Drago mi je da je pristanište blizu hotela, jer ne volim nositi kofere daleko.

Drago mi je is a very common Croatian expression meaning I’m glad.

Literally, it is closer to It is dear/pleasing to me:

• drago = glad / dear / pleasing
• mi = to me in the dative case
• je = is

So Croatian does not build this the same way English does. Instead of I am glad, it uses a structure like It is pleasing to me.

Here da introduces a clause meaning that:

• Drago mi je da... = I’m glad that...

So:

• da je pristanište blizu hotela = that the port/harbor is near the hotel

In English, that is often optional, but in Croatian da is very commonly kept in this kind of sentence.

That je is simply the verb to be inside the subordinate clause:

• je pristanište blizu hotela = the port is near the hotel

So the full sentence has two separate parts:

• Drago mi je = I’m glad
• da je pristanište blizu hotela = that the port is near the hotel

The two je forms belong to different parts of the sentence.

Because blizu takes the genitive case.

So:

• hotel = nominative
• hotela = genitive

That is why Croatian says:

• blizu hotela = near the hotel

This is something you simply have to learn with blizu: it normally goes with the genitive.

Yes, you usually could.

• jer = because
• zato što = also because

So this would also work:

• Drago mi je da je pristanište blizu hotela, zato što ne volim nositi kofere daleko.

In many everyday contexts, both are natural. Jer is shorter and very common.

Because jer introduces a reason clause, and in standard Croatian that clause is normally separated by a comma.

So:

• ..., jer ne volim nositi kofere daleko.

This is normal Croatian punctuation.

Because Croatian often leaves out subject pronouns when they are already clear from the verb ending.

• volim already means I like
• ne volim = I don’t like

So ja is unnecessary unless you want emphasis:

• Ja ne volim nositi kofere daleko. = I don’t like carrying suitcases far.

Without emphasis, leaving ja out is more natural.

Because after voljeti (to like), Croatian commonly uses an infinitive to say what someone likes or does not like doing.

• volim čitati = I like reading / I like to read
• ne volim čekati = I don’t like waiting
• ne volim nositi = I don’t like carrying

So ne volim nositi kofere means I don’t like carrying suitcases.

Nositi is the imperfective verb, which fits a general statement or repeated activity.

Here the speaker means something like:

• I don’t like carrying suitcases far in general

That is why nositi is natural.

A perfective verb would sound more like one completed act, which is not the point here. Croatian often uses the imperfective when talking about habits, preferences, or general dislikes.

Because kofere is the accusative plural, and it is the direct object of nositi.

• koferi = nominative plural = suitcases
• kofere = accusative plural = suitcases as an object

Since the speaker is carrying the suitcases, Croatian uses the object form:

• nositi kofere

Daleko is an adverb meaning far. It modifies nositi:

• nositi kofere daleko = to carry suitcases far

It tells you how far or to what distance the carrying happens.

That word order is natural because daleko comes after the verb phrase it modifies:

• ne volim nositi kofere daleko

Putting it at the end sounds smooth and emphasizes the idea of distance. Croatian word order is somewhat flexible, but this version is very normal.

Because Croatian has no articles like English a or the.

So Croatian simply says:

• pristanište
• hotel
• hotela

Whether English should translate that as a hotel, the hotel, a port, or the port depends on context. In this sentence, the context makes the hotel natural in English, even though Croatian does not use a separate word for the.