Prie Ąžuolo, Juodkrantė

One building – two separate hotels. A relatively new concept for me, but seemingly a rather common thing in Lithuania. With another example of this business model being for instance the Vilnius Airport Hotel in the times of Skrydis/Adelita. Anyhow, in Juodkrantė you can chose between the rather luxurious Azuolynas hotel (meaning something along the lines of “oak forest”), or the less expensive and not quite as luxurious Prie Ąžuolo (meaning something like “by the oak”). Both located in the same building.




Prie Ąžuolo headquarters

So at a reduced price, you get to experience what it is like to be a second rate guest. Access to the pool, breakfast table and other hotel facilities are of course available if you pay extra, but you still feel like a bit of an intruder when you hang around the lounge area without being a “proper” guest.

 

Hotel standards aside, this is the real reason why most people visit Juodkrantė.

Then again, who needs the hotel lounge? Prie Ąžuolo has their own outdoor lounge, where visitors can meet over a cold beer and barbecue well into the small hours of the night. This is also where you will be asked to wait if your room is not ready in time. We arrived at three, only to find that our Byelorussian predecessors were still in the shower. This meant waiting outside in the hot sun for an hour, where the lack of bathrooms (not belonging to Azuolynas) soon became apparent.

 

 

The Prie Ąžuolo lounge area. THE place to be in the eventings.
There is even something for the children. 

 

We were eventually invited inn, only to be directed to the upstairs bedroom of the apartment while the staff finished cleaning the downstairs rooms. When we finally could start unpacking, hours after the room was supposed to be ready, we heard a strange sound from the bathroom. This turned out to be the ceiling light, breaking away from the (plastic) ceiling.

 

Why make fuzz about such trifles?

 

But the again, you get what you pay for and such things are to be expected in this price range. The staff was polite enough and fixed the lights right away, the rooms were nice and spacious and the location is great. The beach is a short walk away and there are shops and restaurants just around the corner. The TV of course has no western channels. All in all, not a bad option. Particularly if you are visiting with small children, since the apartments have spacious bathrooms with both a washing machine and dryer.

Rating: Recommended