Hotel je blizu plaže, ali ja više volim bazen.

Because blizu normally requires the genitive case in Serbian.

• Basic form: plaža = beach
• After blizu: blizu plaže = near the beach

So the pattern is:

• blizu hotela = near the hotel
• blizu grada = near the city
• blizu plaže = near the beach

This is one of the most important things to remember in the sentence.

Bazen is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of volim.

You are liking/preferring the pool, so pool is the object.

The reason it does not change in form is that masculine inanimate nouns often have:

• nominative singular = accusative singular

So:

• bazen (nominative) = pool
• volim bazen (accusative) = I like/prefer the pool

Compare that with an animate masculine noun:

• pas = dog
• volim psa = I like the dog

So bazen is accusative, even though it looks the same as nominative.

Literally, više volim means something like I like/love more, but in natural English it is often best translated as I prefer.

So:

• više volim bazen = I prefer the pool

It is a very common Serbian way to express preference.

You can also compare directly:

• Više volim bazen nego plažu. = I prefer the pool to the beach.

That is true: Serbian often omits subject pronouns when they are clear from the verb.

So you could simply say:

• ali više volim bazen

That already means but I prefer the pool.

Adding ja gives extra emphasis or contrast:

• ali ja više volim bazen = but I prefer the pool

In this sentence, ja highlights the speaker’s personal preference.

Je is the 3rd person singular present of biti (to be), so it means is.

• Hotel je blizu plaže. = The hotel is near the beach.

Unlike some other Slavic languages, Serbian normally uses the present-tense form of to be in this kind of sentence.

So:

• On je ovde. = He is here.
• More je hladno. = The sea is cold.
• Hotel je blizu plaže. = The hotel is near the beach.

Not completely. Serbian word order is fairly flexible, but the given version is a very natural, neutral one:

• Hotel je blizu plaže, ali ja više volim bazen.

Some other possible versions are:

• Hotel je blizu plaže, ali više volim bazen.
• Hotel je blizu plaže, ali bazen više volim.

These do not all sound exactly the same in emphasis.

• više volim bazen = neutral
• bazen više volim = stronger focus on the pool

So the sentence you were given is a normal, standard way to say it.

Both ali and a can connect contrasting ideas, but they are not exactly the same.

• ali = but, stronger contrast
• a = a softer contrast, sometimes closer to and / while / whereas

So:

• Hotel je blizu plaže, ali ja više volim bazen. = strong contrast
• Hotel je blizu plaže, a ja više volim bazen. = also possible, slightly softer

In your sentence, ali works very well because the second clause goes against what the first clause might suggest.

Because Serbian does not have articles like English a/an/the.

So:

• hotel can mean a hotel or the hotel
• plaža can mean a beach or the beach
• bazen can mean a pool or the pool

The exact meaning depends on context.

That is why Hotel je blizu plaže can naturally be translated with the hotel and the beach, even though Serbian does not use articles.

A few sounds here are especially important:

• j in Serbian is pronounced like English y

  • je sounds roughly like ye
  • ja sounds like ya

• š in više sounds like English sh

  • više ≈ vee-sheh

• ž in plaže sounds like the s in measure or vision

  • plaže ≈ plaah-zheh

Very roughly:

• Hotel je blizu plaže, ali ja više volim bazen.
• ho-TEL ye BLI-zu PLAA-zheh, A-li ya VEE-sheh VO-lim BA-zen

That pronunciation guide is only approximate, but it can help at the beginning.

No, standard Serbian uses blizu + genitive, without od.

So the correct form is:

• blizu plaže

Not:

• blizu od plaže

A good rule is:

• blizu škole = near the school
• blizu reke = near the river
• blizu plaže = near the beach

A related expression is u blizini, which also takes the genitive:

• u blizini plaže = in the vicinity of / near the beach

Yes. The sentence already sounds natural because the comparison is understood from context.

• Hotel je blizu plaže, ali ja više volim bazen.

This means something like:

• The hotel is near the beach, but I prefer the pool.

If you want to make the comparison explicit, you can add nego plažu:

• Hotel je blizu plaže, ali ja više volim bazen nego plažu.

That means:

• The hotel is near the beach, but I prefer the pool to the beach.

Both are correct; the shorter version is often more natural if the contrast is already obvious.