Pical Resort
Pical Resort is a brand-new five-star resort on a green peninsula just north of Poreč old town, on the Istrian coast of Croatia. It opened in 2026 as the largest project by Valamar, Croatia's biggest hotel group, a complex built for around €200 million under the premium Valamar Collection label, and it's really three separate hotels and a private villa sharing one campus. Families get 11 heated pools, three serviced beaches, an ESPA spa and restaurants with menus by chefs who hold Michelin stars at their own restaurants elsewhere.
On this page
Is it worth it?
Who Pical suits, how the three hotels differ and the facts to skim first.
Pical is one of the biggest and newest family resorts on the Adriatic, and it's pitched at the premium end. The all-inclusive is at the Family Hotel, an 8,000 m² family zone with its own pools, clubs and bar; the Hotel and Suites next door run on half board and are aimed more at adults. What you're paying for is the range: 11 heated pools, three beaches, a large indoor and outdoor play complex and premium dining through a Dine Around programme. The one real gap is for the youngest guests. There's no drop-off club for under-3s, so a family whose main need is structured childcare for a baby or toddler will find the club-based resorts nearby better set up for it.
Best for
You want a big, brand-new resort with a lot of choice, heated pools, three beaches including a sandy one, a large play complex for over-3s and premium dining, with the all-inclusive Family Hotel as your base.
Maybe not for
Your main need is a childcare club for a baby or toddler under 3, or you want a small, quiet resort. Three hotels share the family pool and play zone, so it gets busy and loud in summer.
Best ages
Strongest for ages 3 to 12, when the Maro Club, PlayLand and the Fun Zones all open up. Babies and toddlers are welcome but have no club of their own.
What stands out
The scale and the newness: Croatia's first ESPA spa and a 1,200 m² indoor play centre, all opened in 2026.
What to check
Which hotel and board suits you, whether you're happy without an under-3 club, and how you'll get from Pula airport, since transfers aren't laid on.
Where is it?
On a peninsula just north of Poreč old town in Istria, Croatia, a flat 10-minute walk from the town and about 45 minutes from Pula airport.
Quick facts for families
Where it is, and getting there
Where Pical sits on the Poreč coast, and how you reach it from the UK.
Pical sits on a green peninsula immediately north of Poreč, a small historic town on the west coast of the Istrian peninsula in Croatia. It's inside the Parenzana beachfront park, a landscaped stretch of promenades and squares themed around the old Parenzana railway that once linked Poreč to Trieste in Italy and on into Slovenia. The old town, with its UNESCO-listed Euphrasian Basilica and its Byzantine mosaics, is a flat 10-minute walk of about 1 km (0.6 miles) along the promenade, and a tourist train stops about 100 m from the resort if small legs tire. The resort is new and built on level ground, so it's manageable with a pushchair.
The sea is 150 m from the rooms and the nearest beach, Parentino, is 200 m; guests at the Family Hotel and the Hotel walk down through the grounds to the sand. The everyday practical things are close by: a medical clinic and a marina about 100 m away, a sports centre at 200 m, a pharmacy, supermarket and post office around 800 m, a bank at 900 m, the hospital and bus terminal at 1 km, with the ferry quay just beyond at 1.1 km. There's a cash machine on site and, for anyone in an electric car, a fast charger in the car park for an extra fee.
Most UK families fly into Pula airport, about 35 miles (57 km) south, which runs seasonal routes from several UK airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol on airlines such as easyJet, British Airways, Jet2 and TUI. Rijeka and Trieste are further-flung alternatives. Valamar doesn't run its own airport transfer, so you arrange the trip yourself: a private taxi from Pula takes roughly 45 minutes and prices vary by season and provider. There's also a summer ferry to Poreč from Trieste, Pula and Venice, though it isn't a practical main route with young children.
