About us
The Hotel Pelikan is part of Virpazar’s tradition, the boat ride across Lake Skadar,
national cuisine and overall tourist activity in this area.
HISTORY
The Hotel Pelikan is part of Virpazar’s tradition, the boat ride across Lake Skadar, national cuisine and overall tourist activity in this area. The cordial welcome and hospitality that “old Montenegrins” are renowned for unfailingly await guests as the Pelikan takes great care to cherish good, old values. Accompanied by their children, Zorka and Toman, the owners, welcome their guests like close friends or relatives and have been doing so since 1960 to the present day in exactly the same way. It was in 1960 that the Pelikan took its first tourist steps, organizing ten-people motorboat tours across Lake Skadar.From year to year, further development meant a more diverse choice of facilities, greater comfort, increasingly traditional interior and cuisine, more acquaintances and friends for the Zec family, and more emotions in the visitors’ book. The hotel and the fleet of boats alike have their own history, pervadedby a special atmosphere and the charm of the odžaklija(the authentic fireplace room typical of the traditional Montenegrin household), a two-personboat,Toman’s hats, grape brandy, sponge cake and sweet basil. Part of the Pelikan’s history are lengthy video tapes featuring films of this hotel, sometimes just appearing briefly as part of the set, and sometimes playing the main role. Many film and television crews focused their cameras right here. The Pelican was and still is a stopping placefor artists, diplomats, politicians and chance travellers alike.
Quote: “But, although I was born and spent my childhood in Cetinje, I have always, in those early days even, felt some kind of anxiety. I have been attracted by wide horizons and distant views. Whenever I could, I would walk up to Kabao or ramble away to Belveder where I would long watch the ample panorama of the lake, which at dawn and dusk was infused with luxuriant colours, shadows, reflections...”
Milo Milunović, painter »Pobjeda«, 4 January 1979
Dozens of photographs displayed on the walls of the restaurant and in old photo albums tell a story of nature, beauty, friendship, arrivals, departures and unfailing returns. The story of the Pelikan. Various guests, familiar and unfamiliar but friends of the Pelikan in any case, have expressed their feelings in the unique visitors’ book, weighing 60 kilos, full of memories and records. In its own specific way, the Pelikan acts as a chronicler of the ups and downs of tourist activity in this area.
LOCATION
If you asked an artist where the Hotel Pelikan is located, you would be given the following answer: “On the bank of Lake Skadar, in the very heart of Virpazar, where the rivers Crmnica and Orahovštica flow into the lake. You arrive there over three bridges...” Historians, on the other hand, would offer lengthy explanations: “The first mention of Vir was found in King Vladislav’s charter of 1242 whereby this Serbian ruler presented the Vranjina Monastery with some villages in Crmnica. During Turkish rule the place became an interesting resting and trading spot. Improvised bridges were placed between the islet and the banks of the lake and in time a custom was established for goods to be brought here from a wider surrounding area. Thus, a market (pazar) was born in Vir – Virpazar.” If the same question was answered by a tourist worker, you would get something like this: “Virpazar is situated on the highway and railway route towards the Adriatic Sea. It lies equidistant from the capital, Podgorica and the port of Bar (30km). Thanks to the newly constructed tunnel of Sozina and the modern highway from the direction of Bar, it can take you a mere 20 minutes to reach Virpazar and the Pelikan. If you arrive by train, Virpazar railway station is only 500 metres from the Pelikan.” If you decide to visit the Pelikan, just let us know and we shall welcome you at a previously agreed place, whether you travel by car or train (directly to Virpazar), by plane (to the airports in Podgorica - 16km, Tivat - 65km and Dubrovnik - 95km) or by boat (to the port of Bar, Kotor or Dubrovnik).
OUR MISSION
The Pelikan offers its guests the joys of friendship, cuisine, nature and history, respecting Montenegrin tradition and the authentic nature of the Montenegrin household. Special attention is paid to the natural wealth of the lake and the surrounding area, unique in Europe by virtue of its rare bird species and endemic plants. Each guest is first and foremost a friend, who comes sometimes by chance and sometimes intentionally, but almost unfailingly leaves with a smile and comes back again to see, feel and experience whatever he or she missed the first time.