The best hotels in Dubrovnik

Choosing a hotel in Dubrovnik is mostly a question of geography. A property that looks close to the Old Town on a map can still involve steep streets or stairs, while a seafront resort in Lapad or Babin Kuk may be much easier for swimming and families but require a bus or taxi for sightseeing.

For a short first visit, look first at Pile, Ploče or the Old Town. For beaches and a slower stay, Lapad and Babin Kuk give you more hotel facilities and room to spread out. Gruž is less romantic, but it is hard to beat if you have an early ferry, arrive by bus or want easier road access.

Start with the area, not the star rating

Dubrovnik is compact, but the differences between neighbourhoods are large enough to change the trip. Inside the walls you can walk to the main sights before the daytime crowds arrive. A few kilometres west, the same budget may buy a larger room, pool and easier beach access. Arrive with a car or heavy luggage and the practical difference becomes even bigger.

Area	Works well for	Main trade-off
Old Town	Atmosphere, sightseeing, short stays, late dinners	Pedestrian only, stairs, small hotel inventory, no hotel-door car access
Pile	First visits, Old Town access, easier luggage handling	Busy transport area and premium prices close to the gate
Ploče	Luxury hotels, sea views, couples, walking to the Old Town	Expensive and often hilly
Boninovo / Montovjerna	Sea-view hotels between the Old Town and Lapad	Some steep approaches and cliffside layouts
Lapad	Longer stays, couples, beaches, restaurants, evening walks	You will normally use a bus or taxi for the Old Town
Babin Kuk	Families, pools, resort facilities, beach holidays	Furthest major hotel area from the Old Town
Gruž	Ferries, bus arrivals, road access, value-focused stays	Working harbour atmosphere rather than a beach-resort setting

Dubrovnik hotels to put on your shortlist

Hotel	Area	Why it stands out	Booking
Hotel Excelsior Dubrovnik	Ploče	Walkable to the Old Town, direct sea access and one of the classic views back toward the city walls.	Check price and availability
Villa Dubrovnik	Sveti Jakov / Ploče	Privacy, Old Town and Lokrum views, and a quieter luxury setting east of the centre.	Check price and availability
Boutique Hotel Stari Grad	Old Town	A small hotel inside the walls, useful when being in the historic centre matters more than pools or resort space.	Check price and availability
Hotel Dubrovnik Palace	Lapad	Large seafront resort with balconies, sea views and full hotel facilities away from Old Town crowds.	Check price and availability
Hotel More	Lapad	Adults-only 14+ hotel on the coastal promenade, with sea views and Cave Bar More below the hotel.	Check price and availability
President Hotel, Valamar Collection	Babin Kuk	Five-star seafront resort for beach time, pools, spa facilities and wide Adriatic views.	Check price and availability
Sunny Dubrovnik by Valamar	Babin Kuk	Family-focused option with pools, slides, nearby beaches and a large children's entertainment area.	Check price and availability
Hotel Adria	Gruž	Particularly practical for drivers: easy road access, views over Gruž and free hotel parking.	Check price and availability

Old Town and Pile: stay close to the sights, but think about luggage

Sleeping inside the Old Town has one advantage that is hard to reproduce elsewhere: Dubrovnik before breakfast and after the day-trippers leave. Restaurants, the city walls, museums and Stradun are outside your door.

The drawback is physical. The Old Town is pedestrian-only, and many side streets climb steeply away from Stradun. A room that looks only a few hundred metres from a gate may still mean carrying luggage over stone paving and steps. That matters with large suitcases, strollers or reduced mobility.

Boutique Hotel Stari Grad is one of the genuine hotel options inside the walls. The current hotel has 11 rooms and three suites, so it is a boutique stay rather than a full-service resort.

Just outside Pile Gate, Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik avoids most of the inside-the-walls luggage problem while keeping the Old Town within a very short walk. The hotel occupies a historic building dating to 1897 and has an indoor pool, spa and on-site parking. It is expensive, but for a short sightseeing trip the location is difficult to improve on.

Ploče: the classic hotel strip with Old Town views

East of the Old Town, Ploče is where Dubrovnik's grand seafront hotels meet the historic centre. You can walk to Ploče Gate and Banje Beach, but many properties sit on slopes above the water, so check the exact access route if stairs or steep streets are a concern.