Three hotels, one campusThree hotels on one campus
Pical isn't one hotel. It's three separate hotels and a private villa sharing a single campus, each booked on its own, all with access to the shared pools, beaches, spa and play areas. The build cost around €200 million, Valamar's largest single project, and it opened through 2026: the first guests arrived in March, the beach and promenade followed in May and the full line-up of partner restaurants opened over the summer. It's a new building rather than a refit of the old Pical Sunny Hotel that stood on this peninsula before, so older reviews of that name don't describe this place.
| Hotel | Rooms | Board | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pical Hotel | 191 | Half board | More adult in feel, with dinner at More Restaurant. |
| Pical Family Hotel | 209 | All-inclusive | The family base: an 8,000 m² family zone, family pools and the Famea family bar. |
| Pical Suites | 113 | Breakfast or half board | All V Level premium suites, sea views throughout. |
| Pical Beach House | Private villa | Breakfast or half board | Five bedrooms for up to 12, its own pool, sauna and gym. |
The Family Hotel is the one built for families, with its 8,000 m² family zone, all-inclusive board, the Famea family bar and the main children's restaurant. The Hotel and the Suites are more adult in feel and run on half board or breakfast. Across the three there are 513 rooms. A fourth option sits slightly apart: the Pical Beach House, a private five-bedroom villa for up to twelve, with a sixth room for a nanny or extra guest, its own infinity pool, sauna, gym and games room, direct beach access and a pets-welcome policy.
The resort runs on renewable electricity, with solar panels, green roofs and on-site food-waste composting, and it plans to employ more than 800 staff at the height of summer. One thing to weigh: because all three hotels share the main children's pool and play zone, the family areas get busy and noisy in peak season, and there's no quiet zone within the grounds.
Every restaurant and bar
The everyday restaurants, the Dine Around programme, the chef-name restaurants and how booking works.
Pical counts 11 restaurants, 9 bars and a beach club, with about 80% of ingredients sourced locally. How you eat depends on your hotel: the Family Hotel is all-inclusive, the Hotel and Suites are half board, and on top of that a Dine Around programme opens up the wider list of restaurants for a supplement or a credit.
The everyday restaurants. Quattro Terre at the Family Hotel is the main all-inclusive venue, a show-cooking buffet of Mediterranean and Istrian food with children's options, and it's where most family meals happen. More Restaurant at the Hotel is the half-board room, a seafood-led buffet with a show-cooking fish station and a wall of more than 200 wines. Parenzana Restaurant at the Suites serves menus from Croatian, Italian and Slovenian chefs with live cooking stations, as the half-board dinner for Suites guests.
The restaurants at Pical are not themselves Michelin-starred. Several are run by, or built around the menus of, chefs who hold stars at their own restaurants elsewhere, the same idea as Ikos. The table below sets out who's behind each and where each one is, because one of them needs a boat.
| Restaurant | The chef, and their stars elsewhere | Where it is |
|---|---|---|
| Harry's Piccolo Poreč | Matteo Metullio and Davide De Pra, who hold two Michelin stars at Harry's Piccolo in Trieste | On the resort |
| JAZ by Ana Roš | Ana Roš, who holds three Michelin stars at Hiša Franko in Slovenia | On the Poreč waterfront beside the resort |
| Miramare by Fratelli Cerea | The Cerea family, who hold three Michelin stars at Da Vittorio near Bergamo | At Isabella Island Resort, a short boat ride away |
| Fogo by Bekal | The chefs behind Bekal in Zagreb, which is Michelin-recommended | On Pical Beach |
| Spinnaker | A long-standing Poreč restaurant, Michelin-recommended in 2025 | In Poreč |
The Dine Around programme lets half-board and all-inclusive guests eat around up to eight restaurants. There are two ways in. The Dinner Exchange swaps your included buffet dinner for a starter, main and dessert at Fogo by Bekal, Purobeach or one of the two Oliva Grills. The Credit option puts a one-off dining credit for the stay towards a meal at the chef-name restaurants: €50 a person, rising to €70 for V Level guests (last checked July 2026), and it's a one-off rather than a daily allowance. Either way you book ahead through the Experience Concierge, or the V Level desk for V Level guests.
