IstraPanorama

If you want to book a room, apartment or house with us, than please click the button "BOOK NOW" on the webpage with prices for the house of your choice. You can reach this page via the webpage with information on our "properties" and their "prices". When clicking on the button "BOOK NOW" you will see a calendar. This calendar indicates which the dates the house of your choice is still vacant. Follow the instructions indicated under the calendar to make the reservation. Once you have made a reservation, the system will automatically mail to both you and us, stating that it received your request. Do realise that renting a whole house has priority over renting just an appartment or room.

After your booking you will have to confirm your reservation. For this we do request an advance payment of 50% of the total amount indicated in the mail. Once we receive this payment on our account, we will send you a mail confirming your reservation and indicate these dates on the calendar as "full". At least 30 days before your arrival, we need to receive the full amount. At arrival we will ask for a guarantee of 250 €.

All payments are to be made to our account:
IstraPanorama
Broekstraat 15
3050 Oud-Heverlee
Belgium

Our bank: KBC Dorpstraat 53A, 3050 Oud-Heverlee, Belgium
Bank account: BIC: KREDBEBB; IBAN: BE 41734020020910 (from Belgium 734-0200209-10)

Cleaning is included in the price. Evidently this does not mean that we do not expect from you that you treat the house as if it were you own. We may have to claim extra in case of damage or when the house is left behind in such a state that we have to pay extra for it's cleaning.

Balini and the house in Oprtalj dispose of an alarm installation for which you will be given the key code. In case the alarm goes off, the "house care-taker" is automatically informed by phone. Please give them your phone number, so that they can reach you if needed. Evidently we have to ask you to use the alarm each time you leave the house, but also to avoid false alarms.

We have contracted a "care-taker" for the houses. When there are technical problems in the house, do not hesitate to contact them. In the house you will find a folder with general information on how to contact them, but also on what to do, whom to go to or who to phone in case of an emergency (technical, administrative or medical). You can also contact the owners by phone and e-mail. They stay in Istria for most of the season.

At arrival we will make sure that someone will be there to hand you the keys and inform you on what there is to know about the houses. Moreover a complete information folder will be at your disposal. This information will also be send to you on forehand. If possible, the owners will be the ones to receive you personally. Since they speak many languages (English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish and Italian) communication should not be a problem. This enthusiastic couple knows the region very well and can give you first hand information on what there is to see and to do. If they are not around, we will make sure that the house keeper is there to receive you.

The houses are fully equipped. All necessary kitchen utensils are available. For Balini and Oprtalj bed and bath linen are available. In all houses the usual house supplies (cleaning, basic food stuffs, a bottle of drinking water, herbs, etc) are available.

All the houses rented are owned privately. There is no intermediate agency. Balini and the house in Oprtalj are owned by Aline Massin and Marjo Lapidaire. They bought, renovated and furnished the houses as if it were their permanent residences. Marjo (Dutch) and Aline (Belgian), after having travelled the world, they became addicted to the beauty of Istria since they first visited the region in the early 80's. Their local knowledge and contacts may also prove to be invaluable to you. Their multi-cultural background and knowledge of several languages (Dutch, English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and even some Russian) is an additional asset.

In Croatia the national currency is the "Kuna". It is more or less linked to the Euro at a rate of 1 Euro = 7,3 Kuna. Everywhere you can find money machines that work with credit- or maestro cards. Of course you can also change money (Pound Sterling, Euro, or other) in any bank. In case you only dispose of Euro's, do not worry too much. In most places people will accept the Euro, using a very reasonable rate. After all you are only just outside the Euro zone.

Croatia, and especially Istria, is very safe to travel. In fact one can easily state that the security situation can be compared with that of Austria, and is considerably better as in some EU other Mediterranean regions. Even during the last Balkan war, in Istria there was not one shot fired. One should also realise that the Balkan war ended already some 10 years ago. For us, feeling safe was an important reason to come to Croatia.

Croatia, and especially Istria, is really close to the hart of Europe. For example, from Brussels it is only some 1.300 km away. From there it is about as far as going to Nice in France, and certainly closer than Barcelona in Spain or Tuscany in Italy. In fact our houses are only some 10 to 20 km from the border with the EU and the Euro zone (Slovenia) and only 50 km from Trieste in Italy. The historical city of Venice in Italy or the Alpine mountains around Villach in Austria, are both at some 200 km of which 150 km highway, and can easily be visited in one day. So the answer to this question is no: Croatia and in particular Istria simply are part of the hart of the Western European Mediterranean region.