My spouse and I stayed at the
Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik for four nights in late August 2016. We booked our
stay online using the Hilton website. A representative from the hotel contacted
us via email to offer assistance before our arrival, and she also welcomed us
personally during our stay. The Hilton holds 3 stars from Frommers, occupies a
place on Conde Nast’s hotel list, and is considered one of Croatia’s top five
hotels.
The Hilton Dubrovnik is
located outside of the Old Town walls near the Pile Gate. It is an easy
quarter-mile walk to Old Town; we crossed only one street using a pedestrian
crosswalk. Many shops and restaurants (both inside and outside of the historic
walls) are located within walking distance of the hotel, including two
convenience stores/small markets, a drugstore (which is not a pharmacy but
instead sells makeup, baby products, and so on), and an actual pharmacy (Friars
Minor inside the city walls at the old Franciscan Monastery). A public bus stop
is located near the city walls. The Hilton can arrange an airport transfer for
approximately $40 US, the cost of which can be added to your hotel bill. If you
drive yourself, underground parking is available for an additional charge of
approximately $28 USD per day.
The Hilton presents an
attractive yet imposing sight from the main street; it sets upon a small hill,
and its exterior is painted in a light pink color accented by dark green
shutters and gold ironwork balconies. The hotel, which opened in 1897, occupies
two conjoined historic buildings, therefore, it has some quirks to its layout.
For example, an inclined driveway with a roundabout leads to the front entrance
of the hotel, where you must climb a step to enter the lobby. From the lobby,
you can either climb a few stairs or take a very short elevator ride (the
elevator only travels between the lobby and floor 0) to reach the bar. To reach
the guestrooms, you must climb an additional few steps to reach elevators that
will take you to the first floor (which is not the ground floor nor floor 0)
through fourth floor guest rooms. Another elevator at the end of the hall takes
you to certain guestroom floors (although not the fourth, where the lounge is
located) as well as below to the main restaurant and the fitness center located
on the basement level.Hotel amenities include a restaurant, a large elegant lobby
bar (with some outdoor seating on the balcony), fitness center, indoor pool,
outdoor sundeck, spa, sauna, steam room, small lobby shop, and an executive
lounge.
The hotel offers 147 rooms and
suites in the categories king, king seaview, king executive, king executive
seaview, deluxe suite, deluxe sea view suite, and the presidential suite.
Suites vary in size from 460 to 570 square feet. We booked a deluxe suite
(without a seaview), which gave us access to the executive lounge (although as
Hilton HHonors diamond members, we would have had access anyway). We visited
the lounge on two mornings for breakfast, and on every evening of our stay for
the complimentary happy hour (which lasted from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm). Paula, the
lounge hostess/attendant, was friendly and adept at her job. We did not visit
the lounge during the day between breakfast and happy hour, so we cannot report
on food and beverage offerings between those times. The executive lounge is
located on the top floor of the hotel. Although it is one of the smaller international
lounges that we have visited, it offers superb views of the sea, the city
walls, and the St. Lawrence Fortress, particularly from its small balcony (with
about five tiny tables for two). Inside, you can sit at small square dining tables
with chairs, at lower round lounge tables with barrel chairs, or on a more
comfortable upholstered sofa or chairs. A television, reading materials, and
games are available, and you can enjoy drinks and snacks during the daily
evening reception. We did not think that the happy hour fare was hearty enough
for a meal replacement as we have found in other international clubs, but
conversely, we ate breakfast in the lounge on two mornings, and the light offerings
were just what we wanted. The buffet breakfast in the main dining room offers a
much more extensive meal, which we sampled on two other mornings. The large indoor
dining room (which includes a sunroom area) opens onto a lovely flagstone terrace
where you can enjoy a drink or a meal.
Our non-seaview suite
accommodations were disappointing in several ways. The door to our deluxe suite
did not operate properly. Once inside and settled for the evening, we could not
use the secondary door security latch, so we felt a bit unsettled. Our suite
was similar to a junior suite because we could not close off the living room
from the bedroom area with a door. Because of the strength and position of the
air-conditioning unit; our room never reached the temperature that we set, and
the vents pointed outward to the windows rather than towards either the bedroom
or the living room areas. The bedroom area had no windows, and consequently,
was dark even with all lights turned on. Our furnishings needed a refresh,
although it sounds like renovations may be occurring at the hotel. We thought
(incorrectly) that all suites featured a balcony, which ours did not. The suite
was fairly large, though, with the living room area offering a sofa and two
side chairs, a side table and a coffee table, and a piece of furniture that
held the mini-refrigerator below with a TV on top. A desk and chair was
positioned between the living and bedroom areas. The bedroom contained a
king-size bed with a nightstand on each side, and a duplicate piece of
furniture to the one in the living area that held the TV. The large bathroom
was accessed through the bedroom, with a combination bathtub/shower, long vanity,
and toilet. The hotel provides standard Hilton toiletries by Peter Thomas Roth,
including shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, and soap, as well as twice-daily
maid service.
Our stay at the Hilton was
fine, but next time we might try another equally well-located hotel.
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