevator, so he calls his facility simply “The Fabris”.
But “The Fabris” is, after all, a small “boutique” four-star hotel.
Increasingly, the term “boutique” hotel can be heard in Croatia as an ideal destination for those who, in addition to their holidays, want to experience and know more about the destination they’re visiting.
“Boutique” or “lifestyle” hotels are a new trend of tourist offer, only a few decades or so old. They are smaller in capacity, but are designed in a luxury and indigenous style, relying on the values, culture and customs of the area in which they are located.
This was exactly the concept that Zlatko used to manage the interior of his building in Korčula, so he could leave everything in its original form when it was renovated. The interior walls, as well as the exterior ones, are made of antique stone, and the stairs, floors, beds and openings are made of solid oak. In all the bathrooms, there is a combination of stone and glass, the floors are adorned with expensive carpets that Zlatko brought from different parts of the world, while on the walls are old photographs of the Fabris family, which tell the visual stories of formerly world-renowned Korčula shipbuilders, including Zlatko’s great-grandfather.
“The Fabris” is an attractive yet relaxed blend of tradition and a modern, minimalist approach. Zlatko didn’t make the mistake of taking his initial success for granted, and last year, he decided to make another investment. About ten metres from the hotel, he bought another abandoned ruin in the heart of Korčula.
With an investment of one million euros and a lot of hard and dedicated work, that ruin has been transformed into “The Fabris 2” this season, with eleven luxurious rooms decorated in the same tone as the first hotel. The capacity of “The Fabris” is currently 21 rooms, with a rating of 9.4 on booking.com. His guests are delighted, they don’t want an industrial environment, but the ability to enjoy Korčula’s history, architecture and authentic culture. Most of Zlatko’s guests are English-speaking, as many as 80 percent of them.
Zlatko does not take all the credit for his success.
”In the season, I employ 11 people for 6 months, half of them for longer than that. They do a fantastic job and it’s important to me that they have good salaries. Money motivates people and if you want loyalty and quality, you have to pay. In addition, I want people on the island to live well all 12 months of the year, I wish that every year I could travel somewhere to get to know other countries and cultures so that they would be good hosts themselves. Yes, the season has been 30 percent weaker, but that’s temporary, next year, it will be even worse, So, 2015 or 2016 will happen again. You just have to always do your best,” Fabris explained.
”I believe in Croatia and our future. We’re not just any old country or any old city, we have centuries of culture and history and this is our strongest asset. We quarrel with each other, but when there is a serious problem, we are one. I think the workers from the hospitality sector from the island need to meet once a month, we have to have a common plan and strategy, stick together and help one another. From the first day, the Korčula locals have accepted me just as I am, and I’m grateful to be able to live and work here,” Zlatko concluded.
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