Stories · 18 September 2026 · By Matija Dvorneković
The hot tub is outside, under the terrace roof, so it works even when it's below freezing. This is what a winter weekend here is really like, from arriving on Friday to leaving on Sunday.
Sitting in warm water up to your shoulders while your breath steams in the cold air is why we love the hot tub most in January, when it's dark by five and nobody expects anything of the evening except that it goes on for a long time.
This is a weekend like that at our place, from Friday to Sunday.
Our hot tub stands outside on the terrace, ready all year round. Anyone who has looked out from warm water at frost on a meadow knows why we didn't put it in the bathroom.
The terrace has a wooden roof, so the snow doesn't land on your head while you're in the water. It's only a few steps from the door to the hot tub, which you'll appreciate in slippers in the dark.
We put the sauna in the house, in the bathroom, rather than out in the garden, so you don't have to run through the cold between the sauna and the shower. It's a Finnish sauna where you pour water on the stones.
We do it in this order: sauna, shower, the hot tub outside, then back inside to the sofa. Four temperatures in half an hour, and afterwards you sleep the way you did as a child.
There's underfloor heating throughout the house. No radiators under the windows, and no cold floor when you go barefoot to make coffee in the morning.
That matters in an old wooden house. Oak from 1952 looks lovely, but it doesn't keep you warm on its own. The underfloor heating keeps the whole house evenly warm, including the mezzanine under the sloping roof, which would otherwise be the coldest spot.
Friday, around 5pm. Check-in is from 3pm, and if you get here in the late afternoon it's already dark. The lanterns are on outside, and it's warm inside. You'll find the instructions for the hot tub in the house. Switch it on while you unpack.
Friday evening. The barbecue on the terrace is built in and under the roof, so you can cook the first dinner outside, in your coat with a glass in your hand. Buy your food on the way, because the nearest shop is in Pokupsko, about 15 km away.
Saturday morning. Coffee by the window, looking out over 10,000 m² of meadow white with frost. Once you're dressed, walk down the lawn to the Kupa, which in winter is quiet and nothing like the river in summer.
Saturday afternoon. Sauna, hot tub, then the sauna again. That's the whole plan, and you'll find it doesn't need anything added.
Saturday evening. Starlink takes care of the film on the sofa: satellite internet that doesn't depend on the local network. The floor is warm, so the blanket is more habit than need.
Sunday. Check-out is by 10am, just enough time for one more coffee and a last look at the meadow.
You don't need to bring bed linen, towels, cleaning products or kitchen equipment. It's all here and included in the price.
Do bring slippers you don't mind getting wet, a dressing gown or a big towel for the walk from the door to the hot tub, a hat if you plan to stay out for a while, and something for the barbecue if you want dinner on the terrace.
The house is in the village of Šišinec, on the River Kupa in Croatia, about 50 minutes' drive from Zagreb, and Zagreb Airport is about 60 km away by road. So even on a two-night stay you can spend the first evening in the hot tub.
Yes, all year round. It stands under the terrace roof, so the snow doesn't fall into the water.
Four. It's outdoors, on the terrace under the wooden roof.
A Finnish sauna where you pour water on the stones, for three or four people. It's in the bathroom, with a glass door and wooden benches.
No. The minimum stay is two nights, in winter and in summer.
The price depends on the dates, and you can see it for your own dates on the Prices & availability page before you send a request.
The drive goes right up to the house, and you park on our land. If heavy snow is forecast, get in touch the day before you arrive and we'll tell you what the road is like.
Book direct with us, with no agency in between. Send a request and Matija will get in touch on WhatsApp or by email within 24 hours to confirm.
More from the house
19 September 2026
In the middle of the last century our great-grandfather Toma took people across the River Kupa in his boat, from the beach beside the house. This is the story of his name, of the house built of oak in 1952, and of what we did with it.
17 September 2026
A weekend for two with a hot tub usually means a hotel room and other guests on the far side of the wall. Here you get the whole house, the land and the river, and there's nobody on the other side of the wall.
Book direct, with no agency in between
Check dates →
Imanje Brodara Tome