Hotel Holiday Inn Belgrade

This hotel is across the Danube in the modern business district of New Belgrade, just 6 mi from the airport and 3 mi from Belgrade city centre. Allow 15 minutes to get to the airport and the same to get to the city centre.

If you bring your laptop, you will be able to connect free of charge to the hotel's Wi-Fi network throughout the establishment, including in your room, where an ADSL cable is provided. There is also a garage for the use of guests. Pets are accepted and international newspapers are provided at no additional charge. The hotel's 7 conference rooms have a capacity of 150 people. There is a cash machine in the lobby and you can change currency at reception.
Unless you are visiting Belgrade for business reasons, there are no tourist attractions in New Belgrade, whose unremarkable buildings were inspired by the designs of French architect Le Corbusier. Having said this, the Holiday Inn is in a good location between the airport (just 6 mi away) and the city centre (3 mi away). The village-like neighbourhood of Zemun is not far away and well worth a stroll.

Opened in November 2008, the Holiday Inn Belgrade is a modern establishment with 140 guest rooms in a 6 storey building served by 2 lifts. A Smart car was on display in the lobby when we visited. The hotel is a member of the American chain, IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group), and contains a spa (open from 6:30am to 10:00pm) with a treatment and massage room where ayurvedic facilities and hot stone massages are available. There is also a large wooden whirlpool bath, a sauna, a hammam, a cold room designed like an igloo cave, a solarium, and a relaxation room. Products by the cosmetic brand, Thay, are used for the treatments. Towels, bathrobes, and flip flops are also provided, and everything is free of charge, except the massages of course. The changing rooms are separate. Next to this area is the gym, which is full of the latest exercise machines and opens from 6:30am until 10:00pm. The spa and gym are both on level -1 of the hotel, but there is no corresponding button in the lift. Instead, you will have to press the '-' button followed by '1'!

The guest rooms in the Holiday Inn Belgrade are, like the establishment as a whole, modern and comfortable, and the contemporary decor and facilities match the standards set by the chain. The snug green carpet covering the floor is very pleasant to walk on barefoot, and the rooms, which measure 20m², also have a very comfortable king or queen size bed with double pillows, large mirrors, an armchair, a round wooden table, a desk, a modern painting on the wall, a luggage rack, etc. The amenities include a large flat-screen television with 23 channels, discreet individual air-conditioning, a well stocked minibar fridge, tea and coffee-making facilities, and free Internet access, either Wi-Fi or via an ADSL cable. However, there is no safe, this service being available at reception instead.
The bathroom is attractively decorated with green mosaics and comes with a bathtub fully equipped with a handle, a tropical shower option, and a flexible shower head, a drying rack, tissues, a make-up mirror, a towel warmer, and Holiday Inn hospitality products. Rooms in the superior category are also provided with bathrobes and slippers.

To get the day off to a good start, breakfast is served next to the lobby from 6:30am to 10:30am (11:00am on the weekend, so you can make the most of a lie-in). You can choose from cereals, yoghurt, fruit, cheeses, cold cuts of pork, pastries, and various omelettes, as well as fruit juices, hot chocolate, tea, and coffee. After this, you can sit down for a meal in the same restaurant, Singidunum (the Roman word for Belgrade), whenever it takes your fancy and until 11:00pm. There is enough seating for 80 guests at a time. Although it is fairly ordinary, the decor is nevertheless modern and pleasant, and there is a bay window affording views of the world outside, albeit a world in which not much is happening (New Belgrade is not exactly the most interesting place, view-wise). The à la carte cuisine is decent rather than gourmet and consists of a selection of local and international dishes. We recommend the traditional Serbian soup, which is excellent. Indeed 'chorba', a pretty hearty local dish, is one of the things you mustn't miss. The cheesecake is a delicious dessert option. The lobby bar, Buzz, is open from 6:30am until 1:00am, and has a big plasma-screen television where sports are screened.