Villa Ragusa

Pero, the owner of these extremely comfortable, clean, fresh and nicely renovated apartments, inside the walls of Old Dubrovnik, is an outstanding host ! He picked us up from a nearby town and drove us to Villa Ragusa; provided us with maps, suggestions on where to go, what to see and patiently answered all our questions about local history and his time in the Croatian army etc. Due to a prior booking we had to move out of the apartment one night and Pero found us alternate accommodation nearby - even moving our (too!) heavy luggage for us while we spent the day out and about beautiful Dubrovnik. We emphatically recommend this delightful apartment and its remarkable host. Pero would have to be the nicest man in Dubrovnik !!

Villa Ragusa is centrally located in the old section of Dubrovnik. The rooms are clean and nicely kept. My friend and I stayed in the single rooms with a shared bathroom. They are quite small but were perfect for our needs. The owner, Pero, could not have been more friendly and accomodating. He was very responsive to my initial e-mails in setting up the reservation. He picked us up at the airport (for a reasonable fee) and offered us a couple shots of Grappa before we went our way into town. We saw him a few times over the next few days (he doesn't live on the hotel premises but apparently spends a lot of time there and in going back and forth from the airport picking up guests). He always had a cheerful smile and a willingness to help us in any way to make our stay a pleasant one. I would definitely recommend Villa Ragusa. However, note that there is no elevator in this 600 year old building and it is also located near the top of a hill so it is a steep climb up many stone steps to get there from the main part of old town Dubrovnik.

The V&P Club Villa Ragusa in the old city of Dubrovnik is excellent! I stayed there for a week with a friend, we had a room each on the 2nd floor and shared a bathroom. Email communication from Pero (the owner) was quick and helpful. Pero even picked us up from the airport, about 25 mins drive away for 200 kune.

The house itself has 5 rooms, penthouse flat is 3rd floor, the 2 small but very clean and comfortable rooms for myself and my friend's room (both with TV) was 2nd floor, and I believe the double rooms on 1st and ground floor were both en-suite.

Villa Ragusa is very quiet at night and I slept very soundly every night I was there. There are the bells from nearby church and also dawn chorus of birds that may wake you but you'll soon nod off again in the comfortable beds :-)

No B&B but Pero has an agreement with the excellent Dubrova cafe that's 2 mins walk down the steps that's 60 kune (approx 8 euro?). I'd personally recommend the ham & eggs with bread and also fresh orange juice and superb milk coffee (latte).

Word of warning for elderly or unfit tourists is that the steps from main street up to the house would possibly be an issue although it didn't bother me. There is a longer walk around the back of the house, near the Ploce gate and you could get to the main street that way but it's 10-15 mins causual walk versus 2 mins energetic climb!

Very briefly, Dubrovnik is a fascinating and wonderful city. Very clean, very safe, lots to see, great place to people watch, the food was excellent in all the restaurants we ate in, Bars were OK too, the local beer was generally fairly good. You must make the effort and do a couple of bus trips or hire a car to visit Mostar in Bosnia (3 hours away) but be careful of dodgy Bosnian Police and their setups that are aimed to trap tourists (luckily we finally got off without paying a fine/bribe) and Kotor Bay in Montenegro is worth visiting, so long as it's not raining!

The pebble beach 10 mins walk away is OK, the EastWest complex (part of a hotel) is definately worth spending a day at.

Suggest also you do the 'Dubrovnik at War' walk, very interesting. Worth also buying a book to find out the complexities of the dreadful war in the region that was still very recent (1991 was the siege of Dubrovnik, although most of the fighting didn't really finish in the Balkans until '95).

My fave place used to be the friendly 'House at the Big Boot' in Prague. Pero offers a very similar service but the whole expericence is just a bit better. So, number 1 for me is now Villa Ragusa at Durovnik with 'House at the Big Boot' in Prague in 2nd place :-)

As Pero drove myself and my friend back to the airport, he stopped off at a lovely harbour about 10 mins outside of Dubrovnik and bought us both a beer. Cool!

Thanks again Pero, I hope to return.

