Mallorca’s original beach club brand has chosen Istria for its Croatian debut. We join the inauguration party of Purobeach Porec, stay on to explore the newly opened Pical Resort, part of the Valamar Collection, and wander Porec, one of the Adriatic’s most charming old towns.
Purobeach, the Balearic beach club, has arrived on the Adriatic and has welcomed its latest destination in style with an unforgettable party. The warm air was alive with South American rhythms as sequinned dancers performed athletic Latin lifts before an electric violinist moved amongst the pool terraces and the DJ played summer Balearic beats. Later, a saxophonist took over, drifting between the pines as Laurent-Perrier was poured and canapés from the new Purobeach menu were devoured.
First in Croatia
Porec is the Palma-born brand’s first address in Croatia and its first on the Adriatic, joining the clubs that made its name in Mallorca, Menorca, Barcelona and the Algarve over the past two decades. This new Purobeach Porec is also conceived on a flagship scale. Set within the Parenzana Coastal Park, the pine-shaded parkland that curves along the waterfront towards Poreč’s historic centre, the club includes a main pool, sunbathing decks, terraces, a Garden Spa, and a destination restaurant with a shaded terrace, all with views through the pines to the sea. The look is instantly Puro. The scalloped parasols in black and cream, striped mattresses on loungers and Balinese beds, the brand’s medallion picked out in mosaic on the pool floor. The finish is impeccable, yet the defining luxury here is space, and the Adriatic light.
Slow mornings, Balearic nights
Days begin gently. From ten each morning, the resident DJs keep the tempo mellow. As you take your day bed, a courtesy Purobeach tray is delivered, with chilled water, fresh juice and little jars of toasted nuts. The pool menu includes Adriatic bluefin tuna tartare, croquettes pairing Istrian prosciutto with Slavonian black pig guanciale, and a signature sushi boat built for two.
For a more serious lunch, head to the light-filled restaurant or out on the terrace, where the kitchen’s M3 signature style, shorthand for Miami, Melbourne and Marrakech, embraces salmon poke, Nikkei-style tuna, grilled Adriatic sea bass and a lobster tagliatelle for sharing.
At the bar, the Puro World list gives each club in the family its own cocktail, and here in Porec it is the Fresh Negroni, gin layered with Fernet Amaro 78, Ramazzotti Aperitivo Rosato and Silvio Carta vermouths. The wines by the glass follow the route of the old Parenzana railway, which carried Istrian wine and olive oil to Trieste a century ago. Try the signature Istrian Malvazija, the famous grape of the region, or maybe something from Slovenian Istria or the Italian Karst.
Garden Spa
Wellness has its own corner of the gardens. At the Garden Spa by ESPA, four charming treatment cabins sit beneath the pines, offering rituals built on Istrian botanicals, from intuitive massages and jade facials to after-sun therapies, foot treatments and guided breathwork, plus a contrast circuit of two saunas and two cold plunge pools, one of each reservable as a private experience. The pedigree comes from ESPA at Pical next door, the first ESPA spa in Croatia.
Come late afternoon the tempo lifts, with resident DJs playing Puro Music as cocktails lead to dinner and dancing. One honest note for high summer: this is already the hottest ticket on the coast, so reserve your day bed rather than chancing a walk-in.
Where To Stay
The club adjoins Pical Resort, part of Valamar, Croatia’s leading hospitality group. The property has been rebuilt from the ground up, reopening this year as a genuinely five-star and surprisingly expansive resort; even in July, running near capacity, it never felt crowded. Three hotels and a private guest villa share the waterside site.
Three Hotels in One
Pical Suites is at the top of the range, with dedicated pools and guest privileges to match.
The Pical Resort main hotel has pools of its own and is home to the ESPA spa and a roof terrace champagne bar.
The Pical Resort family hotel, with a treetop zip-line park, water slides and kids’ clubs, allows parents with younger children to be as playful as they wish, without disturbing anyone else.
