We are looking for a studio or 1 bedroom apartment in or very near to Old Town Dubrovnik in May 2009. Cost preferably is less than 150 euros/night. We need a nonsmoking apartment and no or minimal internal and external stairs. I have spent many hours looking at websites but am not finding lodging without stairs. Do the Fodorites knnow of any apartments that meet our criteria? Thanks!

It's going to be difficult but not impossible, as often people live on the bottom floor and convert upper floors to apartments.
I think your best bet is to contact a tourist office or accommodation service and specify your needs, surely someone will eventually be able to book you in a ground floor apartment (probably better off inside old town)--good luck!

Definitely! We've stayed in a few but our favourite is under 2 block from the old town, no stairs, and is an apartment. The cost is only 50 euros and it includes A/C. There is one double bedroom downtstairs and another cute little one up on a little loft.

It is in a nice and quiet location in a courtyard, probably less than half a block off the street. It is very close to the water - there are a couple of doors the owner will show you that you go through that lead to a little cove.

The owner lives in a different building but is very kind, speaks quite a bit of English, etc.

It is "Dubrovnik Dream". We stay in the Ragusa Suite. We've stayed there May and September and October.

We stayed at the Villa Adriatica in Dubrovnik for three nights in late 06 and loved it. It's literally about one minute walk from Ploce gate (the quieter gate). The only stairs are the four or so stairs going up to the main door and the six or so stairs going up to the second floor (you enter into a split level, with the living room and kitchen downstairs). The best feature of this place is the amazing views. There is a large, shared balcony that affords spectacular views of the coast and Dubrovnik. The room itself was nice and cozy.

Villa Adriatica is not really an apartment but kind of a b&b, but very private. The owners live next door, and there are only three rooms all of which can share the living room and kitchen. They have a darling dog and cat that live outside and will greet you if show interest.

http://www.dubrovnik-online.com/villa_adriatica/. I also have pictures at www.kodakgallery.com/tracybates. Just pan down until you get to the Croatia album and you will see pics of the room and views.

Tracy

Thank you travel2live. I contacted Apartment Ragusa and it is already booked for May 2009. We are hoping to reserve Apartment Mediterean - also through Dubrovnik Dream. Do you know about that one? Are the stairs as minimal as Rugusa?

tcreath - I loved your pictures of Croatia! I had considered Villa Adriatica but wondered about the smoking there. We are looking for nonsmoking. What was your impression?

macinpv, thank you! We are definitely not photographers, but Croatia is so beautiful it's hard to not take impressive pictures!

We are not smokers and don't like being in smoky rooms. I can usually tell a smoking room as soon as I walk in it, but I honestly don't recall any smoky smell or evidence of smoking in the room. However, as we were there during off-peak season I'm not sure how long the room sat empty before we had it. You may want to ask the owners about it, or create a separate post here asking fodorites about it. I found this place through recommedations on this board, so I know several fodorites have stayed there.

Good luck and best wishes!
Tracy

Hi! Sorry but I am not familiar with Apt Med. If it is with the same guy it should be good. He is a young energetic and intelligent guy so I would be surprised if he had anything substandard.

Too bad about Apt Ragusa - perhaps next time!

I am so with you on the smoking thing. We have many accommodation criteria and that is definitely one of them. We also love to sit and eat outside at restaurants if seating is available for the same reason.

macinpv, we stayed in room 1 at Villa Adriatica in late April.

We did not notice a smoky smell to the room and I'm particularly sensitive to that. I do not recall any ashtrays in the room but did see them on the tables on the terrace right outside the room.

We were fortunate, I guess, as the others rooms did not seem to be occupied by smokers.

Another vote for Villa Adriatica. We stayed in Sept 07 and loved it. It was so close to everything and had tons of character. Plus the views from the terrace were incredible- postcard perfect views over the old harbor.

We stayed at Rooms Benussi (Jandranka), which are right up from the Hilton, a short distance from Old Town and was fabulous. If you need to drive to the apartment, this is not the place for you. We stayed on the second floor, which had about a dozen steps, maximum. She also had another unit that may not have had any steps. I highly recommend these rooms.

Rooms Benussi does look great! I think I will have to look into it next time we go to Dubrovnik. The location looks perfect.

Wow! Great information from everyone! We have booked with Denis at Apartment Mediterean (Dubrovnik Dream). I will let folks know how it was. Good to hear that the smoking smell is not a big issue in these accommodations! Now on to Split/Trogir - any lodging suggestions? We will have a car so need free parking...same criteria apply - not too many stairs, no smoking, air conditioned...breakfast would be nice but not a "must have."
Thanks!