Mark

We very much enjoyed our recent stay at Villa Ragusa. The owner, Pero, met us at the airport, and we had an enjoyable conversation on the ride to Dubrovnik (like pretty much everyone else in Croatia, he speaks fluent English). Even though he was double parked, he took the time to share a drink of his homemade grappa and gave us an overview of what to do in the city.

The rooms are very nice, recently renovated, with A/C (VERY nice in August) and Sat TV. The rooms are centrally located, close to everything (Then again, the Old Town is very small). The rooms get cleaned every day (by his daughter), and she was even nice enough to fold the laundry we left on the line one morning (laundry places are hard to find, so we did some by hand).

Pero doesn't make breakfast anymore, but will give you tickets to local restaurants for 8 Euro.

Great place to stay, fair price, very nice, honest and helpful owner who clearly takes pride in his business.

I found this place in the Rick Steve's guide, and wow was I pleased! This place put all of the "4 star" hotels that I stayed at in other cities to shame!

I was lucky enough to get the large top floor double room. Be sure to request the top floor room when you book -- apparently it is the same price as the other two double rooms, but with these incredible views.

Although there are LOTS of stairs (inside and outside) it was well worth it. The views were amazing over the old city. Sunset was beautiful and I enjoyed the sounds of the city late into the evening.

The bed was comfortable, and although the bathroom was small it was quite adequate. The only english language station I could find was CNN -- but what was I doing watching TV anyways?

Pero was extremely friendly and thoughtful. My flight was late in the afternoon my last day and he allowed me to put my luggage in one of the single rooms so that I wouldn't have to drag it around with me. Definitely above and beyond what I expected.

Please be warned...if you are not in good shape, this place would be difficult -- to do anything involves climbing lots of steps and stairs.

I am a travel agent and will certainly recommend this place to my clients. And oh, did I mention the great views????????

We also found out about this unique place from Rick Steves. We stayed for three nights and were very pleased with our choice. The owner, Pero was extremely helpful. He met us at the airport the first night and then the next day retrieved our lost bags from the airport as well. Upon check in, he spent another 15 minutes with us giving us suggestions for our stay along with maps and brochures all over a shot of his mother's homemade Croatian brandy. Each afternoon as we returned from our touring he would meet us in his small lobby to discuss our day and our plans for the next day. If you get the chance I found Pero a very interesting history teacher as he relates some of his experiences serving in the Croatian army defending Dubrovnik.

We were able to get the top room apartment which was ideal although it required taking luggage up three flights of stairs. The view was tremendous of Old Dubrovnik out of the bedroom and bathroom windows.

If you want to stay in Old Dubrovnik, his location is ideal. It is very near one of the outer gates, the closest point that a taxi or car can access. Therefore luggage movement is fairly minimal in a city where everything is up and down with steep stairs.

We took side day trips to Mostar and Kotor renting a car. Parking overnight near the Old Town can be a problem however so try to minimize car rental overnights.

Dubrovnik is beautiful and we would go back here and stay with hospitable Pero in a heartbeat!

Your accommodation search in Dubrovnik should begin and end here. Taken from a Rick Steves suggestion, this cozy villa didn't disappoint. With 5 or so rooms, it likely fills up quick, but we were able to get two single rooms for EUR30 each, an amazing value given the price of hotels in and around the old town. The location is by Buza (sp) gate and is a short 1 minute walk downhill to the main street.

Pero picked us up at the airport (30 EUR/ 4 person), and gave us the lowdown of the beautiful city over a small glass of either Grappa or a ameretto-style drink made from his grandmother's recipe. His home is over 600 years old, but was refurbished after the Serb invasion and has what you need for a comfortable stay. There is no breakfast, but we joined him at a coffee shop for a latte and chocolate croissant on the main strip. On the back-end of our trip to Croatia, we had one last night in Dubrovnik and since he was full, opted for another Rick Steves choice, Villa-San, who gave away our room after confirming our reservation. Pero wouldn't consider this and we are thankful to have stayed here. Oh yeah, he also gave us a ride to the car rental place the following morning. THANKS PERO!!!!

Great stay, Pero is very charming and we had a lovely room at the apartment. Very clean, nice bathrooms, airconditiong. Pero also took us to the airport, which was a bonus to be able to talk about the history of dubrovnik. We will be back!