Hotel Excelsior Dubrovnik is about 0.6 km from the Old Town and has direct sea access. Farther east, Villa Dubrovnik trades immediate gate access for more privacy and a cliffside setting overlooking Lokrum and the Old Town.

Grand Villa Argentina has changed. The old hotel closed for a major reconstruction and is returning in 2026 as Villa Argentina Dubrovnik. Older ratings, room descriptions and guest reviews refer to the pre-renovation property, so use current post-relaunch information when comparing it with Excelsior or Villa Dubrovnik. See the current Villa Argentina website.

Boninovo and Montovjerna: between the Old Town and Lapad

This stretch is easy to overlook because it is neither inside the historic centre nor on the main Lapad resort strip. For some travellers, that is exactly the advantage. You can be closer to the Old Town than Lapad while still getting larger hotels, pools and sea views.

Hotel Bellevue Dubrovnik is built into the cliff above Miramare Bay and suits travellers who want a luxury hotel with sea access without moving all the way out to Babin Kuk. Rixos Premium Dubrovnik is another large seafront hotel in this part of the city.

Hotel Lero, on Iva Vojnovića, is a more practical four-star alternative with family rooms, a pool and parking. Its official site places it about a 15-minute walk from the Old Town and roughly five minutes from the nearest beach. It does not have the same resort setting as Bellevue or Rixos, but its position works well for travellers splitting time between sightseeing and Lapad.

Lapad: easier evenings, beaches and more room

Lapad suits travellers who want Dubrovnik to feel like a holiday rather than a city break every hour of the day. The bay has beaches, a pedestrian promenade, restaurants and cafés, while local buses connect the peninsula with the Old Town. It is also easier to find hotels with pools, balconies and larger public areas.

Hotel Dubrovnik Palace sits at the seaward end of the peninsula and is a full resort rather than a city hotel. All of its current rooms and suites have private balconies with sea views. Hotel Kompas is closer to Lapad Bay and the pedestrian promenade.

Hotel More is now an adults-only hotel for guests aged 14+. That change matters if you are comparing old guides that still describe it as a family property. Its setting on the coastal promenade and Cave Bar More make it a better match for couples and adult stays than families with young children.

Hotel Lapad faces Gruž harbour from the Lapad side. It is not a beach resort, but it has a pool, a quieter setting and local bus access to the Old Town.

Babin Kuk: the resort end of Dubrovnik

Babin Kuk occupies the greener outer end of the Lapad peninsula. This is where to look if pools, hotel beaches, children's facilities and resort space matter more than walking to the Old Town every morning.

President Hotel, Valamar Collection is the premium seafront option, with sea-view rooms, pools, spa facilities and a beach below the hotel. Valamar Lacroma Hotel is a four-star resort with indoor and outdoor pools and family facilities.

For families, two names deserve particular attention. Valamar Tirena Hotel has family rooms, pools and water slides, while the property long known as Club Dubrovnik Sunny Hotel is now officially called Sunny Dubrovnik by Valamar. Its 2026 offer includes family entertainment, pools, slides and a new all-inclusive option.

The trade-off is distance. Babin Kuk works best when you are comfortable using local buses or taxis and do not need to return to the Old Town several times each day.

Gruž: choose it for transport, parking and practicality

Gruž is Dubrovnik's working harbour. It is where the main bus station, ferry terminal and Gruž market sit, so the area is far more useful than glamorous.

Berkeley Hotel is only a few minutes on foot from the ferry terminal and around ten minutes from the main bus station, according to the hotel. It makes particular sense before an early ferry or after a late bus arrival.

Hotel Adria sits above Gruž and has easy access from the main coastal road, plus free parking and a garage. The hill is the price you pay for the view. If you intend to walk everywhere, this is not the obvious base; if you arrive by car, it becomes much more interesting.

For island connections, check our Dubrovnik ferry guide before choosing a hotel purely from the map.

What to check before you book a Dubrovnik hotel

Stairs can matter more than distance

Dubrovnik is steep. This is most obvious inside the Old Town and on the slopes above Ploče, but it also affects parts of Lapad and the cliffside hotels between the centre and Lapad. If someone in your group has reduced mobility, ask the hotel about the actual route from the street, reception and lift to the room, pool and sea access.

