Hvar's first Relais & Châteaux property, opened 2020, 50 rooms and suites and three private villas in a two-hectare pine forest above the Adriatic, in a quiet bay outside Stari Grad rather than the louder harbour town of Hvar Town.
"The first Hvar property built for travellers who don't want Hvar, a Relais & Châteaux retreat on the far side of the island, in a forest above its own pebble beach, materially good enough to make the long boat-and-car arrival feel like the entire point."
Maslina Resort opened in July 2020 on a two-hectare site at Maslinica Bay, on the north coast of Hvar five kilometres outside Stari Grad, one of the oldest continuously inhabited towns in Europe and the island's quieter alternative to the harbour-and-cliffs spectacle of Hvar Town further west. The site was assembled and developed by the Croatian Pejić family over more than a decade; design was led by NCL Studio out of Zagreb and the New York, based Office Sian. Maslina became Hvar's first Relais & Châteaux member in 2021, and remains the only Relais property anywhere on the Croatian island chain.
There are 50 rooms and suites distributed across low-rise three-storey buildings hidden inside the existing olive groves and pine forest, the architectural brief was to lose the resort inside the landscape rather than impose on it, plus three larger villas (the Maslina Villa, the Olea Villa and the Aleppo Villa) with private terraces and their own pools. Categories begin at the 35, 40 square metre Garden Rooms, ascend through the larger Sea View Junior Suites, and top out at the named villas which exceed 200 square metres. Materials are Mediterranean and restrained: cream limestone floors, white oak joinery, hand-loomed linens by local Hvar weavers, ceramics by Croatian potters, and the consistent house-cream palette that gives the property its quiet register.
The food is run from two kitchens. The signature is Pharia, set above the bay with an open kitchen, where executive chef Robert Perić runs a refined Dalmatian menu under the Relais & Châteaux culinary standard, Hvar lavender honey, Pag cheese, Adriatic line-caught fish, and the producer-by-producer list that the Relais inspectors read carefully. The Bonjour Garden by the pool runs all-day Mediterranean lunch. The 600 square-metre Pharomatiq Wellness centre below the main building is the proposition for the wellness traveller: indoor pool, hammam, a serious sauna suite, and a Dalmatian-herb-led treatment menu that uses olive, lavender, sage, rosemary and immortelle from the Hvar fields. The private pebble beach (a five-minute walk through the olive grove) is staffed and serves food and drinks all day.
Service is the property's quietest strength. The team is small, under one staff member per guest at high capacity, and the operating culture is unmistakably Croatian: warm, slow, and unembarrassed by the small. Maslina is positioned forty minutes from Hvar Town's Pjaca and forty-five from the Pakleni Islands by boat, far enough that the noise of Hvar Town in August does not reach the property, close enough to drop in for the evening if you want it. For travellers who want Hvar without Hvar's August crowd, Maslina is the only credible answer.
For Adriatic honeymoons Maslina sits ahead of the rest of Hvar. The three villas, Maslina, Olea, Aleppo, are the headline honeymoon bookings, each with a private pool and a terrace that faces sunset over the olive grove and the bay. The R&C signature dinner at Pharia is the in-house standard; the concierge runs an excellent private-boat day-trip programme out to the Pakleni Islands and across to Vis.
Pharomatiq Wellness is among the strongest Mediterranean spa programmes anywhere, the herb-led treatment menu drawn from Hvar's own fields, a 25-metre indoor pool, hammam, sauna and steam, and the property's own yoga deck under the pines. Combine with daily walks through the Stari Grad Plain (UNESCO-listed Greek-Roman agricultural field grid, four kilometres long) for the proper retreat itinerary.
A Hvar anniversary at Maslina works at every intensity. A Sea View Junior Suite with breakfast on the balcony for a quiet long weekend; the Aleppo Villa for a milestone year. Pharia takes private dinners for two on the terrace; the concierge handles vow-renewal arrangements at the 1612 St. Stephen's church in nearby Stari Grad.
Uvala Maslinica bb
21460 Stari Grad, Hvar
Croatia
Stari Grad 5 km; Hvar Town 23 km; Stari Grad ferry port 6 km; Split airport 75 minutes by ferry & car
53 keys (50 rooms + 3 villas)
Garden Rooms from €1,150/night
Sea View Junior Suites from €1,650/night
Maslina Villa from €4,800/night
Two-night minimum in summer; three nights for villas
Check-in: 3:00 PM
Check-out: 12:00 PM
Opened July 2020
Relais & Châteaux since 2021
Season: May to October
Pharia restaurant (R&C standard)
Pharomatiq Wellness (600 sqm)
Private pebble beach with service
Two outdoor pools + indoor pool
Yoga deck & daily classes
Private-boat concierge programme
From €1,150/night. The three villas book six months ahead for July and August; June and September are the strongest months for weather, sea temperature and availability. Closed November, April.
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