Compared to other European countries, Slovenia is a very small country, however, it boasts a wealth of cultural traditions that are still very much alive even though the times have changed. We have picked a few of those Slovenian traditions you may not be familiar with.

Although this winter there has already been some snow a few times, there seems to be no sign of snow in the lowlands.

Ever since people started celebrating Christmas about 1700 years ago, dinner with one’s closest family has been the event that kicks off all sorts of festive season feasts. Although Christmas as such began as a festival observed by worshippers, over the past decades other people started celebrating it too, making it one of the biggest holidays celebrated in Slovenia.

Matjaž Ivanc is the manager of the Atelje restaurant and one of the sommeliers working under Union Hotels, as well as the best person to talk to when it comes to Atelje’s new acquisition, the wine showcase.

Nataša, a familiar face of hotel corridors, has been part of Union Hotels since August as the new Manager of Hotel Lev. We talked to her recently – right at the start of some big changes with the renovation work underway on Gosposvetska road in front of the hotel and the tree leaves starting to change colour – to ask her about her views of the hotel industry and the work she has devoted her career to.

Owing to their beauty, the Julian Alps, the Kamnik- Savinja Alps and the Karavanke mountain range are without doubt some of Slovenia’s most outstanding Slovenian natural marvels. Although Slovenian mountains may not be part of a typical tourist itinerary of visitors to Slovenia, they have in recent years been attracting increasingly high numbers of foreign visitors. The beautiful world of mountains is less than an hour’s drive from Ljubljana, which makes the mountain trails a popular destination for Union Hotels’ visitors too. For this reason, we have prepared some useful tips to make your trips to the Slovenian mountaintops perfectly carefree.

The Tonka Bean Brûlée is considered one of the most popular desserts served at Hotel Lev and at the Restaurant Pri Levu, the hotel’s signature dish, so to say. Our master chefs have decided to share their secret recipe with you, adding some tips that will surely come in handy when you decide to have a go at your next culinary endeavour.

Porters are the first and the last to come into contact with guests. There are porters and then there are Porters. This time around we had coffee with one of the latter. Gregor Žibert is a 25-year-old who has been working as a porter under the roof of Ljubljana’s oldest hotel for the past nine years and, a lucky man indeed, has been behind the wheel of almost all the world’s most expensive cars. But his job is much more than just luxury cars. It is a wish, a smile, a sparkle in the eyes…

The ski-flying festival in Planica is a world-famous event. Even since the beginnings of ski flying in the 1930s, Planica has been attracting large numbers of fans of this winter sport, and ever since Planica became a Ski Jumping World Cup venue, it has been a mecca for sports lovers who like cheering on their favourite athletes. At Union Hotels, we have come up with ten reasons for combining a visit to the world-famous ski-flying event in Planica with a visit to our hotels in the centre of Ljubljana.

Zdravko Perić is the new Head Chef of Grand Hotel Union’s kitchen, which will feature culinary masterpieces largely inspired by the Mediterranean.