The Lazy Monkey Hostel & Apartments
The garden-and-bar social hostel six minutes from Podbrig Beach — Chris and Tiha's place is where backpackers actually stay up talking.
The Lazy Monkey is the social-bar-with-a-garden hostel in the Bregdetti area, six minutes from Podbrig Beach and a 25-minute walk into the Old Town. Run by Chris and Tiha (whose names appear in nearly every review), it's the laid-back alternative to the Old Town hostels — pool table, chess, outdoor seating, evening entertainment and a real shared kitchen.
Lazy Monkey sits on Ulica Bregdetti, just inland from Podbrig Beach in a low-rise residential pocket north of the peninsula. The walk to the Old Town is honest — 25 to 30 minutes along the harbour, or a six-stop bus ride. In return you get something the Old Town hostels can't offer: a garden, an outdoor bar, free parking and a swimming spot six minutes from the front door.
The building is part hostel, part private apartments — the upper-floor apartments are self-contained for couples and small groups; the hostel dorms and shared spaces occupy the lower floors. The shared kitchen is properly equipped (full hobs, fridge, kettle, kitchenware) and the free morning coffee is a small but recurring praise point in reviews.
The social glue is the outdoor space: a sun terrace, a garden bar with happy hour, a pool table, board games, and enough seating that a Tuesday evening becomes a circular conversation between solo travellers, couples and the apartment guests who wander down. Chris and Tiha host real-world evening entertainment some nights — quiz, card games, a casual barbecue if the weather holds. It's not Pag-island wild, it's the hostel-front-yard version.
The trade is location. If you're here for the Sea Organ at sunset every night, the 25-minute walk back at 23:00 will get old. If you're here for the beach and the social scene, the location is the feature.
- 01Garden bar and outdoor seating that actually creates a social scene — rare in Croatia at this price
- 02Chris and Tiha host the place themselves and it shows in the 9.6 staff score
- 03Six minutes' walk to Podbrig Beach, the under-the-radar swim spot
- 04Apartments + hostel mix means you can scale up for a couple without losing the social space
- 05Free parking on site — a genuine rarity within Zadar's residential ring
- Garden, sun terrace, outdoor bar with happy hour and pool table
- Six minutes to Podbrig Beach, twelve to Maestrala
- Apartments and dorms in the same building — couples can have privacy and still join the bar
- Chris and Tiha host evening entertainment (quiz, BBQ, cards) some nights
“Tiha and Chris, our hosts, are excellent — friendly and helpful. The kitchen is super well equipped, enough bathrooms, loads of lounging places, pool table, chess, inside and outside seating. Right next to a supermarket. Short walk to the beach.”
“The apartment is on the upper floor of the hostel, very clean, everything necessary for cooking and ironing is available. There is free coffee in the morning. The hostel provides towels for the beach. The beach is close.”
“Lovely staff and everyone there was really friendly. Such a nice spot, close to beaches, 30 min walk to the old town.”
- Podbrig Beach6 min walk
- Maestrala Beach12 min walk
- Old Town (Sea Organ, Forum, Duke's Palace)25 min walk / 10 min bus
- Bus 8 stop (city centre, bus station)1 min walk
- Konzum supermarket30 sec walk
- Bus station (Plitvice, Pag, Krka)12 min walk / 4 min bus