Oliva Grill Pical is the à la carte grill on the resort, doing fresh pasta, wood-fired pizza, burgers and grilled meat and fish, and its twin Oliva Grill Isabella is over at Isabella Island Resort. Purobeach is the beach club, with a Mediterranean, Asian and Latin menu and a Garden Spa by ESPA attached; it's designed mainly for adults, but the restaurant and a set sunbathing area welcome families, while the main club and pool are adult-focused. There's also a seasonal spot for light bites down on the beach.
The bars run from family-friendly to grown-up. Famea, the family bar in the Family Hotel lobby next to the indoor playground, opens 9am to 10pm with all-inclusive soft drinks, ice cream and beer and wine at the bar; the self-service coffee machine runs around the clock for Family Hotel guests. Maestral by the main pool and Bonaca by the Suites pool serve drinks, mocktails and light snacks poolside, Barka and Sundance sit down on the beach, and Mozaik and Nota are the smarter lobby bars at the Hotel and Suites, with long wine and spirits lists and live music. The Pical Rooftop Bar by Laurent Perrier is adults-only, with an infinity pool, old-town views, sunset DJ and saxophone sessions and a long champagne list. Atelier 33 is the on-site patisserie and chocolate shop for a mid-afternoon treat.
Kids menus are the stated policy in every restaurant, though one guest reported none at dinner early in the 2026 season. If you'd like an evening to yourselves, childcare during dinner can be arranged on request for a charge.
How the dining works
Most restaurants need a reservation, booked through the Experience Concierge desk, or the V Level desk for V Level guests, either before you arrive or during the stay. The all-inclusive Quattro Terre buffet is the walk-in fallback. Two of the Dine Around names aren't a short walk from your room: Miramare is a boat ride away at Isabella Island, and Spinnaker is in Poreč itself, so plan both as evenings out.
Rooms and suites
The family rooms with their real size, the premium V Level tier and what comes in the room.
The Family Hotel is the one with a confirmed room size, so that's the one to look at closely if you're travelling with children. Its Family Rooms sleep two adults and two children in 31 m²: a double bed (200×200cm) in one room and two day beds (100×200cm) in a second, split by sliding doors, which means a door you can close on a sleeping child. Two of the washbasins are set at child height. It's a workable family room rather than a spacious one, and the size fits the odd guest comment that rooms feel small for four.
Above that sit the V Level suites, the premium tier that runs across all three hotels. Sizes for the V Level suites, the Pical Suites and the Pical Hotel rooms aren't confirmed. The Pical Suites are all V Level with sea views; the Pical Hotel has a mix of standard and V Level rooms sleeping two to four.
| Room | Hotel | Size | Sleeps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family Room for 2+2 (Balcony) | Family Hotel | 31 m² | 2 adults, 2 children |
| Family Room for 2+2 Seaside | Family Hotel | 31 m² | 2 adults, 2 children |
| V Level Suite for 2+1 | Family Hotel | Not confirmed | 2 adults, 1 child |
| V Level Suite for 2+2 | Family Hotel | Not confirmed | 2 adults, 2 children |
| Pical Suites (V Level) | Suites | Not confirmed | Sea-view suites |
| Pical Hotel rooms | Hotel | Not confirmed | 2 to 4 guests |
Rooms come well equipped whichever hotel you pick: an Illy coffee machine, kettle and Croatian tea, a minibar, a safe, a 55-inch TV with a soundbar, a smart-room control system and organic toiletries, plus a luxury mattress, cotton bedding and a pillow menu. Family rooms add a picture book and a smart play game as standard, and each floor has a shared kitchenette with a microwave, ice maker and filtered water. Room service is available.
For babies and toddlers, the Family Hotel lends a baby kit on request: a cot, a child's bathtub, a potty, a set of children's toiletries and some play games. Check-in is 2pm and check-out 10am at the three hotels; the Beach House checks in at 4pm and out at 10am, the same as the others.
What V Level adds
V Level is Valamar's premium tier, and you can book it at any of the three hotels. It comes with its own private pools, including a 315 m² pool and a 70 m² children's pool, an Experience Concierge desk, poolside service, a Bubbly and Healthy Hour and a Vitality Bar, plus a one-off dining credit at the chef-name restaurants. At the Family Hotel the V Level suites are set up for families.
