Summer Practice for Croatian Students
During the school year students have some 20 days of winter holidays, 10 days of spring break and almost 3 months of summer holidays with an obligation to do summer practice in duration of 182 hours. During the school year, four year students have 70 or 105 hours of practice (depending on their program).
Students mostly do their practice at hotels, restaurants and tourist agencies.
Most of the Croatian students do their practice at Hoteli Baška. They work there as waiters, receptionists, concierges, maids, cooks etc.
Hoteli Baška in Island Krk
Baška is a destination known for its clean and beautiful beaches. Of the thirty pebble beaches available for the beach-goers, only one is also made for people with disabilities
In front of the entrance to the beach is a sign with a person in a wheel chair, meaning that the beach is adapted for people with disabilities.
HOTEL CORINTHIA ***
The entrance to the hotel is adapted for people with disabilities. The main entrance doors are sliding doors and open by themselves.
It has a path for people in wheelchairs.
The space around the reception desk is spacious, but the desk itself is a little bit too high for people in wheelchairs.
The standard one person bedroom has enough room for a wheelchair to maneuver freely, but the bathrooms are too small, and don’t have the needed handles for people in wheelchairs.
Hotel Corinthia has a wellness section, but it is inaccessible for people in wheelchairs.
If you are a person in a wheelchair, it will be difficult for you to use the bathrooms and you will not be able to use the Wellness services.
HOTEL ZVONIMIR ****
It is a hotel closest to the beach.
The entrance is well adapted for people in wheelchairs, the doors are sliding and open automatically.
The rooms, bathrooms and restaurant are not adjusted at all.
There is no space in the rooms, nor there is in the bathrooms.
The restaurant has stairs and there are no paths made for wheelchairs.
HOTEL ATRIUM RESIDENCE *****
It is a hotel which represents the top quality offer in Baška and on the island of Krk.
For people in wheelchairs, a problem arises at the mere entrance of the hotel, which has rotating doors. They need to have assistance in order to pass through the normal door.
The rooms have enough space for a wheelchair, but the bathrooms, once again, represent a problem. They are big enough for a wheelchair to enter, but there are no handles for the person to use.
The showers and bath tubs are posted too high, and there are no helping steps for easier entry.
If you are a person in a wheelchair, Hotel Atrium Residence should not be your first choice.
Hotel Central in Bjelovar
Hotel “Central” has 46 rooms:
19 single
14 double
5 triple
3 suites
4 family suites with 2 connected rooms
1 room wheelchair friendly
Total accommodation capacity – 83 beds
All rooms are complimented with cable TV and Wi-Fi
It is ideal for business people. For holding lectures, presentations and meeting conferences as there are large conference room for 500 people and smaller one for 100 people.
There is a parking owned by the hotel next to it.
Furthermore, the hotel organizes weddings, business lunches, prom nights, banquets, birthdays and cocktail parties.
Newly, refurbished restaurant will give you a pleasure of a fine lunch, dinner and coffee breaks in discrete atmosphere.
We offer our guests varieties of gastronomic food; authentic homemade meals, wine, vegetarian and macrobiotic meals. We can offer you diversity of healthy food.
Hotel personnel welcomes you to visit us, would be honored to give you a best possible service and help you with any question or request you have and need while staying in our town.
Some of the students involved in the project went for summer or winter practice to hotel Central in Bjelovar. They also arranged a study visit to the hotel which included four students and one teacher. The general manager guided them through wardrobe bars the rooms, reception, bar, dinning room and other parts of the hotel.
There is only one room in this hotel which is adapted for disabled guests – it has no carpets, mirrors and wardrobe bars are set low as well as the light switches, doors are wider than regular ones. Bathroom is spacious so that the person in wheelchair could manoevre in it. Washbasin is set low as well as the mirror which is also set in an appropriate angle. In the shower, there is a foldable chair.
The main entrance is adapted for a wheelchair. Inside, the elevator is wide enough for the persons in wheelhairs and the buttons are also set low. There is also a lift to access the hotel restaurant.
Tourist Agencies
After talking to various tourist agency managers we came to a conclusion that they have experience with disabled people, but have problems with organising the transportation and finding hotels that are adapted to their needs.
They mostly organise trips for individuals rather than groups.
One of the agencies included in this survey (and where we go to summer practise) was Putovanja Plus d.o.o. from Bjelovar.
