Review - Regent Porto Montenegro

Regent Porto Montenegro

May 22nd, 2025

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Review - Regent Porto Montenegro

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Enroute:

The main destination of this trip was Montenegro, which is a country that had been on my list for a long time. While I would have loved to stay at the One&Only Portonovi, unfortunately it was fully booked out by a Russian wedding party for our dates. Flying into Montenegro wasn’t necessarily the easiest thing, as many flights were only operating on select days of the week. We flew into Dubrovnik and arranged a hotel chauffer to pick us up from the airport. We paid €320 for the one-way trip in an E-class, which was on the steeper side for the distance traveled. I’m not sure what other alternatives there were? In the future, I might consider flying into Istanbul and connect from there, as there was a nonstop flight between Istanbul and Tivat. Tivat Airport is just 10 minutes away from the hotel. You see how inconvenient life is when you don’t have a pj!!!

The drive took a little under two hours and required us first crossing the border between Montenegro and Croatia. Since Montenegro isn’t in the Schengen zone, we had to get our passports stamped. We didn’t have to get out of the car, though.

Shortly after entering Montenegro, we were driven onto a ferry that took us across the Bay of Kotor. This worked quite well, and we didn’t waste much time waiting around.

If for any reason you don’t have time to tour around Kotor Bay, you could get a pretty good glimpse from the ferry.

Check-in:

The Regent is located within the Porto Montenegro development - a mixed-use waterfront project funded by the Emiratis with marinas, residences, shops and restaurants.

The entrance to the hotel was quite grand, featuring probably the only Rolex AD in the country and a water fountain. Montenegro sits across the Adriatic Sea from Italy, so there’s plenty of similarities in architecture, history and cuisine. The culture was distinctively Balkan though, which I love.

I could swear this hotel was something else before it was branded the Regent, but I can’t find anything online about it. Do I have that wrong?

Check-in was friendly. Our booking was made via Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts. I originally booked a studio suite and was upgraded to a studio suite with (partial) sea view. The rates were pretty reasonable. I believe we paid around $600/night all-in for the suite. Late May was still early in the season, and the property didn’t feel very busy during our stay. There were a few different wings at the hotel, since some of them were residences. We were assigned a suite in the residence tower, which was more modern, albeit a bit ordinary. Like I have Miele at home, I don’t need that on my vacation, you know what I mean? If I were to return, I’d definitely ask to stay in the older wings.

To get to our room, we first walked through the spa on the second floor. It was an odd layout, but I guess they had to connect the residence towers to the main building via a skybridge of sorts. The residence tower had a gorgeous atrium, and it was showered in natural light. The lobby had another water feature, with a very aesthetically trimmed tree planted in the center. Then four geometric globes were projected alongside the pond. The construction at the hotel felt very solid and upscale. Every time I visit a new country, I always wonder what the rich people in these countries do. Clearly there’s enough wealth in Montenegro to support a project like this.

Unpack:

While our room was marketed as a studio suite, it technically met the definition of a one-bedroom suite, as the bedroom and the living room were fully separated. Upon entry, there was a small foyer with a mirror and a small shelf for tchotchkes.

Regent Porto Montenegro Studio Suite Foyer

I liked the cute DND sign at the hotel.

Awaiting on the dining table was a decent welcome amenity, consisting of a bottle of Regent-branded Montenegrin wine, as well some macaroons, apples and nuts. I learned on this trip that the Adriatic Coast has a long history of viticulture, with relics of wine-making in the Montenegrin city of Budva dating back to the 4th century. I’ve had Albanian and Serbian wine before, but never Montenegrin or Croatian wine. We mistakenly assumed that we should be drinking whites here, but the reds such as Vranac were stellar. This gets to my point of how hotels and airlines can be great ambassadors of their homeland. Had the Regent not given us a bottle of Montenegrin red, I would’ve never sought it out on my own and fallen in love with it.

To the right of the foyer was a kitchenette, with a full-size fridge, a small cooktop, a dishwasher and a washing machine. I feel like Europe loves to put washing machines in the kitchen.

Regent Porto Montenegro Studio Suite Kitchenette

There were a few aspects of this property I found a bit, uh, unbefitting? For example, there were two bottles of water on the kitchen counter when we checked in. Later when we asked for more, we were told additional water would have an extra charge. Apparently tap water is drinkable in this part of Montenegro, but still, at a hotel like this..? Oh, and this hotel employed a towel card system. Are we at an all-inclusive resort in Montego Bay or what is going on?

The living room in our suite was on the smaller side, but serviceable. I always appreciate a fireplace, wood-burning or otherwise.

Regent Porto Montenegro Studio Suite Living Room

We had a pretty spacious balcony, which connected both the living room and the bedroom. I prefer these adjoining balconies. Our view looked onto the pool deck, with the marina and the mountain in the distance.

Regent Porto Montenegro Studio Suite Balcony

We were treated to some nice sunsets during our stay.

Looping around the balcony was the bedroom. I should note the sheets here were some of the silkiest. Top marks for sure.

Regent Porto Montenegro Studio Suite Bedroom

The bathroom was generously laid out, with dual-vanity and a soaking tub. I liked that since this was a residence unit, there were medicine cabinets behind the mirrors, so all my skincare products weren’t just spilled out onto the counter.

