As always, the site helped me a lot. I carefully studied the possible options for hotels in the Dubrovnik area and settled on the Valamar Lacroma Dubrovnik 4 * hotel. There are not many reviews for this hotel, but all of them were only positive. In addition, the hotel is new (it was opened in 2009 +/-). As soon as the possibility of early booking arose, I immediately arranged for us a room with a balcony and sea view.
We flew from Kyiv to Dubrovnik on a UIA charter. The flight took 2.25. Departed on time, arrived in Dubrovnik at 19:25. At the Dubrovnik airport, which was strange for me, they don’t put entry stamps on the passports (unless you ask for it yourself), I was a little worried about the return flight, but everything was OK. We found a representative of our host company (Valanta), she showed where the bus was, where we waited a bit for other vacationers and went to take them to hotels. Because our hotel would be the farthest, it is located about 20 km from the airport on Cape Babin Kuk, then the road took about an hour. But this did not bother us, it was even interesting to survey unfamiliar places. We were the only ones from our plane at the Valamar Lacroma hotel. In general, in the hotel, probably, only 5% are Ukrainian-Russian-speaking audience, the rest are foreign citizens of different image and language. Even the Japanese were noticed (not to be confused with the Chinese!: ) ) in a fairly large number. The hotel itself is made in hi-tech style, externally and internally we really liked it. I also want to note that there are few children in this hotel (up to 10%), there is no animation for them, there are no slides. In the evenings it is always very quiet and calm, if there is music, it is only live and only until 11 pm from the bar on the first floor. During our stay, this music was maybe three times. Babin Kuk is the outskirts of the city of Dubrovnik and therefore the road is some distance from the hotel and behind the trees; Since our room faced the sea, we did not see or hear any traffic at all. In general, who wants to relax in peace - you are here. On Babin Kuk there is another hotel of the same chain - Valamar Club 3 *, which is not aimed specifically at family vacations, there are all the amenities for children and animation is different. Valamar Lacroma is still a hotel more for an adult audience.
We got a room on the 4th floor with a balcony and a fantastic sea view, which we appreciated exactly the next morning.
The room is spacious, comfortable with silently working central air conditioning. There is a kettle in the room, a constantly replenished set of coffee, different teas and sugar (white, brown, light), a minibar with filling for an extra charge of course (reasonable). There is plasma on the wall, the only Russian-language channel is RTR Planeta, i. e. there was practically nothing to watch in our native language, but there were many English-speaking channels, which helped us brighten up the sultry day time (the heat this year turned out to be notable up to +39 during the day). There is also a hair dryer, in-room safe (free of charge), iron and ironing board. The furniture is new, the built-in wardrobe is very spacious.
A large bathroom with a bathtub and everything with it: a set of towels and various branded gels, soaps, shampoos, shower caps in duplicate.
They cleaned well, bath towels were changed on demand (if you throw them on the floor in the bathroom), for the face and legs - daily, bed linen also had to be changed on demand (if you put a special sign on the bed), but they were changed every other day even without this tablets. I left a 10 kuna tip, but that's up to you.
The child was delighted and crushed by the hotel, well, I felt relieved from the soul, which means that the rest was already half a success!
After checking in and having dinner, we went to look for the beach. It should be noted that the hotel is located on the second line, which was clearly written in the reviews, and you need to go to the beach through another hotel of the same Valamar President chain, having previously received a key card at the reception. However, in terms of class, our hotel is higher than the President. The whole journey in search of the beach took about 10 minutes. There are signs everywhere, so it's hard to get lost. We walked along the olive avenue, crossed the path, went through the President's reception, went down on the elevator (I would call it more like a small funicular) and here we are on the night beach. The beach is not wide, but long enough. I had doubts about whether there would be enough space, whether there would be a crowd, but there was nothing like that the next morning.
For residents of the Valamar Lacroma complex, the use of sun loungers, umbrellas, beach towels (all of very good quality) on the beach of the Valamar President Hotel is free of charge, having previously received a special Towel Card per person. And although our audience is also small at the Valamar President Hotel, it’s still a habit to take a place on the beach at 7 in the morning, and come to 10, or even 11 of them, you just can’t knock it out. So it was here, since there were plenty of places on the beach and sun loungers even at the peak of the season. However, it should be noted that the beaches in Croatia are municipal, so the local population is always present, which modestly settles down on their mats next to the sun loungers, because. renting 2 sun loungers and an umbrella will cost 60 kunas (the beach worker begins to walk between the sun loungers and collect tribute from the "left" from 10 am).