The pools and water
There are 11 pools spread across more than 3,000 m² indoors and out, and every one is heated, which several guests single out as a comfort with young children.
Indoors, a 25 m five-lane Sport Pool is a proper training pool with starting blocks and timing boards, kept between 28 and 33°C, and it's where the swim academy runs its lessons. An indoor-outdoor Relax Pool, 200 m², sits at around 30°C and has family slides, including a 7.5 m curving one, and there's a separate heated baby pool with water features for the youngest.
Outdoors, the centrepiece is a 780 m² infinity pool at 28 to 30°C with water massage and waterfalls, alongside a 100 m² heated kids pool and a 70 m² heated baby pool. V Level guests have their own 315 m² pool and a small children's pool. Down by the sea, the Sundance beach has a 500 m² infinity pool with three 50 m lanes and views across to the old town, with premium loungers for an extra charge. The adults-only rooftop bar has its own infinity pool, and Purobeach has an adult-focused pool.
The baby and toddler pools are shallow wading pools with heated water and water features. Indoor pools are open year-round; the outdoor pools run from spring into autumn depending on the weather.
The beaches
Pical has three serviced beaches along about 1 km (0.6 miles) of coast, each with sunbeds and a bar. Pical Sandy Beach is the unusual one for Istria, where almost everything is pebble: it has a sandy stretch with a pine-shaded sundeck, likely the easiest going for small children. Pical Sundance Beach is paved and serviced, with the sea-view infinity pool beside it, afternoon DJ sets and premium loungers for a fee. Parentino Beach mixes pebble, grass and paved areas with natural pine shade, and it has a ramp into the water and paved sections for anyone with mobility needs; it runs to about 700 m and the resort occupies part of it.
Parentino held a Blue Flag, the European clean-and-safe beach award, in 2025. The water off Poreč is consistently clean. As a sheltered northern Adriatic bay these beaches are generally calm, and the sea reaches comfortable toddler-paddling temperatures from June. Water sports run from the beach from May, and there's natural pine shade on the Sandy and Parentino beaches for the peak of summer.
Babies and toddlers
The under-3 gap and what fills it, the clubs and play for older children, and the paid academies.
This is the part to read closely if you're travelling with a baby or toddler, because it's where Pical has a real gap. There's no dedicated club for under-3s. The Maro Club starts at age 3, and unlike some other Valamar resorts nearby, Tamaris, Isabella and Amarin, Pical doesn't run a structured 0 to 3 baby club. If drop-off childcare for a very young child is your main reason for choosing a resort, that's the thing to weigh.
What under-3s do have is still a decent spread. There are heated baby pools indoors and out, the PlayNest soft-play area open to all ages, and the in-room baby kit at the Family Hotel. The swim academy runs a non-swimmers course for children from birth up to about four and a half, with a parent in the water, and there's a paid babysitting service, booked ahead, for an evening out. One family travelling with a two-month-old picked a room with a pool-access terrace and rated it well for a young baby.
Clubs and playClubs, PlayLand and the Fun Zones
For children of 3 and up, there's plenty. The Maro Club runs 9am to 9pm for ages 3 to 12, staffed by animators trained in the NTC approach, short for Neuro-Tac-Cognitive, a children's training method, with workshops all year, themed days such as Pirate Day, Underwater Adventure Day and Parenzana Trail Day, plus evening entertainment such as the Maro Disco, magic shows and cinema nights. A FunLab strand for 6s and over runs across the peak summer, and one family called the club a real hit with their children.
PlayLand is the headline, a 1,200 m² indoor centre billed as the largest of its kind in the region, free for resort guests and open on set 2026 windows: 22 June to 20 September; 30 October to 8 November; and 17 December to 18 January 2027. Inside it there's a Smart Play zone for ages 0 to 12 with hands-on and sensory play, from a colour-in virtual aquarium and giant building blocks to a LEGO room and a ball pit for younger ones; a Gaming Arena and Theatre with consoles, tournaments and evening family shows; a Tech Play zone with an interactive floor game and seasonal virtual reality; and an Innovation centre running LEGO, robotics and an aquarium collaboration in high summer.
