The designer one
PUCIC PALACE
When Casanova jumped off a balcony at the start of the recent BBC romp, this
hotel served as the set. You’ll understand why. The Pucic is a converted
18th-century nobleman’s house, right underneath the baroque bell tower of
the cathedral. It has original pumice-stone pillars and painted ceilings on
the stairways, a chapel in the middle of the breakfast terrace, and just 19
sumptuous, super-expensive rooms.
Opinion is divided as to whether the “hip” touches entirely work (perhaps the
Dalmatian-hide sofa in the Junije Palmotic suite is pushing it a bit) but
they never undermine the feeling of luxury: beaten-copper bathtubs, Egyptian
cotton sheets and Bulgari smellies.
To get your money’s worth, insist on a room overlooking Gundulic Square, with
the picturesque pitches of Dubrovnik’s village-style vegetable market. 00
385 20 324826, www.thepucicpalace.com
; doubles from £270, B&B
The sybaritic one
DUBROVNIK PALACE
A boutique hotel. With 308 rooms. It may sound like a contradiction, but £30m
has been spent making over the Dubrovnik Palace, complete with bowls of
turquoise pebbles and theatrical shafts of lavender light – and it
near-as-dammit works. They even give a weekly tour of the hotel’s 200
original artworks.
The bedrooms are plainer, each sharply dressed in soft sands and pearly greys.
You get a flatscreen TV and views of the Dalmatian Riviera from your
(guaranteed) balcony. And, because the hotel cleaves to west-facing cliffs
on the Lapad peninsula, sunsets come as standard.
The hotel has an outdoor pool complex, a dive centre and Croatia’s only proper
full-service spa, where you can be wrapped in mud and seaweed – which may be
taking the oceanic theme too far. 00 385 20 430000, www.dubrovnikpalace.hr
; doubles from £135, B&B
The plush one
GRAND VILLA ARGENTINA
That’s plush as in tinkly piano bars and dark-oak wainscoting. Plush as in Liz
Taylor, Ivana Trump and Montserrat Caballe (they have all stayed here).
Grand Villa Argentina is one of the grandes dames of Dubrovnik
hospitality.
The hotel comprises four 1920s villas and a rather frightful 1960s annexe –
but don’t fret about that, because you’ll spend most of your time sipping
martinis on the terrace, enjoying brochure-beating views of Dubrovnik’s
walled citadel. The Argentina is just a 10-minute walk from the Old Town,
and has mazy gardens that lead to the shore, where you’ll find a pool and
sea-bathing platforms.
Book a balcony room in Villa Argentina or Villa Orsula – sumptuous, with
brocaded bedspreads, serious still-lifes and overflowing cushions. 00
385 20 440 555, www.gva.hr ; balcony doubles
in Villa Argentina from £175, B&B
The secluded one
VILLA WOLFF
Like most Dubrovnik hotels, this place is defined by its grounds – but this
time you’re sharing them with just five couples in a tree-top retreat above
Uvala Bay.
The rooms struggle towards four-star standard, with cheerful blue and cream
decor, and rather exciting splatter-gun paintings (the work of Maxi, the
owner’s three-year-old daughter). Only the two suites have balconies, but
the remaining rooms are just a dozen paces from the hotel terrace, with
crumbly stone walls, rambling ivy and aromatic rosemary bushes. You’ll have
breakfast here, and the hotel has sun loungers for slow afternoons and a bar
for summer evenings.
It’s a 10-minute bus ride to town and, if you fancy it, Mr Wolff will line up
a friendly boatman to whisk you off to a secret spot on the nearby Elafiti
islands. 00 385 20 438 710, www.villa-wolff.hr
; open Apr 1-Oct 31; doubles from £112, B&B
The budget one
HOTEL STARI GRAD
Apart from the Pucic Palace, this is the only hotel inside the romantic
ramparts of old Dubrovnik – turn left and within seconds, you’re on Stradun,
the marbled main street that is the heart of the city.
Stari Grad is ferreted away in a trademark narrow Dubrovnian alleyway. This
means the rooms (just a single and a double on each of four floors) are on
the gloomy side, but they’re clean, snug and not lacking in character, with
mahogany furniture and flagged floors.
At the bottom of the stairs is a den-like lobby with assorted architectural
oddities: a stone font, a water pump, fakey frescoes. At the top is the
Stari Grad’s star turn, a tiny breakfast terrace teetering among the chimney
tops – ideal for hot coffee anda heated debate about whether you’re looking
at Europe’s loveliest roofscape. 00 385 20 322 244, www.hotelstarigrad.com
; doubles from £93, B&B
Travel brief Fly to Dubrovnik from Gatwick with Croatia Airlines (020
8563 0022, www.croatiaairlines.hr
; from £116), or British Airways (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com
; from £128). Flybe (0871 522 6100, www.flybe.com
) flies from Birmingham, from £90; Aer Lingus (0818 365000, www.aerlingus.com
) flies from Dublin, from €174. There are summer charters from Birmingham,
Gatwick, Luton, Manchester, Dublin, Shannon and Cork. Fares start at £99,
through Holiday Options (0870 420 8386, www.holidayoptions.co.uk
) or Charter Flight Centre (0845 045 0153,
www.charterflights.co.uk ). Airport transfers take 20 minutes by bus
(£2.50) or taxi (£20-£25). Further information:020 8563 7979, www.croatia.hr
.