Pical Beach House is a sea view private guest villa.
Signature Pools and Bars
At the shore, the Pical Sundance beach club has an infinity lap pool that visually dissolves into the Adriatic with the old town in view, while the rooftop bar by Laurent-Perrier, with its own pool, is where evenings begin and end, with a golden-hour aperitif or a nightcap under the stars.
Spa & Wellbeing
ESPA has opened its first Croatian spa at Pical Resort, with eight saunas and steam rooms themed to Istria’s landscapes, four relaxation zones and, most tempting of all, a Private Spa Suite with its own sauna, rasul ritual, whirlpool and in-suite Mediterranean dining.
Gastronomy
The dining is diverse, headlined by Harry’s Piccolo Porec. This destination restaurant continues the vision of Matteo Metullio and Davide De Pra, the chefs behind the two-Michelin-star Harry’s Piccolo in Trieste. Here head chef Goran Hrastovčak is behind a menu that traces the historic Parenzana line between Italy, Slovenia and Croatia, a source of cultural and gastronomic influence for more than a century.
For lunch with the family, Fogo by Bekal is a creation from chefs Tvrtko Šakota and Marko Turković of Zagreb’s Michelin-recommended Bekal, where fire is treated as an integral part of the menu, which includes boškarin beef and seasonal local truffles.
Porec Old Town
Staying here and experiencing Purobeach means being immersed in the destination too. From the resort you can amble along the water’s edge to the old town in around fifteen minutes, past little bays, lawns shaded by pines and the sailing club where local children learn their first tacks, until the small peninsula covered in historic buildings rises ahead. Porec began as Roman Parentium, and its streets still run on the Roman grid. You can follow the Decumanus past Venetian Gothic houses to Marafor, the old forum with its temple ruins, and to the sixth-century Euphrasian Basilica, a UNESCO World Heritage Site whose golden Byzantine mosaics are remarkable.
JAZ by Ana Roš
For lunch, book a table at JAZ by Ana Roš, on the waterside terrace of the 1913 Jadran Heritage Hotel, which serves sharing plates and handcrafted cocktails under the direction of the three-Michelin-star chef of Slovenia’s Hiša Franko.
Miramare by Fratelli Cerea
For island dining, take a launch to Sveti Nikola island, where Miramare by Fratelli Cerea brings the cooking of Enrico and Roberto Cerea of three-Michelin-star Da Vittorio, paccheri alla Vittorio included, to an elegant poolside terrace beside a restored nineteenth-century castle.
Spinnaker Restaurant
Dinner is at Spinnaker, Valamar’s fine-dining flagship, where Zagreb’s Peaches & Cream, among the first Croatian bars named to the World’s 50 Best Discovery list, is in residency for summer 2026. Chat with bartender Antonio Jakovac for the inside track on their Hall of Fame cocktails, including the Bee, a tequila cocktail rested on beeswax, before a fish tasting menu by chef Marko Turković, including artisan bread with grilled blue crab butter, shrimp toast and his celebrated dry-aged fish.
Spinnaker focuses on seasonality, ageing and an approach that champions overlooked species as much as prized cuts, in pursuit of what Turković calls revealing ‘the truth of the sea’. Front of house, restaurant manager Ivan Maljevac matches the kitchen with friendly, assured service and serious wine knowledge.
Information
Purobeach Poreč. Open daily from 10am until midnight. Adults only. Day beds, dining and Garden Spa reservations through the website or resort. There is free parking at Pical Resort.
The Luxury Editor was a guest of Purobeach Porec and Pical Resort, Valamar Collection.
You can read The Luxury Editor review of Purobeach Barcelona here, and The Luxury Editor review of Purobeach Resort Santa Ponsa here.
Contact Details
Website: purogroup.com
Address: Purobeach Poreč, Parenzana Coastal Park, Poreč, Istria, Croatia
