Belvedere
The whole of Himarë Bay seen from the hillside at sunset — the sun low over the water on the left, a wooded headland and the town on the right, an olive grove filling the foreground

Fiume · Potam · Himarë · Albania

Ninety-four metres above the bay.

Belvedere stands on the Potam hillside, high enough that the whole of Himarë lies below it — the town, the water, the headland and the mountain wall behind. A hotel and apartments, a garden, a bar, and breakfast eaten outside looking down all of it.

Live rates on Booking.comRooms and apartments

The hill

A belvedere is a building type, not a name.

The word means a structure put where the view is. That is what this is. The block sits at Fiume, on the shoulder above Potam, ninety-four metres up, and every balcony, terrace and patio on it faces out.

What you get for the height is the whole bay at once, and what you pay for it is the distance to the water: the nearest beach is 1.1 kilometres by road and all of it downhill. Parking is free and on site, and most guests use the car.

Himarë centre is roughly ten minutes away. Four beaches sit inside two kilometres of the door, and every one of them is below it.

Height above the sea
94 m
Nearest beachGjiri i Filikurit, by road
1.1 km
Himarë centreby car
about 10 minutes
Check in
15:00 – 22:00
Guest score
9.4 / 10

Two classes

Seven of them, and the only line that matters runs down the middle.

The channel sells seven. Five are rooms — one space, beds and a balcony. Two are whole apartments with a kitchen of their own. Aspect is named in the title of each, so say which one you want when you book.

Rooms

One room · a balcony, terrace or patio

Double Room with Mountain View1 full bed
Mountain
Double Room with Balcony and Sea View
Sea
Triple Room with View1 twin bed and 1 full bed
Mountain, city and garden
Standard Triple Room with Sea View
Sea
Family Room with Balcony2 twin beds and 1 queen bed
Garden, mountain and city50 m²

Apartments

Entire apartment · kitchen · dining table

Apartment with Sea ViewBedroom one: 2 twin beds. Bedroom two: 1 full bed and 1 sofa bed
Sea60 m²
Apartment with Garden View
Garden
All seven, in full
Two beds with rust-coloured buttoned headboards under a full pine A-frame roof, an air-conditioning unit on the wall and a balcony door open onto the town and the bay
Under the pine roof
A double bed with a rust buttoned headboard under exposed pine rafters, a desk and mirror to the left and a curtained balcony door onto the green hillside
A double, and the rafters above it
An apartment interior with a fitted kitchenette, a fridge, a wooden dining table and four chairs, and a window through to the balcony
A kitchen and a table to eat at

Belvedere

Himara

The bar

The board on the wall is the one the owner painted.

It sits on the stone behind the counter, between two of the shelves — the name, a tree in an oval, and the town. The same board is the mark on every page here.

The bar and the coffee house are on site, and the second counter outside faces the same way everything else here does. There is no restaurant: breakfast in the morning, drinks and coffee the rest of the day.

The bar: pine shelves of bottles against a split-stone wall, novelty licence plates for Tokyo, Brazil, Peru, Mexico and Medellín on the left, and the hand-painted Belvedere Himara board with its tree roundel between two of the shelves
The board, on the wall behind the counter
Glasses on a bar counter under a boarded timber roof, stemware hanging from a rail above, and Himarë Bay beyond the open side
The counter, and what is past it

The morning

Breakfast is the second-best thing here.

Continental, served every day, and scored 9.6 out of 10 by guests — behind only the staff. When the weather allows it is eaten outside on the terrace, which is the point of the whole building. There is a garden below it with a parasol and chairs, and a playground for children.

A plank table and a steel rail on the terrace at sunset, a canopied deck standing to the left, the bay and its moored boats below
The terrace, at the hour it is built for
A balcony table with two glasses and an ashtray in the morning, Himarë and its beach on the left and the bare mountain ridge across the valley
A balcony, in the morning
Two wicker armchairs and a wicker sofa with blue cushions around a white table on the grass, a parasol standing open on the paving behind them, beside a flagged stone terrace
The garden, beside the terrace