In the heat of the day, if you want to go to your room to rest, you can “book” your sun loungers, leaving towels and some personal items on them, for example, a pareo, a cap, a book, etc. Nobody will take anything.
The sea is beautiful, transparent, the entrance is gentle with large pebbles, but there is also a concrete slab (for lovers). Special footwear is not required, but recommended.
There is also a paid bar on the beach. From 11:30 you can also have lunch there, they cook right in front of you. We had the HB system, once we also ate there - pretty decent, but still "fast food". Prices are reasonable.
Food.
Breakfasts (buffet) were always the same, but the choice was very large, so we didn’t get bored in 2 weeks, you could always find something new.
Dinners (buffet) - excellent and very varied, often themed, often with live music. We preferred to dine on the open terrace, yet the room is quite noisy. It should be noted that for dinner all drinks are paid, including regular water (except tea), but the prices are reasonable. A glass of dry wine from 9.90 kunas per 100 ml. Juice - 23 kunas for 200 ml (it's a little expensive). On the menu table, the waiter takes the order, pays in cash or by card or writes to the number.
There is no "all inclusive" system in the hotel. You can dine in an a la carte restaurant (expensive, dishes from 150 kunas), in a snack bar by the pool or by the sea, or in many restaurants with very affordable prices on the shopping street (very close to the hotel). On average, a hearty lunch for two (without alcohol) will cost 200 kunas (+/-).
The hotel features indoor and outdoor pools. They are not big, but, again, there was enough space for everyone. We went swimming in the pools a couple of times, but it is very noisy there, there are a lot of children, and in general, we came to swim in the sea, and not to splash in the pool.
Excursions.
Because during our stay there was an atypical heat for this region (+36 - +39), we took only one excursion - Montenegro Blue for the whole day (470 kunas / person with lunch). We left the hotel at 7 am, returned at 20:00 (in the department we pre-ordered dry rations, because we didn’t have time for breakfast, breakfast from 7 am). Because along the way, we stopped by for vacationers in other hotels, then we were on the border with Montenegro at about 10 in the morning. The 50-seater bus was completely filled. The tour was almost along the entire coast of the Bay of Kotor and to Budva with stops in Perast (with a visit to the island and the Orthodox Church on it), Kotor and Budva, respectively. The guide all the way told interesting facts about the country, about the area where we were passing, but when we found ourselves in the cities of Kotor and Budva, we were simply dropped off the bus and given free time, i. e. as such, there were no more excursions in these cities (somehow strange)! It was very hot, and therefore it was very difficult to spend 1.5 hours in Kotor and 2.5 hours in Budva of free time on the street in the middle of the day. This is probably why this excursion seemed very tiring to us and we didn’t go far anywhere else.
To the center of Dubrovnik (Old Town) 10 minutes by city bus number 6. The final stop is a 5-minute walk from the hotel, near the Valamar President Hotel. The bus runs very often and until one in the morning. The fare is 15 kunas/ticket from the driver or 12 kunas/ticket at the soyuzpechat kiosk right in our hotel in the lobby (they call it TISAK). The second bus stop is 100 meters from the hotel entrance to the right and slightly up. We didn’t take an excursion to Dubrovnik, it didn’t make sense, because. everything is described in detail in the guidebooks, and it is more pleasant to wander around the old city on your own.
By chance, on the way to the beach, at the bus stop, we noticed the Open Tour Dubrovnik tourist bus with audio guides in many languages, including Russian. Such a bus runs along a certain route, and at a certain time drives up to our stop and takes 1.5 hours to different parts of Dubrovnik, including 2 stops for photo breaks in places where very beautiful views open up. Such a tour costs 50 kunas / person. We enjoyed riding it.
They also climbed the fortress wall of the Old City themselves and went around it all around the perimeter (70 kunas / person). We ourselves went to the top of Mount Srd by funicular - a beautiful view of Dubrovnik opens (87 kunas / person in both directions).
In addition, we walked a lot just around the city in the evenings, since the bus service is very good. We tried to shop, but were very surprised that there were no shopping malls in Dubrovnik, but only small shops in the Old Town and a couple of weak shopping centers (it’s hard to even call them as such) within the city.
Conclusion - we had a very good rest!
The price of questions for two is 3400 euros + with you for entertainment, etc. 350 euros.
There will be questions, please contact.
