Sunčani Hvar's flagship beach property on a private cove west of Hvar Town's harbour, a cascading multi-level pool stepping down toward the Paklinski Islands, the Bonj 'les bains' colonnaded beach club, family apartments, and a ten-minute walk along the seafront to the Pjaca.
"The big-amenity Hvar Town option. The cascading pool and the Bonj 'les bains' beach club do the heavy lifting; the address on a private cove ten minutes' walk from the Pjaca means you get the town when you want it and the bay when you don't."
Amfora occupies the south-facing slope above Križna Luka cove, on the western edge of Hvar Town, a fifteen-minute walk along the seafront promenade from the Pjaca, far enough from the harbour to escape the catamaran noise, close enough to drop into town twice a day. The original Hotel Amfora was built in 1972 as a large social-tourism property; Sunčani Hvar took ownership in the privatisation of the late 1990s and completed a major reconstruction between 2006 and 2008 that ripped most of the original concrete shell, kept the strong shoreline footprint, and rebuilt the property as a 324-key resort organised around a four-level cascading swimming pool that steps down toward the sea.
The 324 keys are an unusual mix: standard hotel rooms in five-room categories, larger family rooms with sofa-bed configurations, two-bedroom Mediterranean Suites that face the bay, and a wing of one- and two-bedroom Family Apartments with kitchenettes, the strongest family-suite inventory on the island by a long margin. Categories begin at the side-view Comfort rooms (around 22 square metres) and ascend through Bay View, Premium Bay View, the suites, and the family apartments. The Paklinski-facing categories on the upper floors are the proposition: a wraparound balcony, the cascading pool below, and the small offshore island chain on the horizon. The 2008 reconstruction is now showing some age in the public spaces but the rooms received a full refurbishment in 2022.
The cascading pool is the structure-defining feature: four interconnected levels stepping from the lobby down to the waterfront, with sun-deck terraces between each. Below it sits Bonj 'les bains', the elegant 1936 stone colonnade beach club restored as Amfora's private beach, a row of stone cabanas and lounger pads on the small pebble cove that gives the property its identity. Three restaurants, Café Atrij in the lobby for breakfast and afternoon, Sirena for à la carte Dalmatian by the pool, and Bonj's terrace for daytime seafood, handle the volume; the cocktail bar by the upper pool is the bachelor/bachelorette set-piece. Sensori Spa Amfora occupies a dedicated wing with treatment rooms, hammam, sauna and a small indoor lap pool.
The Amfora is not the most refined hotel in Hvar, the Palace Elisabeth holds the heritage line; Maslina Resort holds the Relais & Châteaux line, but it is by some distance the best amenity property in Hvar Town, the strongest family option on the island, and the most workable bachelor/bachelorette base for a group of eight to twenty who want the cove, the cabanas, the cascading pool and the ten-minute walk into the Hvar Town nightlife. For those briefs, no other Hvar hotel competes.
Hvar is not an obvious family island, most of the inventory is small, urban, and adults-tilted. Amfora's Family Apartments wing solves it: two bedrooms, a kitchenette, a balcony, and the cascading pool and Bonj's pebble beach immediately below. The children's pool on the lower level, the staffed lounger service at Bonj, and a soft-tilt kids' programme through July and August make this the single workable family property in Hvar Town.
For Hvar bachelor and bachelorette weekends, Amfora is the base. Block a row of Bay View rooms or two of the two-bedroom Mediterranean Suites for the group, claim one of the Bonj's cabanas for the day, schedule a private boat day through the concierge out to the Pakleni's Carpe Diem Beach club, and walk into town for the Hvar Town nightlife after midnight. The cascading-pool bar carries the daytime.
Amfora is the budget-conscious Hvar honeymoon. A Premium Bay View room with a balcony over the cascading pool, a Bonj's cabana for the days, the ten-minute sunset walk along the Riva for dinner in Hvar Town, at half the price of the Palace Elisabeth or Adriana's harbour-side rates. Not the most refined option, but the most cost-honest.
Ulica biskupa Jurja Dubokovića 5
21450 Hvar
Croatia
Hvar Town Pjaca 10 minutes on foot along the seafront; ferry port 12 minutes; Citadel 20 minutes uphill; Stari Grad ferry terminal 20 minutes by car
324 rooms & apartments
Comfort Rooms from €290/night
Bay View Premium from €390/night
Mediterranean Suites from €690/night
Family Apartments from €560/night
Check-in: 3:00 PM
Check-out: 12:00 PM
Reconstruction completed 2008
Rooms refurbished 2022
Season: April to early November
Four-level cascading pool
Bonj 'les bains' beach club (1936)
Three restaurants & pool bar
Sensori Spa Amfora
Family apartments wing
10-minute seafront walk to Pjaca
From €290/night. Family Apartments book three to four months ahead for July and August school holidays; bachelorette/bachelor groups should reserve a Mediterranean Suite block six weeks out.
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Hvar Town harbour landmark with a year-round rooftop seawater pool and the city's best sunset bar at the Top Bar.
The first five-star heritage hotel on Hvar's main Pjaca, rebuilt in 1899 under the name of Empress Sisi.