Dubrovnik Palace

A convenient hotel with helpful staff and a great location

The location is really convenient, especially for getting into the town centre. The hotel is right at the end of the city bus route, with bus stop number four just outside the doors. Buses run roughly every 15–20 minutes, making it very easy to get around. You can also get on and off at the hotel, which is particularly handy.

The hotel itself is a little dated and looks somewhat tired in parts, although the rooms are clean and perfectly comfortable. The balconies are a real bonus and offer a nice space to relax.

The outside pool area is good, although the sunbeds are positioned right on the edge of the pool, which can make the area feel a little crowded. There is also a nice area by the sea, although the sea conditions can change quite dramatically and quickly.

Drinks around the pool are fairly expensive, at around €11 for a large beer and €15–€16 for a cocktail. The restaurant also tends towards fish and seafood and is slightly overpriced, although perhaps that is understandable given that guests are somewhat of a captive audience.

There is a gym at the hotel, although it is quite small.

The biggest positive for me was the staff. They were courteous, friendly and helpful throughout our stay, which really makes a difference.

Overall, this is a convenient and comfortable hotel with excellent transport links, clean rooms and very good staff. It could benefit from some updating and refurbishment in places, and prices for food and drinks are on the high side, but overall we had a pleasant stay.

A review to hopefully help others!

Reading reviews it’s hard to judge if somewhere will suit you or not, as we all like different things, so hopefully the detail here will be of use to help others make a judgement!

The rooms - are fine, comfortable with a good powerful shower, towels are nice and big and there are dressing gowns (albeit they’re not very fluffy). Aircon is effective, clothes storage space limited, kettle and tea/coffee in your room. Balcony small and simple with two uncomfy plastic chairs, but a good view. The room did feel more like a business hotel though - carpeted floor, plain decor- not a criticism, just an observation as it felt less like a holiday hotel!

Pool - the large main pool is ok, warm enough but busy. There is very little room to move around it though, so the sunbeds feel very crammed in and you have to paddle at the water’s edge to get past them. There is a small kids pool (which we avoided). There is also a small (cool) pool in the VIP area. This area has reserved sunbeds (we assumed for suites) but we went in to use the pool and weren’t stopped.

There’s access to the sea from rocks and a concrete platform. There are steps and handrails, but the rocks are quite slippery, the area is marked off so boats and jet skis avoid it. Sunbeds by the sea go quickly (all reserved by 9.30am), but higher levels of sunbed areas have more spaces. There are umbrellas so you can try to find some shade, but as soon as it’s windy they (understandably) are taken down and there’s no natural shade.

There’s an indoor pool (very cool) with wooden decking area, and two (very violent!) jacuzzis! It was peaceful up there and more comfortable as the sunbeds had padded covers!

Food - a more limited choice for those used to a full buffet AI option, but the food was generally very good. Breakfast offered cooked options (eggs scrambled/fried/ omlettes), bacon, sausages, beans, cheeses and hams, fruit, pancakes and waffles (none gluten free though) runny yoghurts, pastries (you have to ask for gluten free croissants/muffins and they’re packeted). Ask for fresh orange juice (it’s better than that put out). Dinner - themed nights with music - Italian, Croatian, French. Good risotto each night (cuttlefish ink, beetroot and ginger, seafood), several fish options, small meat options cooked on hot plates, a pasta option each night (I didn’t bother to ask if gf pasta was available). Looked like few options for a vegetarian though - maybe one main, plus vegetables. As ever many mains contained gluten, limiting my choices. The food was not bad at all, with starters like prosciutto, octopus salad, goats cheese balls in walnuts; mains like risotto, red snapper, fish stew, pork belly (depending on the theme). Desserts - there were 5 or 6 options per night, they looked good, but most nights they all contained gluten, so I had few options. I asked for a gf dessert and they did bring me something each night, but mostly a coconut flavoured panna cotta style jar, which was pleasant enough and if you asked you could have ice cream.

Drinks - the low point of the hotel. As per the reviews we’d read, they are very expensive - €6.50 for a 500ml bottle of water with dinner! Cocktails around €15 each and the family next to us said their Aperol was so weak it just tasted of water. So instead we caught the bus into the Old Town for a drink after dinner, this was also more lively as the pool bar was often empty, as was the sunset bar! It’s such a shame as if they were more affordable I think the bars would have a much better atmosphere!

So overall, it was an okay hotel with potential to be good. I don’t think it knows what it wants to be though- business hotel? Conference centre? Holiday destination? We enjoyed it, but we’re glad to only be staying a few days, a week would’ve been much too long as it missed the resort and holiday feel…

A great hotel in every way! We were half board and breakfast and dinner in the buffet restaurant was excellent. Lovely pool with plenty of sunbeds for all and pool temperature was perfect. We also enjoyed sun bathing down on the beach. A special thank you to one of the concierge/excursions team for suggesting a 3 day Dubrovnik pass. This gave us access to the city walls as well as many museums and attractions. However, the best thing was it also gave us unlimited 3 day travel on the bus from outside of the hotel to the to the Old Town and saved the hassle of buying a ticket. A special thank you to the head chef for his welcome and attention every evening in the restaurant and his food recommendations and to the lovely waitress on the terrace for her attentive service. Diolch - hvala!