Cool - I think you will like Dubrovnik Dream. I have not seen the Med Apt. but should be good.

Although I have stayed at Trogir they are not places I would recommend. Actually we've stayed outside of Trogir but far too close to the airport - insanely loud. The place we stayed at last was an apartment about 50 feet from the sea which was lovely (we snorkeled and stuff) but could not recommend it because the noise was absolutely deafening. Others will have great recommendations I would guess.

Cannot wait to hear details about your trip!

We stayed at Villa Pape in Trogir and were very pleased. We had a large ground floor apartment that was very cozy. Our view was amazing. The apartment is actually on the island of Ciovo, directly behind Trogir, but it was a short 2 minute drive. We had a hard time finding anything we liked within the city walls of Trogir. Here is the clip from my trip report:

Our base for the night was Trogir, and I was very glad we chose it over Split. Trogir is a beautiful town in a picturesque setting. We booked Villa Pape (http://www.villa-pape.com/) for one night. We had originally booked a regular room, but we found out later on that the owners don't actually live in Trogir; they live in Split and it was easier for them to just put us in the ground floor apartment for the one night. It took some doing to find the apartment, located high in the hills of the small island of Ciovo, located behind Trogir. Still, it was worth it because the owners were delightful. The place was also quite nice; we had a beautiful terrace with picture-perfect views of the coastline, a kitchen, bathroom and very comfortable bedroom. We made arrangments to pay for breakfast for the next morning and fell into a much-needed rest before leaving for dinner.

We headed over to the small "tavern" that Villa Pape uses as their breakfast room. The owners had a scrumptious breakfast for us that included a delicious assortment of breads, cold meats, cheeses, yogurts and fruit, along with made to order eggs, coffee, a selection of teas and fresh-squeezed orange juice. All of this for 5 euro! But the best part was spending the next few hours chatting to the owners, who are darling. We discussed US and foreign politics, the recent war and how it still affects the relationships of the countries involved, and even the US's lack of a decent maternity leave! All in all it was a perfect morning and we learned more about Croatia from those two hours than we had reading up on the history before we left. We ended up leaving later than anticipated but decided that it was more than worth it. We will definitely stay here again.

Tracy

"We stayed at Rooms Benussi (Jandranka)"

We stayed here a few weeks ago (two apartments). Perfect location (about two blocks up from the Pile Gate). Quiet and there is air conditioning. Jadranka is a great host and she had some wine with us on the patio that overlooks the Adriatic. I highly recommend her apartments.

I can highly recommend Hotel Pasike in Trogir. I stayed there 10/06. I'm not sure about parking because it is right in the Old Town and there are no cars there, but they might have a lot somewhere. They do provide free transport to the airport and their buffet breakfast was quite good. They also have a restaurant which is just across the small alley from the hotel. Very helpful, friendly staff. Have a wonderful time in Croatia!!

Don't worry about parking if you stay in Trogir Old Town.

There is a large car park right behind the Old Town walls, across a canal. You can walk from there to the seafront in less than 5 minutes. It is just off the main road that loops round, and while you do have to pay it is not expensive. It is close to the market in the mornings.

I stayed in a sobe which was adequate, but nothing to rave about and it was up some narrow winding stairs so probably not suitable for you anyway.

Fodorites thank you again for your suggestions! We are planning the Trogir/Split portion of our trip and will be relying on your tips for lodging and etc. Have just finalized "miles" tickets and will stay two extra days in Croatia because of the apparently decreased availability of award travel...or, as one agent noted - more people are traveling to Europe next Spring - does this mean something about the strength of the $ vs. Euro? I am so happy! With 12 full days in Croatia we can make it to Plitvice as we wander our way toward Zagreb for a flight back to Heathrow on the way home! Thanks to everyone! I will post more questions as we get further into the planning!

We got back from Croatia a month ago. We stayed in Apartments Placa Dubrovnik in Gundulic Square, and loved it. I would highly recommend it. Great location, hosts, and clean apartment. We stayed on the top floor, which was a bit of a hike up the stairs. It was 80 euros per night, and included transfer from the airport.

There are many apartments in Stari Grad without too many stairs. The very best source for finding a place is:

www.dubrovnikapartmentsource.com

Michelle and Andrew know all their units very well and the site is up to date.

No need to search any longer, spend your time doing research on what you want to see while your here.

Dobrodosli
An American in Dubrovnik