August 10, 2023 – Getting a good night’s sleep in peak season can be a challenge – a surprising oasis of calm at Hotel Pharos Bayhill Hvar.
Although I had not planned on visiting the coast during peak season this year, a family emergency in the UK had me on the return flight to Split and so I decided to take a few days on Hvar to catch up with friends and some clients.
Among them was the team at Suncani Hvar, who kindly offered me a room for a couple of nights at Hotel Pharos Bayhill Hvar. While I was grateful for a place to lay my weary head, I was not quite sure what awaited. Hvar Town in peak season is hardly the quietest place in town, and a hotel aimed at the younger market was not perhaps something for a fat, balding 54-year old.
It had been about 7 years since I last visited the hotel in season. That was for the opening of the newly revamped formerly 2-star Hotel Pharos, which the company told me had been upgraded to a 3 (almost 4)-star Hotel Pharos Bayhill Hvar. It was the first millennial hotel on the island, a term I knew little about back then. You can read about the opening here.
The bathrooms were certainly funky, in case I was under any illusion what kind of hotel I was in as I went to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
The only other time I stayed there was in the depths of winter, as the Bahrain Merida (now McLaren), the world’s best cycling team, came to Hvar for their winter training, based at Hotel Pharos Bayhill, a phenomenal promotion of the island’s off-season cycling potential. You can read more in Road Testing Pharos Bayhill Hvar as a Bike Hotel: The Bahrain Merida Verdict.
But a millennial hotel in peak season in a destination with such vibrant nightlife as Hvar Town at my age?
I was in for a surprise.
It definitely still had the laidback vibe, with younger guests content to lounge around the pool all day and chill in the restaurant and bar area. There were groups of 10-12 guys and similar groups of women, obviously here to enjoy the legendary nightlife. It had the relaxed feel of an upmarket hostel. Very refreshing.
And while the majority of people at the bar at 22:00 were just gearing up for the evening and heading into town, I found myself heading to my room and bed, a little concerned that it would be a sleepless night with returning drunken guests.
Instead, I slept like a baby each night, the only sound to disturb were the chirping of cicadas. As Hotel Pharos Bayhill Hvar is located in pine forest and a residential area, set back from the waterfront but with great sea view, it doesn’t attract the noise of the riva. Indeed, with a short five-minute walk into the centre, it is an ideal location for those wanting to be close to the action, but not in it.
As for those drunken returning guests, if they were noisy, I certainly didn’t hear a thing and had some of the best sleep of the year.
Hvar Town is often portrayed as the glitzy destination, which it most certainly is, but there are plenty of other aspects to this very versatile town. And the verdict of this boomer on Hotel Pharos Bayhill Hvar was a definite thumbs up, even if it felt I was the oldest guest by about 20 years.
You can learn more about Hotel Pharos Bayhill Hvar from the official website.
Paul Bradbury was a guest of the hotel in late July 2023.
