Long ago in 1844 Iginio Scarpa, a patrician from Rijeka, built amidst the bay-tree and oak-tree vegetation the villa "Angiolina" - that was the beginning of the tourism in Opatija - a town where the royal families and men of distinction (Wilhelm II, Franz Joseph I, Gustav Mahler, Isidora Duncan, A. P. Chekhov...among others) used to winter. By the end of the 19th century, Opatija was the winter and health resort of the worldly Central Europe.

Today, when winter and summer display their charms, Opatija is the biggest pearl in the Kvarner Bay, an international conference and thalassotherapia medical center, and unique combination of climatic, vegetative and cultural opposites. The average temperature is some degrees higher than in the neighbouring places, thus allowing successful growth of camelias, magnolias, palms, bamboos, and other subtropic plants in its parks. Surrounded by this luxuriant evergreen vegetation there are hidden numerous hotels - classical historical and secessional buildings from the last century, of refined beauty but modern enough to keep up with the progress and satisfy all the exigences the today's tourist demands.

Opatija is situated at the bottom of the mountain Ucka, 45° 20' of northern latitude and 31° 58' of eastern longitude.

Climate: Mediterranean, semiaride. The evergreen surroundings cause pleasant freshness in summer (21.9° C) and prevents against cold winds in winter (7° C).

Airports: Ljubljana 145 km, Zagreb 188 km.

Railway stations: Opatija-Matulji 4 km, Rijeka 14 km.

Local buses are connecting every 20 minutes with Rijeka and the resorts along the riviera (Icici 3 km, Lovran 6 km, Medveja 10 km, Mošcenicka Draga 15 km).

Places of interest: the church of Sv. Jakov (15th century), park Angiolina, open-air stage situated vis-à-vis a park near the sea (concerts, show-programmes), Fountain (built in 1889 by Hans Rauthautsky) in a park surrounding Sv. Jakov, coastal promenade (12 km), starting in Volosko and leading via Opatija and Ika to Lovran, walking-tours on the hills of Ucka (1396 m).

The Ambasador Hotel (« « « « « ) has been chosen as venue for the IMLA conference and a block of rooms has been reserved at special rates. All participants are recommended to arrange accomodation here, mentioning that they are attending the Conference when booking the rooms. Hotel is situated directly on the seashore, 100 m from the main road in the vicinity of the centre of the town, offers a high standard of accommodation and business facilities.

Rooms: 289 rooms, semi-suites, suites. All with private facilities, telephone, TV, mini bar and balkony.

Restaurant: halfboard and à la carte, national and international cuisine.

Facilities: outdoor and indoor swimming pool with heated sea water, sauna, private beach, hairdresser, aperitif bar, garden restaurant, à la carte restaurant, café , terrace, several lounges and a conference hall, air conditioning in public rooms, every evening dance music, garage and parking area.

Banking and currency: Most internationally recognized currencies and travellers cheques can be easily exchanged at banks, hotels and international airports, upon presentation of your passport. Normal banking hours are Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Exchange office at the reception desk of the Ambassador Hotel is operating 24 hours a day. Most international credit cards are honoured in hotels, restaurants and shops. Many may also be used to withdraw cash from the automatic teller machines if encoded with a PIN number. Croatia operates a decimal currency system and national currency is Kuna (1 kn = 100 lipa).

Value Added Tax: A value added tax (PDV) of 22% applies to all goods and services in Croatia and is usually included in the advertised price of an item or service, even if they are expressed in foreign currency (like the hotel rates in German Marks). Goods and souvenirs bought from duty-free shops are exempt from this tax. Tourists may also claim the refund of the value added tax for goods over KN 500. However, this must be specially emphasized at the time goods are purchased.

Croatia Web Sites: For more information about Croatia please visit the following web pages:

http://www.hr
http://www.mzt.hr/wtc/wtc.html
http://www.croatia.net
http://www.crotours.com/English