By Denis Sheehan MIH, Publisher, H&C News: The Old Town is a must, as is Hotel Dubrovnik Palace.
Hotel News is sponsored by HotelPartner UK
Going somewhere highly recommended sets an extra bar on the delivery of the experience anticipated, such was the task set for Croatia, and it didn’t disappoint.
Leaving Dubrovnik Airport by car the journey to the city is just over 20km and introduces you to some quite breath-taking scenery. The roads wind along the coastline of the Adriatic Sea, that shimmers shades of blue and turquoise, interspersed with lush green islands.
As you approach the Old Town the magic of the place starts to register, Dubrovnik is encircled by massive grey stone walls, offset by terracotta rooftops, framed by the Adriatic.
As the car progresses through the city cleanliness is apparent, as is café culture. Then ahead we first set eyes on where we are staying, Hotel Dubrovnik Palace. Set on the edge of the Lapad Peninsula coastline flanked by a pine forest.
From the outside the hotel is impressive, it has stature. On entry you are greeted by a huge expanse of open reception space with a wall of glass portraying the Lapad Peninsula in all its grandeur. The space is a statement of architectural excellence.
As we check in the front desk team are friendly, courteous and helpful. On arrival to our room as you open the door you are greeted with a balcony that similarly to reception presents the Lapad Peninsula, Lokrum Island, as well as other Elafiti Islands. Room with a view takes on new meaning.
It was a lovely warm sunny day so late afternoon we took a relatively short walk of 15 minutes or so from the hotel into Lapad, filled with restaurants and bars. We walked along the main street and perused the menus, settling for one with a wide selection of seafood.
My wife Angela ordered a John Dory dish and I ordered Tuna, both were presented beautifully, no frills and all function, well balanced plates of honest fresh food. They both also tasted better than they looked, which was quite some achievement. Service was efficient and the bill was reasonable for the quality enjoyed.
The next morning was our first breakfast at the hotel in the Elafiti restaurant with wall to wall windows, again overlooking the Lapad Peninsula. As you enter you are warmly greeted and seen to your table, we opted for one of the many adjacent to the windows.
The breakfast is buffet with a selection that is hard to quantify, fresh breads, fruit, fish, eggs of every persuasion, bacon, sausage, porridge, salami, chorizo, prosciutto, beans, yogurts, and many more that I can’t quite recall. Breakfast is leisurely, allowing multiple visits to different counters creating courses of breakfast, alongside fresh fruit juices and tea and coffee. The service over breakfast is exemplary, every waiter and waitress knows their job and does it well.
After breakfast was the outdoor pool area, which enjoys many different areas to relax in and a bar that serves drinks to sip as you chill out . The far end of the pool area adjoins the rocky landscape that welcomes the sea as it rolls in below cliffs adorned with trees, we settled there and enjoyed letting the world pass us by for a few hours.
The temperature was hot enough for me to shade under an umbrella, about 23 degrees C, while my wife took full advantage of the Mediterranean sun. As we kicked back and soaked up the tranquillity it was fascinating to watch a myriad of boats go by. From sailing boats to gin palaces of all shapes and sizes, with the occasional galleon too.
We spent two days venturing around Dubrovnik Old Town, which was about a 10 minute bus ride from our hotel. The buses were new, regular, about every 15 minutes, and inexpensive, about £3.50 each way.
Dubrovnik Old Town will be immediately familiar to all who watched Game of Thrones as it was the main filming location for King’s Landing, home of the Lannisters. The Old Town is generally acknowledged one of the finest and most perfectly preserved medieval cities in the world.
As you walk through the ancient streets you encounter Baroque churches, monasteries and palaces, Renaissance fountains and facades. The cobbled streets lead to squares paved in marble, all of which have remained unchanged for centuries.
There are countless cafes and restaurants to stop at and contemplate where you are and how special it all feels. We had lunch on both days we visited and both were just what was required at the time. Prices are give or take on par with the UK.
Our final night before catching the plane home we dined at the Elafiti restaurant in our hotel, we should have tried it earlier. Executive Chef Igor Sabadin and his brigade had prepared a true feast, dinner was a buffet, and just like a menu where you cannot choose your dishes through being spoilt for choice, we were presented with so many mouthwatering options it was tough to narrow down. So, we adopted the same tactics we had applied to breakfast, and created our own version of a taster menu. Dinner was a joy and we also got to meet Chef as he wandered the restaurant talking with diners.
On the morning we were leaving we also met Hotel Director Hrvoje Sanje as we waited for our taxi to the airport. I was delighted we did as I was able to say thank you for our stay. The Hotel Dubrovnik Palace is a five star hotel with every facility you could wish for, but as with all hospitality businesses the people were the differentiator. Every member of the team at Hotel Dubrovnik Palace is well trained and does their job skilfully. The housekeepers, the waiters and waitresses, the bar team at the pool, the chefs, the receptionists, and everyone we encountered that worked with the hotel were all hospitality professionals. I was glad to be able to pass on my feedback to Hrvoje personally, it was well deserved, and he seemed rightly proud of his colleagues.
So, a final verdict… the trip was for one week, and as with most holidays it seemed to pass quite quickly, although in other ways we felt truly lost in Dubrovnik for much more than a week.
The scenery is truly magnificent, Dubrovnik without doubt has something very special in the air that’s difficult to pin down, it just does. The Old Town is a must.
If you do go I would without doubt recommend staying at Hotel Dubrovnik Palace, if you book at short notice through lastminute.com like we did, it’s not as expensive as you might think.