August 18, 2025 – Looking for the best way to kickstart the day in Paradise on the island of Hvar? Don’t miss the Suncani Hvar breakfast experience, one of my top 5 tips.
There is something magical about the Hvar Town waterfront. One of the most elite, yet egalitarian on the Adriatic, its historic buildings overlooking a magnificent harbour of fishing boats and superyachts, with the emerald jewels of the Pakleni Islands behind.
It is a waterfront I have spent a considerable amount of time over the years since moving to Hvar in 2002. And it is a place that I have found nowhere else to rival it for the most important meal of the day – breakfast.
Years ago, I wrote an article on my top 5 things to do in Hvar Town, and many people were surprised by one inclusion – breakfast on the terrace at Hotel Adriana (breakfast is open to all, not just guests). A glass of Prosecco to accompany the very comprehensive selection of cooked and continental breakfast options, as well as an a la carte menu and excellent service combines with one of my favourite places in Croatia – the Val Marina terrace.
While you enjoy your leisurely breakfast from the self-service selection (see the video tour above) or ordering from the menu, the real magic of the Adriana breakfast experience is the people and harbour watching from that special terrace, with unlimited coffee, juice, or even Prosecco if that is your thing. Watching the town of Hvar wake up and start its daily routine, from the cleaners to the tourists, while noticing the various boats going about their business in the marina, is one of the most relaxing starts to the day that I know. And if you can’t make breakfast, save your appetite for dinner – Val Marina is consistently one of the top three restaurants on TripAdvisor, unusual for a hotel in a town dripping in restaurants.
Not far behind is Hotel Riva Marina, superbly positioned in the heart of the exclusive riva, its relaxing chairs and sofas offering another great option to laze away watching the yachts and beautiful people. In addition to the usual excellent breakfast offerings, Riva Marina also offers the best English breakfast on the Adriatic, complete with Bloody Mary if you ask nicely. I don’t get homesick much these days, but I do make sure that any Hvar Town visit these days comes with the Full English with a view.
And as I watch life unfolding before me, with all the tourists hanging around waiting for their catamaran away from Paradise, I can’t help wondering how much better that final hour or so of their time on Hvar would be better invested in coming into Riva Marina for a bite to eat and leisurely taking in their last observations of this incredible island.
And, finally the new kid on the block, and my first experience of it this month, breakfast at 5-star Palace Elisabeth, hvar heritage hotel, the only hotel in the whole country apparently with live piano music for breakfast and dinner (check out Sinatra’s My Way in the video above). And not only that, but what a location – on an exclusive terrace where once the birthplace of organised tourism in Europe began, overlooking Dalmatia’s largest square and the oldest public theatre in all Europe and that exclusive waterfront and Pakleni islands – a quite magnificent start to the day.
Much more than a hotel bed, check out the range of gastro and other services on offer at Suncani Hvar Hotels on the official website. And if you are looking to start your day in style, look no further.