Driving near the Old Town now needs more planning

Dubrovnik operates a special traffic-regulation zone around the historic centre and its surrounding roads. If you are arriving by car and staying around Pile, Ploče, Boninovo or inside the regulated area, confirm vehicle access and parking directly with your hotel before arrival. The City of Dubrovnik publishes the current rules on its official traffic-zone page. Our Dubrovnik by car guide covers the wider driving and parking picture.

Do not assume "sea view" means the same thing everywhere

Room categories matter. Partial sea view, side sea view, balcony sea view and full frontal sea view can be very different products inside the same hotel. If the view is the reason you are paying more, book the exact room category rather than relying on the hotel's general photographs.

Beachfront does not always mean a broad beach

Several Dubrovnik hotels have direct swimming access from rocky or platform areas, while others sit above small pebble beaches. If you are travelling with young children, check the actual entry into the water rather than booking from the word "beach" alone.

Family policies change

Room occupancy, connecting rooms, kids' clubs and age policies should be checked for your dates. Hotel More is a good example of why: it is now adults-only for guests aged 14+, although older pages around the web may still describe family facilities.

When to book hotels in Dubrovnik

July and August put the most pressure on the properties that are hardest to substitute: hotels immediately beside the Old Town, rooms with full sea views, family rooms and the better resort categories in Babin Kuk. If one particular hotel or room type matters, book it early rather than waiting for a general Dubrovnik deal.

May, June, September and October usually give you more flexibility and are often easier for sightseeing. Winter is a different product altogether. Room rates can fall sharply, but seasonal restaurants, outdoor pools, beach facilities and even parts of a hotel may operate on reduced schedules.

Fixed "typical nightly price" tables age too quickly to be useful here. Compare your exact dates instead. Dubrovnik hotel rates react heavily to weekends, events, flight schedules and availability, not just the star rating.

If your dates are flexible, compare them with our Dubrovnik events calendar and Dubrovnik weather guide before booking.

Hotel or apartment?

A hotel makes life easier for a short stay: reception, luggage help, breakfast, daily housekeeping and facilities are all in one place. Apartments usually give you more space and a kitchen, which matters more on a longer stay or when travelling with children.

Dubrovnik has far more private accommodation than hotel rooms inside many residential areas. If the hotel options in your preferred neighbourhood are poor value for your dates, compare them with our Dubrovnik apartments, rooms and guesthouses rather than automatically moving to a different part of the city.

All Dubrovnik hotel listings

The list includes properties in Dubrovnik itself plus a few established resort hotels on the wider Dubrovnik Riviera. Room types, seasonal facilities and meal plans can change, so use the booking link for your exact dates.

Hotel Excelsior

Hotel | Dubrovnik, Croatia

Five-star seafront hotel in Ploče, about 0.6 km from Dubrovnik Old Town. Hotel Excelsior combines direct sea access with views toward the Old Town and Lokrum, and includes an indoor pool, spa, fitness facilities and several restaurants and bars.

Read expert review

The best hotels in Dubrovnik

Start with the area, not the star rating

Dubrovnik hotels to put on your shortlist

Old Town and Pile: stay close to the sights, but think about luggage

Ploče: the classic hotel strip with Old Town views

Boninovo and Montovjerna: between the Old Town and Lapad

Lapad: easier evenings, beaches and more room

Babin Kuk: the resort end of Dubrovnik

Gruž: choose it for transport, parking and practicality

What to check before you book a Dubrovnik hotel

Stairs can matter more than distance

Driving near the Old Town now needs more planning

Do not assume "sea view" means the same thing everywhere

Beachfront does not always mean a broad beach

Family policies change

When to book hotels in Dubrovnik

Hotel or apartment?

All Dubrovnik hotel listings

Dubrovnik hotel FAQ

What is the best area to stay in Dubrovnik for a first visit?

Is it better to stay inside Dubrovnik Old Town?

Which area is best for a beach holiday in Dubrovnik?

Where should families stay in Dubrovnik?

Which Dubrovnik hotels work well without a car?

Which area is easiest if I arrive by car?

Which Dubrovnik hotel is adults-only?