Valamar Lacroma Dubrovnik

I would like to warmly thank all the hotel staff for the excellent support and assistance during our stay. My husband suddenly fell ill and his response was exceptional. He was prompt, discreet, substantial, but still very humane. He helped us with everything we needed, showing real interest and understanding, which made such a difficult situation much more manageable. It is not only a wonderful, clean hotel with very nice rooms and wonderful food, but it also has wonderful people, distinguished by humanity, something rare these days. I also thank the wonderful girls at the reception. I don't know the names of Dubravna alone. Also. all the restaurant staff and especially Mariza. With appreciation, Doxa Zisimatos.

This is a beautiful hotel, about 30 mins walk from the town of Lapad and about 10 mins taxi ride from Old Town. Breakfast was fantastic, so much choice.

This hotel was extremely disappointing, and did NOT feel like a 4 star hotel at all. It was a really mixed experience. The positives: 1. The staff were really lovely and very friendly. 2. Location was pretty decent, not far from old town but in an area that felt relatively quieter and very safe. Also close to the beach but be warned, it's an incredibly steep walk. It was nice to be near to the promenade with some small shops and restaurants. 3. Gym was well equipped, and the only place you can get free water! The negatives: 1. The room appeared clean but it was insanely dusty. My family and I were coughing and sneezing and had itchy eyes the WHOLE time we were there. We were all instantly fine as soon as we left. The beds were also quite uncomfortable. 2. The restaurant. Only one restaurant was open while we were there, and the food was mediocre and samey. Also very unimpressed that a 4 star hotel keeps trying to fleece us out of 5 euros at every turn by charging for water at dinner (despite paying for half board) and for the fresh juice at breakfast. Also we left the restaurant every single meal smelling like grease and grilled meat. 3. Be warned to anyone who is looking to go at Easter - the place was FULL of school trips, and in particular groups of teenage polo players. This was a huge problem at mealtimes. They absolutely descended on the food, didn't know how to queue, and on several occasions I had to fight these teenage boys in order to try and get food for my 5 year old daughter. The restaurant was clearly not prepared for this and it took AGES for the food to be replaced, if it was replaced at all. One day we arrived at breakfast after the teenage boys had been, but an hour before breakfast closed - the restaurant just didnt bother replacing the scrambled eggs so there were none left. This is really poor. This really was NOT a 4 star experience and we have stayed at plenty of nice hotels. Really disappointing experience and we certainly won't return.

An overall disappointing stay with multiple frustrating issues. For starters, we didn’t actually book this hotel, but the Valamar Argosy which turned out to not be opening for the season for another two weeks despite being available to book during our holiday dates. We were moved to this hotel. I think our main problem with this hotel is that many aspects of this hotel are not four stars. Firstly, the rooms. Unless you are staying in the superior rooms, the rooms are very old fashioned & dated. All the rooms are carpeted with brown carpet and the decor is very basic. The rooms were reminiscent of office blocks from the 1990s, and not a four star hotel. Also none of the bedding actually fit the beds, meaning the bare mattress was visible at all times which isn’t the most hygienic. We had to move rooms as our first room had multiple ants around the fridge & desk area. The temperature of the rooms is also a problem, the thermostat is controlled by reception and you could only change the temperature between 21 & 24 degrees. If you wanted it lower, you had to speak to reception. We found the lowest temperature far too hot, and found the most bearable solution to have the windows open permanently. The lobby & restaurant are renovated and modern, but the rooms simply do not match. The surroundings of the hotel are also not the best. Considering the whole area is made up of Valamar hotels, when walking between them you come across piles of dirt, abandoned construction and very poorly parked cars. I think the hotel could do a lot to improve upon this aspect and make the paths connecting the hotels a lot more pleasant to walk. We also found the buffet to be very average. The food was practically the same every single day with very minor changes. At breakfast, it was the same every day. Even the fruit never changed. The juice at breakfast was not actual fruit juice but a sort of very sweet cordial mix. I think the most frustrating thing we found at dinner was the drinks situation. Even on half board, you had to pay for water, and at €5.40 for 0.75 litres, it’s an extortionate mark up by the hotel. You could buy the same brand of water at the supermarket which was 90 cents for 1.5 litres. The soft drinks were even more expensive at €5 for 200ml of orange juice. The hotel would also turn off the water taps which were available at breakfast during dinner time so you had to buy their water. We ended up bringing our own water bottles to dinner which you can fill up for free in the gym. The general ambiance at meal times was loud and chaotic & not at all relaxing. We found ourselves wanting to be in and out as soon as possible. We also received no warning from the hotel that they would be hosting teams from the junior water polo competition happening nearby. This meant there were around 30 boys between about 10-14 years old pretty much unaccompanied walking around the hotel. They were very disruptive to the other guests, but nothing was really done about it. They were very loud during the day and at night, shouting from their balconies, and at the buffet they would block the serving stations and shout across the room at each other. They would also sit on the terrace at the bar playing songs and videos from their phones on full volume. Nobody seemed to correct their behaviour once. They really ruined the later part of our trip for us. All in all, it didn’t feel like a four star hotel to us. The staff at the front desk were helpful when you reported a problem but none of the other staff were particularly friendly.

We spent 7 nights at this hotel for October half term. The hotel was nice and it was lovely to have access to the spa and indoor pool. The pool was closed for a couple of days but a pool at a nearby hotel was available if required. The half board buffet restaurant was good, sometimes crowded if there was a tour group staying or when the conference was in but we all found nice things to eat and as a vegetarian I found there to be a lot better choice than most hotels I've stayed in. The only negative was the breakfast 'juices' as they were all a strange cordial rather than fresh juice. Our room was quite small with the fold out bed in, and the bedding didn't fit the bed but it seemed clean and was serviced daily. There was a strange smell at the front of the hotel so we couldn't keep the balcony door open. There was a safe, kettle and fridge available as well as robes and slippers. Our son loved Maro World. It was great for him to spend an hour or two there before dinner. The hotel was well located for the bus to the old town or for walks along the coast or river.