The owner of the villa Mr Marino Franinović welcomed us like good friends, almost like family, with a wide smile, open heart and a distinct sense of modesty. He told us the story which we fully report:
“You should live so your parents rejoice you, and your friends value you”, Mr Franinović started, “because that way, once you grow old, you’ll be able to look back and enjoy your life once again.
“Last year, we celebrated 30 years since the first opening. What truly brings me joy is that Villa Giardino always gets the top marks and ranks first, with 5/5 and 10/10 reviews, so we continue to expand in the same spirit.”
In all of Croatia’s hotel industry, there probably isn’t another object with references as valuable as Villa Giardino. It has been written about in leading world publications, such as: “Lonely Planet”, “The New York Times”, “The Telegraph”, “London Times”, “Mail on Sunday”… It has been characterized as one of the 25 locations you must visit in Europe.
“I am especially glad that one journalist wrote how he is immeasurably happy that there are still places in the world, such as this one, where one human being can find another human being”, which is what we confirmed ourselves.
“This object is not profit oriented, of course it has to be sustainable, because great people work in it and they must be paid, but primarily, this is a place that gathers marvellous people. When you say human being here, it carries weight and has a real meaning.”
“It makes me happy to see all of us together, and now it especially makes me happy to have a place to invite all of the people I meet in the world”.
“My mother is from Bol, my father is from Istria. Ever since I was a little child I had watched this house and dreamed about the life I’m living today.”
“It all started in the summer of 2018, because I come here every summer, I had a meeting with the former owner, Vinko Gratelli’s widow from Wien, and we started the negotiations”
“In the beginning I had my doubts about everything because years ago, I defined my life from the perspective of affluence and financial viewpoint”
“Namely, I am happy and rich from one reason only. The unparalleled satisfaction comes from the smile, the health of the family and friends, which are all happy and healthy, makes me happy and I have nothing to add or deduct, because that is where it all starts and ends.”
“From the material perspective, I always said that prosperity is not about how much you have, but rather how much you need. To illustrate, the three of us here can drink one, three, six bottles of wine, but we can’t drink 99 bottles of wine. Just like that, it doesn’t matter whether you have 1000 euros in your bank account, or a million. When you put it like that, your life gets much more satisfactory”
“People are usually longing for the things they don’t have, rather than celebrate what they already have”
“I have two wonderful little girls and every breath I take, I take it for them, along with my dear wife who I didn’t deserve because of my life which is always dynamic and I am always travelling somewhere.”
“But when I took it all into account, Bol as a destination, and the infrastructure it offers; an under construction marina, and especially Brač international airport, because many of our guests arrive via private planes, I decided to endeavour.”
“My only benefit is not the profit itself, but from my perspective and calculations, this object will pay itself off, and one day when my children grow up, they will inherit this and that is enough of a satisfaction for me.”
“This is an admirable object in Bol, which is a beautiful, romantic, fishing village on the Adriatic.” told us Mr Franinović.