Outside, the Fun Zones are open to all ages by season: SpacePark, a big outdoor playground themed on a local observatory that guests pick out as a highlight; JumpOn, a two-level 400 m² trampoline area for 3 to 12s billed as Istria's largest; Labirint, a maze-themed playground; the all-ages PlayNest; a Game Lounge with consoles; and an Adventure Park with adrenaline trails through the pine forest, open from April for an extra charge. Teenagers get their own programme too, split into sport, gaming, creative and chill-out strands, from kayaking and bikes to escape rooms, karaoke and yoga.
Paid lessonsThe academies
Alongside the clubs, Pical runs a set of paid academies you book separately, most with real age bands, in groups of up to five. The Swimming Academy uses the Fred Swim method, year-round Monday to Saturday: a non-swimmers course for ages 0 to four and a half, with a parent in the water, runs five 45-minute sessions for €150 a person; Beginners (4.5 and up) is the same format for €200; Slightly Advanced (5 and up) runs five 60-minute sessions for €290; and a private one-to-one lesson costs €60 for 45 minutes (prices last checked June 2026). There's snorkelling and stand-up paddleboarding for 6s and over in summer, a Bike Academy on Woom bikes with a learn-to-ride course for 4 to 5s and an advanced group for older children, plus creative options in stage dance, aerial silks and DJ-ing. Art and tinkering are covered by Art of Fun for 4s and up and Tinker Labs, split into Starters (4 to 7) and Explorers (8 to 12), each running most days year-round at €40 a session. All are extra, and prices change, so check the current rates and seasons when you book.
ESPA at Pical
The spa and its one family hour, the sport on site, and the trips out around Poreč.
The 1,300 m² ESPA spa is Croatia's first. It has eight saunas and steam rooms, six of them themed on Istrian landscapes and infused with local herbs, plus two steam baths, with daily Aufguss sauna ceremonies. There are four relaxation zones, among them a room of floating waterbeds and a cave-like quiet room. A private spa suite can be booked for a couple, a family or a small group, with its own sauna, whirlpool and in-suite dining.
The spa is for adults and over-16s, with one exception: a family wellness hour every day from noon to 1pm when children and teenagers can use selected experiences. Treatments lean on Istrian salt, herbs and olive oil, and there are longer wellness packages for guests, along with a Christophe Robin hair studio and a beauty studio for nails, brows and waxing on site. Down by the beach, a separate Garden Spa by ESPA at Purobeach adds a private sauna, a cold plunge and outdoor rituals.
On land and waterSport and activities
Beyond the pools and beaches there's a lot to fill a week. The on-site Bike Centre sits at the start of the 123 km Parenzana trail and rents everything from e-bikes to children's trailers and tow bars, with a pump track and a separate kids pump track, about 5 km of family trails inside the resort and 4 km of jogging and cycling paths, plus a daily family cycling planner. The Tennis Centre has 15 clay courts with sea views and coaching for beginners and up. Water sports run from the beach from May for a charge: paddleboards, kayaks, jet-skis, speedboat rides including towed parachute, twister and tube rides, banana rides, wakeboarding, diving, pedal boats and a seasonal inflatable water park.
There are multi-use courts for basketball, volleyball and football, a complimentary Stay Fit programme running 7am to 10pm in high season, with aqua aerobics, Zumba, yoga, Nordic walking and tournaments (a handful of guided sessions cost extra), plus a 24-hour gym with Technogym kit and body analysis. For getting out and about, an Experience Concierge books off-resort trips separately: truffle hunting (from €95 a person), olive-oil tasting (from €60 a person), boat tours to Brijuni National Park and the Lim channel, a private yacht charter, a hot-air balloon flight over Istria, a Poreč walking tour, a pasta workshop and a separate Parenzana bike tour, each priced individually and booked ahead (prices last checked June 2026).
