Lonely Planet Italia reported the opening of the first albergo diffuso in Albania, inside the walls of Kruja Castle. The Italian model of scattered hospitality had arrived in the town of Skanderbeg, in medieval houses restored to take guests.
National Geographic: among the hotels we love for 2024
National Geographic staff chose 22 hotels for their annual list, judged on things such as connection with local communities and the memories a stay leaves behind. Kruja Albergo Diffuso is on it.
StayGrand: among the best hotels in Albania
StayGrand included Kruja Albergo Diffuso in its selection of the best hotels in Albania, for the rooms inside the castle walls and the position above the old town.
Booking.com Traveller Review Awards 2024
Booking.com gave Kruja Albergo Diffuso a Traveller Review Award for 2024, with a score of 9.3 out of 10. The award is decided by the guests themselves, from the reviews they leave after their stay. Location scores highest of all, at 9.8.
Risi Albania: reviving cultural heritage in Kruja
Risi Albania, which adopted the project together with Albergo Diffuso, set out what it was for: to bring Albania’s first scattered hotel to Kruja, give old houses a use again, and build hospitality around the heritage that is already there.
An honest review: a hidden gem in Kruje
A travel writer stayed and wrote the stay up in full, from the walk through the castle gate to the view at breakfast.
Invest in Albania: one of National Geographic’s most loved hotels for 2024
Invest in Albania covered the National Geographic listing and what the albergo diffuso model means for Albanian tourism: old houses brought back into use, traditions kept by the people who hold them, and rooms open all year rather than only in season. The project is run with Risi Albania and is meant to extend to Gjirokastra, Korca, Kukes and Dibra.
DOVE Viaggi: Albania beyond the sea and the beaches
The travel pages of Corriere della Sera set out what to see in Albania away from the coast: the historic towns, the archaeological parks, the lakes and the mountains. Kruja and the albergo diffuso are among them.
Smithsonian Magazine on the scattered hotel
Smithsonian Magazine looked at the albergo diffuso: a hotel whose rooms are spread through the houses of a historic town instead of gathered into one building, and what that model gives back to the place that adopts it. It is the idea Kruja Albergo Diffuso is built on.