Regent Porto Montenegro Studio Suite Bathroom

Toiletries were from Miller Harris, which weren’t exactly high-end, but not offensive. Overall, I found the room to be well appointed. I liked the hardwood floors and the balcony, extra points for the fireplace. The finishes felt reasonably high-end.

Unwind:

We walked around the hotel and the adjacent area after checking in. As I alluded to earlier, Regent Porto Montenegro is a part of much bigger real estate project. There was a mock display in the hotel lobby, which gives you a good sense about the scale of everything. The mega-yacht pier was actually completed, but all the white buildings to the left did not exist yet.

Outside the main lobby, there was a cute little courtyard which was used as the wedding venue that night.

From there, you could walk straight onto the boardwalk in front of the hotel.

There were shops and restaurants to both sides of the Regent. I would say the left side was a bit higher end than the right side, considering the 100+ footers were docked at the end to the left. The restaurants were also more Dubai-esque.

There were plenty of people on the dock to catch a beautiful sunset.

The Regent had a pretty impressive spa complex. However, given the popularity of spas in the region, it was also extremely crowded.

Sauna, steam room and hammam were located inside the locker rooms. Furthermore, there was an indoor pool. It was still a bit chilly to use the outdoor pools, so most people were here.

I thought the spa facility was quite attractive. Maybe I will book the private spa package next time. Honestly, 250 euros seemed reasonable.

We did get a massage here during our stay, and I have to say the treatment was phenomenal. You can find the menu here. My masseur was extremely skilled, and I find the Slavic “standoffishness” so calming, lol. God forbid I get a yapper therapist 🤣.

While we didn’t spend any time by the pool due to the cooler temperature, the set up was wonderful. There were several pools tiered on different levels.

I loved these flowers they planted by the pool. Does anyone know the kind?

The hotel offered many excursions in the surrounding area, ranging from day trips to the national parks to private boat tours. On one afternoon, we picked up a bottle of wine from the hotel restaurant and booked a boat to cruise around Kotor Bay. I think we paid €400 from the hotel to the town of Kotor. It took around 2.5hrs with a couple stops along the way. Obviously, you can find cheaper prices by booking directly with the boat you want, but you can’t beat the convenience of having the hotel arrange everything for you. I think a lot of the boats at the marina had signs with phone numbers.

The hotel sent us a 20-ish foot tender, which was sufficient for the two of us. This is random but, I saw Andrey Guryev’s 350-ft Benetti Luminosity docked at the end of the marina. Apparently, the Montenegrin government has been paying for the maintenance on it since the sanctions, and that’s got to hurt…

Our first stop was a manmade cave for Yugoslavian submarines. How cool is that?

Then we circled the Lady of the Rocks, a manmade island with a church on it, before docking briefly at the town of Perast.

With the mighty peaks and the red-roofed houses, it very much felt like Lake Como.

Lastly, we were dropped off at the town of Kotor, sitting at the top of the Kotor Bay. Admittedly, I had never heard of Kotor prior to this trip. But there was quite a bit of cruise ship traffic, so it clearly has some notoriety.

We hiked up to the Kotor Fortress, which I highly recommend. You could see the entire fjord from the top, and it was breathtaking (also literally cause it was somewhat of a hike). Just a side note on Kotor itself - it’s a cute little medieval town within city walls. It’s very walkable, and its size was manageable. We wandered around town after hiking the Fortress and found plenty of restaurants and cafes. We had dinner at one of the Italian spots, and the food was great. Overall, it was a fun afternoon activity and worth the trip. From Kotor, we grabbed a taxi to return to the hotel, which cost about €40 and took about 15mins.

Refuel:

The Regent didn’t have many dining venues on property, but that really wasn’t an issue as there were dozens of restaurants nearby. Breakfast was served at the Murano restaurant.

Regent Porto Montenegro Murano Restaurant

The interior of the restaurant was compact, as most of the tables were outside. During breakfast, there was a buffet.

Regent Porto Montenegro Murano Restaurant Breakfast

And of course only the freshest cream at the Regent😉.

The outdoor dining space was quite nice, with both covered and uncovered seating options.

We only had breakfast here one time, largely because it was just okay. À la carte dishes were included. The menu reads as follows:

Regent Porto Montenegro Murano Restaurant Breakfast Menu

We started with some coffee and juice.

I liked the grilled veggies from the buffet.

My partner and I shared the truffle eggs from the menu. It was not bad.

We had cocktails by the pool one early afternoon. These were well made and tasty.

Regent Porto Montenegro Pool Bar Beverages

We picked up lunch from the pool bar one day. The tuna niçoise salad was delicious, while the pizza was just edible. The eggs in this salad were so so good.

We ordered room service one evening. I’ve realized I really like ordering salad and chicken in Europe.

Regent Porto Montenegro Room Service Dinner

The food paled in comparison to the view at last light. The sun was blocked by the mountain, so you get this extended period of daylight after the sun had already set.

Depart:

After four nights at the Regent, it was time to head back to Dubrovnik and fly to Budapest. We arranged the car service through the hotel like we did for arrival, and funny enough our car had the One&Only Portonovi logo on it.

We had an excellent stay at the Regent Porto Montenegro. While the hotel was great, we really enjoyed Montenegro as a destination, and we barely scratched the surface. The climate was so enjoyable, and the architecture, nature and history were fascinating. You know you really like a new place when you start going on Sotheby’s International Realty, lol.

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