What is here

  • A bar and a coffee house on site
  • Continental breakfast, served outdoors when the weather allows
  • Free private parking, no reservation needed
  • A garden, a sun deck, a terrace and a picnic area
  • A playground and outdoor play equipment for children
  • Free Wi-Fi in every part of the property
  • Air conditioning and heating
  • A balcony, terrace or patio with each unit
  • A refrigerator and a flat-screen television
  • Soundproofing and a private entrance
  • Family rooms and non-smoking rooms
  • Private check-in and check-out, and daily housekeeping
  • Currency exchange, and an invoice on request
  • Greek, English and Albanian spoken

And what is not

  • No swimming pool
  • No restaurant — the kitchen serves breakfast, and the bar serves drinks and coffee
  • No spa
  • No airport shuttle
  • No cots and no extra beds
  • No pets
  • No lift — the upper floors are reached by stairs
  • Children of four and over are charged as adults

The score

9.4 out of 10.

Guests on Booking.com score us 9.4, which the platform calls wonderful. Seven categories are published separately and they run from 7.3 to 9.9.

The strongest is the staff, at 9.9 — higher than the location, higher than anything else the property holds. The weakest is the Wi-Fi.

Read the reviews on Booking.com
Staff
9.9
Comfort
9.6
Cleanliness
9.5
Value for money
9.4
Location
9.3
Facilities
9.2
Free Wi-Fi
7.3

Below

Everything is downhill from here.

Four beaches inside two kilometres by road, all of them below the property. Potam is about three minutes down, and the guide to it has the sunbed prices and where the parking is.

Gjiri i Filikurit Beachabout three minutes by car
1.1 km
Llamani Beachabout four minutes by car
1.5 km
Potam Beachabout three minutes by car
1.5 km
Prinos Beachabout four minutes by car
1.9 km
Directions and the map
Himarë town and its turquoise bay seen over the property's garden from the floor above it, with the mountain wall rising behind the town
The town, the water and the wall behind it
The sun dropping behind the wooded headland across the bay, the sky burnt orange and the water below it still
The sun going down behind the headland

Questions

Before you book.

Where exactly is Belvedere Hotel & Suites?

On the Potam hillside above Himarë, at Fiume, 94 metres above the sea. The building looks down the length of Himarë Bay to the town and the headland. Himarë centre is about ten minutes away by car, and the property has free parking on site.

How far is Belvedere Hotel & Suites from the beach?

The nearest by road is Gjiri i Filikurit, 1.1 kilometres and about three minutes down. Llamani and Potam are both 1.5 kilometres, Prinos 1.9. All of them are below the property, so the walk back is uphill — most guests drive.

Does Belvedere Hotel & Suites have sea views?

Several units face the bay, and the garden and terrace look straight down it. Others face the mountains, the town or the garden, so the aspect is worth naming when you book. Every unit has a balcony, terrace or patio of its own.

What is breakfast like at Belvedere Hotel & Suites?

Continental, served daily, and it scores 9.6 out of 10 with guests — the second-highest figure the property holds. When the weather allows it is eaten outside, on the terrace above the bay. There is a bar and a coffee house on site as well.

Can I pay by card at Belvedere Hotel & Suites?

Mastercard is accepted, and so is cash. Bring cash if a different card is all you carry. An invoice is provided on request and currency exchange is available at the property.

Is there parking at Belvedere Hotel & Suites?

Yes. Private parking on site is free and no reservation is needed. A car is the practical way to use this stretch of the Riviera: the beaches sit between one and two kilometres away by road and the centre of Himarë is a ten-minute drive.

What are the check-in and check-out times?

Check-in runs from 15:00 to 22:00 and check-out from 08:00 to 11:00. Let the property know roughly when you expect to arrive. Quiet hours are 00:00 to 07:00, and there is no age requirement for check-in.

Is Belvedere Hotel & Suites suitable for families?

Family rooms and two-bedroom apartments are available, and there is a playground with outdoor play equipment in the garden. Cots and extra beds are not available, and children of four and over are charged as adults.

What do guests score Belvedere Hotel & Suites?

9.4 out of 10 on Booking.com, which the platform calls Wonderful. Staff is the strongest of the seven published categories at 9.9, ahead of comfort at 9.6 and cleanliness at 9.5; free Wi-Fi is the weakest at 7.3.

Is there a restaurant at Belvedere Hotel & Suites?

No. There is a bar and a coffee house on site, and continental breakfast is served every morning, but there is no restaurant serving lunch or dinner. The nearest restaurant is about 750 metres down the road, and there is a cluster of them along the shore at Potam.