Portorož , literally "Port of Roses" is a Slovenian Adriatic seaside resort and spa town located in the Municipality of Piran in southwestern Slovenia. Its modern development began in the late 19th century with the vogue for the first health resorts. In the early 20th century, Portorož became one of the grandest seaside resorts in Adriatic, along with Abbazia, Lido and Grado, then as part of the Austrian Littoral. It is now one of Slovenia's major tourist areas. Located in the centre is the Hotel Palace, once one of the most important resorts for the Austro-Hungarian monarchy and currently one of the finest hotels between Venice and Dubrovnik.
The settlement and its surrounding areas are served by Portorož International Airport, which is located in the nearby village of Sečovlje. The economy of Portorož is mainly based on tourism and gaming industry. The facilities include a marina, numerous sporting facilities and several casinos, along with many hotels and apartment complexes.
Bernardin is a tourist complex located in the western part of Portorož. Its name derives from Sveti Bernardin (literally, "Saint Bernardin"), as the church, now in ruins, was named. Before the construction of multiple complexes, the area was a shipyard for smaller vessels, later moved to the town of Izola. In 1971, The Emona company from Ljubljana established Hoteli Bernardin and began working on building the complex. In 1976, the first two hotels, Bernardin and Vile Park were built, with Grand hotel Emona following the next year.
Portorož belongs to the coastal municipality of Piran, located in the southwest of the Gulf of Trieste (at the northernmost point of the Adriatic Sea) between the boundaries of Italy to the north and Croatia to the south. Part of Portorož are the streets Fiesa and Pacug.
Portorož has humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) with cool winters and warm summers. Winters are cool and mild with a January average of 4.7 °C (40.5 °F), while summers are warm with a July high of 28.4 °C (83.1 °F) and a low of 16.5 °C (61.7 °F). Due to its coastal location, temperatures below −10 °C (14.0 °F) or above 35 °C (95.0 °F) are rare. The average annual precipitation is 931.2 millimetres (37 in), which is fairly distributed throughout the year, though September and October see a peak in precipitation levels. Portorož averages 2385 hours of sunshine per year.