Off the parkThe area and days out
Poreč old town is the obvious first outing, a flat 10-minute walk away, with the sixth-century Euphrasian Basilica and its Byzantine mosaics, a Roman main street and waterfront cafes; older children take to the history more than toddlers will. A short drive out, the Baredine Cave, about 6 miles (10 km) away, is a guided walk past stalactites and underground lakes that's a reliable hit from about age 5. For water-park days there's Aquacolors Poreč close to town, one of Istria's largest. The bigger Aquapark Istralandia is about 19 miles (30 km) north near Novigrad, with 30-plus slides, a wave pool and a lazy river well suited to ages 3 and up, plus return transfers.
Further afield, Pula is about 35 miles (57 km) south and has one of the six largest Roman amphitheatres in the world, its scale best appreciated by children of about 7 and up, plus boats to the Brijuni islands; Rovinj, about 22 miles (35 km) south, is a photogenic fishing town better suited to older children; and the medieval hill towns inland, Motovun and its neighbours in the truffle country, are around 19 to 25 miles (30 to 40 km) on winding roads. A hire car helps for all of these, while the walk into Poreč with a pushchair is flat and easy.
Loves and gripes
The early verdict from guests, how Pical compares in Istria and the weather month by month.
Pical opened in March 2026, so the review pool is small and early. Booking.com sits at 9.6 out of 10 from 35 reviews, with a cleanliness score of 9.8, and TripAdvisor is 4 out of 5 from 36 reviews, ranking it 14th of 37 hotels in Poreč (as of July 2026). Treat all of this as first impressions of a brand-new resort rather than a settled picture, and expect the operational teething to ease as the season beds in.
What families love
- The staff, praised again and again as friendly, attentive and warm, the standout in the early reviews.
- The design and greenery, and how clean and well kept it is given the number of guests, with cleanliness scores near the top.
- SpacePark and the Adventure Park, singled out as brilliant for children.
- The sheer range of children's activities, reviews calling it "an incredible amount" with both the indoor and outdoor play areas rated highly.
- The heated pools, warm and clean.
- The location, close to the old town with sea views and pine shade.
What families flag
- No quiet zone: three hotels share the main children's pool and play areas, so it gets busy and loud in high summer.
- Confusion early on between the all-inclusive and half-board areas, with half-board guests unable to buy drinks in the all-inclusive zone and the wristbands causing friction.
- Main-buffet food rated decent rather than exceptional by some, with one report of breakfast cleared early.
- Rooms on the small side, in line with the 31 m² family room.
- Some building work and a few facilities still finishing at the March and April opening, with the beach and Purobeach completed in May.
How it compares
Within the Istrian family shortlist, Pical is the newest, the most ambitious on dining and spa and the best for beach variety, but it's the one without an under-3 club. Here's how it lines up against three other Valamar and Maistra family resorts nearby.
| Resort | Ages and childcare | Board | Beach |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pical Resort, Poreč | Maro Club 3 to 12, no under-3 club | All-inclusive or half board | Sandy, paved and pebble |
| Amarin, Rovinj | Baby club 0 to 3 plus older clubs | All-inclusive | Pebble, plus indoor pools |
| Valamar Tamaris, Poreč | Baby club 0 to 3 plus older clubs | All-inclusive | Pebble |
| Valamar Isabella Island | Baby club 0 to 3 plus older clubs | Various | Pebble and man-made |
If a structured club for an under-3 is the deciding factor, Tamaris, Isabella or Amarin have it and Pical doesn't. For the 3 to 12s, Pical's play complex, academies and dining are the strongest of the group.
When to goWhen to go, and the weather
Pical is open year-round, with summer the main family season. The board differs by hotel, so remember the Family Hotel is all-inclusive only, the Hotel is half board and the Suites are breakfast or half board. The sea reaches comfortable toddler-paddling temperatures from June, at around 22 to 23°C, and stays warm into September. June and September give you that warmth with thinner crowds than the July and August peak; May works for a break built around the indoor pools and academies while the sea is still cool. The figures below are for this stretch of the Istrian coast.