Our travel agent advised the Croatian network Valamar. . . We decided to go to Lakroma, because, according to the travel agent, this hotel is newer than the President. . . Not a day later we regretted the choice. . . I will add that we went with a small child 1.5 years old and didn't feel any discomfort.
The room is large, bright, the furniture is modern, new... The bathroom is also large, freshly renovated with good sanitary ware. The room had free internet.
For the child, they immediately brought a crib, and at our request they freed the refrigerator from the mini bar so that we could store baby food in it.
The restaurant is large, there were no problems with places... The service is excellent, the tables nearby are cleaned imperceptibly and quietly. The food is varied, a lot of fresh fruits, vegetables, a large selection of cheeses... We constantly cooked fish for dinner... Hot drinks are free, and alcohol is paid.
Every evening we went to the center of Dubrovnik by bus, which departs from the President Hotel, very convenient.
The beach is located next to the President Hotel. . . The beach is pebbly, clean. . . I was afraid that the child would be hard and bored on the pebble beach. . . And I was wrong. . . My daughter constantly played with pebbles and the pebbles did not cause any inconvenience. . . Water in the sea the cleanest of them is very warm, 26 degrees... The child constantly swam, although at home in Odessa you cannot drag her into the sea.
We had a great rest... Definitely we will come to Croatia again and I will not reinvent the wheel, but I will go with my family to Valomar Lakroma again.
But... the hotel is located on the second (or maybe third? ) line, it's 300 meters to the sea! And no one in the travel agency warned us. For 10 days of rest, I got tired of walking back and forth. especially after swimming in the sea. And given that we always rest in hotels located by the sea with their own private beach. And here - go 300 meters and the beach is designed for two hotels - Lakroma and Valamar Dubrovnik President (they are part of the same system).
The water is cold but clean, the entrance is terrible! Without special shoes (they sell them everywhere), there is nothing to do there, you just won’t reach the water. Around the pebbles and very slippery. We went to the city beach, there is at least some semblance of sand, but the sun loungers are paid and a lot of people.
In general, for a change, you should go to Croatia at least once. And it is very comfortable there for people who cannot stand the heat and moisture of Antalya and Hainan. The climate in Croatia is mild, there is no super-humidity, and there is no particular heat. Old Dubrovnik is very beautiful, reminiscent of Venice, not without reason Italy is next door.
The rooms in the hotel are just class! We had a balcony with a sea view. It's great to wake up, open your eyes, and outside the window - the sea. The room has air conditioning, an ironing board, an iron, an electric kettle. Live music played under our windows in the evenings: rock, instrumental, and national. For the first two days, she made it very difficult to sleep, but then she fell asleep so well that they bought CDs with national music and songs at home. Therefore, if you go to bed earlier than 22-23 hours local time (+2 hours from Moscow), when when buying a tour, ask that your room does not go out to the central gallery (just if the weather is bad, then live music evenings are arranged in the hotel, just again under the same numbers, and since the soundproofing from the side of the door is also not very good, the last two nights slept badly again). These are the only disadvantages of our holiday. We rested with friends, their room was not on the central gallery, it's quiet there.
Restaurant. The kitchen in the hotel is beyond praise, as a result, recovered by 3 kg. I just wanted to try everything. For breakfast, we took freshly squeezed pineapple juice, pieces of pineapple, watermelon, melon, kiwi, etc. Croissants are so tender and tasty that when you return home you don’t want to buy them here. Italian cuisine, a vegetarian table, dairy products, a lot sea fish, various cuts, pastries, etc. , I think everyone will find what he likes best. All hot dishes are prepared in your presence. We started dinner with meat broth, which, you see, is very good for digestion.
SPA. You need to book a massage in advance, we didn’t know, unfortunately we didn’t get it. But every day we visited saunas: hammam, Finnish sauna, infrared sauna, relaxation rooms. There is a gym, outdoor and indoor pools. Therefore, if the weather deteriorates, you can have fun without leaving the hotel.
Separately, I would like to thank the staff. Well, if you speak English, then you will be understood without problems. Our knowledge is at the level of the school. We had to explain literally on our hands, but we were always understood, helped and advised.
Bus number 6 runs to the Old Town every 10-15 minutes. The fare costs 10 kunas (1 kuna is about 5.7 rubles). On a ticket purchased on the bus, you can travel again within an hour from the moment it is activated. The fish and food market is located next to the port of Grush, this is the fifth stop from the hotel. You have to go to the Old Town to the final stop. If you are interested in seeing other streets of Dubrovnik, you can take bus number 7 from the President Hotel.