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Worth booking if Black Lake is why you came to Žabljak: Hotel SOA stands on the first kilometre of the road to the lake, inside Durmitor National Park.
Hotel, Žabljak. Meridian Dispatch.
Podgorica airport is 131 km from Žabljak, about 2 h 40 by road. The drive up from Podgorica is the easiest way to reach the hotel, and the other road approach comes in from Nikšić.
Allow four to five hours by road from Dubrovnik, plus the time taken at the border into Montenegro. Private door-to-door transfers also run from Dubrovnik, Podgorica, Tivat and Kotor, the sensible choice in winter or with small children.
Yes. The lake is 2.6 km from Žabljak by road, a walk of a little over half an hour from town, and the hotel is on that road, so the walk from its door is shorter.
Yes. Hotel SOA has a mini spa centre of its own, inside the building, as part of its wellness facilities, so guests do not need to leave the hotel to use it.
Yes. Winter sport in Žabljak usually runs from late December into March or April, snow permitting, so a winter stay at the hotel can be planned around the ski season.
Hotel SOA is a four-star house built as a contemporary take on the traditional mountain architecture of Durmitor. Stone facades, wooden beams and large windows open the building onto the mountain landscape. It stands tucked among conifers, with the Durmitor range in full view.
Žabljak, at 1,456 metres, is the highest town in the Balkans and the main base for visitors to Durmitor. The hotel sits within the national park itself, on the road that leaves town for the lake, the way the Žabljak route up Bobotov Kuk, the highest peak of the Durmitor range, begins.
The hotel lists 16 units, from double rooms and standard suites to family suites. One luxury apartment has one bedroom and a living room with a fireplace and a small kitchen, and a family apartment adds a terrace and a dining table.
Start the day at the breakfast buffet of Montenegrin specialities. The lounge bar on the ground floor looks out on the Durmitor massif, and it keeps the same hours as the wine cellar, 07.00 to 23.00.
The restaurant cooks national and international dishes from fresh ingredients, served from 13.00 to 23.00. You can eat in the dining room, in the lounge bar or out on one of the terraces.
Soa Experience, the hotel's own activity desk, works from inside the building and helps organise any form of activity or recreation. Ask there first when you plan a day out in the park.
Buy your Durmitor National Park ticket online before you set out, or at the park on arrival. It covers the visitor centre and the educational paths, and on Black Lake you can rent a boat.
Keep a day for the Tara canyon, which lies close to Žabljak, for a second day out after the lake.
The town
When the July coast runs into the mid thirties, Žabljak is cool enough for a full day on foot, and you can walk out of town straight into a national park.
Read the Žabljak guideLast updated