| Month | Daytime high | Overnight low | Rain | Wet days | Sea temp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9.5° | 1.5° | 57 mm | 7 | 12° |
| February | 10.5° | 1.5° | 62 mm | 6 | 11° |
| March | 14° | 4° | 55 mm | 6 | 11° |
| April | 18° | 7.5° | 65 mm | 7 | 13° |
| May | 23° | 12° | 77 mm | 8 | 18° |
| June | 27.5° | 16° | 74 mm | 6 | 23° |
| July | 29.5° | 17.5° | 60 mm | 5 | 26° |
| August | 29.5° | 17.5° | 82 mm | 6 | 26° |
| September | 25° | 14° | 123 mm | 8 | 24° |
| October | 20° | 10° | 91 mm | 7 | 20° |
| November | 14.5° | 6.5° | 121 mm | 9 | 17° |
| December | 10.5° | 2.5° | 92 mm | 8 | 14° |
Typical monthly averages from weather-station records. Sea temperature is the open-water figure, so a sheltered bay can feel a degree or two warmer. Pical is open year-round, with summer the main family season.
Entry, health and shopping
Croatia is in the EU and the Eurozone, so you'll spend euros and there's no currency to sort. UK visitors travel visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180 and need a passport with at least three months left beyond your departure and under ten years old; the EU's new Entry/Exit System is being rolled out, so check gov.uk before you travel. The hotel registers you with the police automatically within a couple of days.
Medical cover is close at hand: a GHIC or EHIC card is valid here, the medical clinic is about 100 m from the resort, the pharmacy around 800 m and the hospital about 1 km. For baby supplies, the Croatian supermarkets in and around Poreč, Konzum and Spar, stock formula and nappies, and the shops and pharmacies in the old town are a 10-minute walk; the Family Hotel provides its baby kit in the room on request. There's a patisserie on site for treats but no baby shop, so bring or buy essentials in town.
Questions
The things families ask most, the pages worth a bookmark and when this guide was last refreshed.
Which of the three hotels should we book with young children?
The Family Hotel is the one built for families: it's the all-inclusive one, with the family zone, the family pools and the Famea family bar. The Hotel and the Suites are more adult in feel; the Hotel runs on half board and the Suites on breakfast or half board. So for a baby or toddler the Family Hotel is the natural base, but check the board suits you, because the Family Hotel is all-inclusive only.
Is there childcare for a baby or toddler under 3?
Not as a drop-off club. The Maro Club starts at age 3, so for a younger child the only supervised option is the paid babysitting you book ahead. The heated baby pools, the PlayNest soft-play, the in-room baby kit and a parent-and-child swim course are all there too, but as things you use together rather than childcare. If a structured baby club is your main need, Valamar Tamaris, Isabella or the nearby Amarin run a 0 to 3 club and Pical doesn't.
Are the restaurants really Michelin-starred?
The restaurants at Pical are not themselves starred. Several are run by chefs who hold Michelin stars at their own restaurants elsewhere, which is a different thing. Two points worth planning around: Miramare is at Isabella Island Resort and needs a short boat trip, and the Dine Around credit towards these restaurants is a one-off for the stay, not a daily allowance.
Will a fussy toddler find food they will eat?
A fussy eater does best at the buffet. The all-inclusive Quattro Terre at the Family Hotel is show-cooking with children's options, the widest choice for a child who changes their mind. Famea in the lobby serves ice cream through the day, and kids menus are the stated policy in the à la carte restaurants too.
Do we have to sort our own airport transfer?
Yes. Valamar doesn't lay on a transfer, so book a private taxi or transfer from Pula yourself. Arrange it before you travel so someone's there when you land with tired children, rather than joining a taxi queue at the airport.
Can half-board guests use the all-inclusive bars?
No, and this caused some friction early on: half-board guests couldn't buy drinks in the all-inclusive areas even when happy to pay, and the wristbands confused people. It reflects the first months of a brand-new resort. The practical takeaway is to pick your board deliberately, because the areas are separated by hotel.
See more Pical Resort photos
Open the Pical Resort photo gallery →
Useful links
- Pical Resort, Valamar Collection: the resort's own site for the three hotels, rooms, board and children's facilities.
- GOV.UK Croatia travel advice: entry rules and safety updates before you travel.
- Istria with little ones: our guide to the wider region, its beaches and when to go.
Last updated 17 July 2026.
