A guest house in Berat's Mangalem quarter below the castle, with balcony rooms, mountain and river views, free on-site parking, a restaurant and garden terrace.
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Hani i Xheblatit is a guest house in the Mangalem quarter of Berat, on Rruga Antipatrea, at the foot of the hillside of white Ottoman houses that earned the town its UNESCO listing. It is built around a garden, a terrace and its own restaurant, and guests rate it 9.4 overall across 1050 reviews, with the location itself at 9.7.
There are three room types, from a 25-square-metre double or twin with a balcony to a 30-square-metre triple and a 35-square-metre quadruple, all air-conditioned and with a private bathroom, a flat-screen TV with satellite channels and views over the garden, the mountains, the river or the old town.
The restaurant serves Mediterranean cooking, breakfast is brought to the room, and there is a bar, a snack bar and a shared lounge. Free WiFi reaches around 41 Mbps, parking on site is free, and the front desk is staffed 24 hours, with a tour desk for canyon trips, hikes and cycling. Payment on site is cash only.
Hani i Xheblatit has three room types, all with a private bathroom with shower, air conditioning, heating and a flat-screen TV with satellite channels. They differ mainly in size and capacity: 25 square metres for two, 30 for three and 35 for four, with the two larger rooms adding a seating area, a wardrobe and practical extras such as a washing machine, a tumble dryer and a safe. Views take in the garden, the mountains, the river or the old town, and each room can be set up either with single beds or with a king-size bed. Note that cots and extra beds are not available, so choose a room that already fits your group.
The guest house works as a small, complete base: there is a restaurant serving Mediterranean dishes, a bar and a snack bar, and breakfast can be brought to your room. Free WiFi runs at around 41 Mbps throughout, fast enough for video calls, and free parking is available on site without booking. Outside there is a garden and a terrace with outdoor furniture facing the hillside. The front desk is staffed around the clock, with private and express check-in, a tour desk, currency exchange, car hire and daily housekeeping. Guests can also arrange walking tours, cycling, hiking and canoeing in the area. Worth knowing: payment on site is cash only, and the whole property is non-smoking apart from a designated area.
Hani i Xheblatit stands on Rruga Antipatrea, the road that runs below the Mangalem quarter along the Osum, so the whole of Berat's old town is within walking distance. Most visitors arrive from Tirana: buses and furgons for Berat leave from the combined north and south terminal from around 05:40 until the late afternoon, take roughly two hours and cost about 400 to 600 lek, paid in cash on board. Furgons set off when they are full rather than to a fixed timetable, so it pays to arrive early. They stop at Berat's bus station, fifteen to twenty minutes from the centre; city bus line 1 or a short taxi covers the last stretch. The nearest airport is Vlora International, about 65 road kilometres and an hour and a half away, while Tirana's Mother Teresa airport is around 117 kilometres. Parking here is free on site, which matters because the lanes above are steep, cobbled and largely closed to cars.
You are a few minutes below the UNESCO old town. A cobbled ramp climbs to the gate of Berat Castle, a citadel still lived in: families occupy houses inside the thirteenth-century walls, alongside the Onufri National Iconographic Museum in the Cathedral of the Dormition of St Mary, which holds around two hundred Byzantine icons. Entry to the castle grounds is free; the museum charges roughly 300 lek and closes earlier in winter, so check before you climb. Below, the stacked white Ottoman houses of Mangalem give Berat its nickname, the city of a thousand windows, while the Ethnographic Museum and the King Mosque sit a few hundred metres away. Cross the Ottoman stone bridge for Gorica, the quieter quarter facing Mangalem and the best place for photographs in late afternoon. Spring and autumn are the pleasant seasons; in July and August climb early or after five. The Osum Canyon, an hour towards Çorovodë, rafts best between February and mid-June.
