Grand Villa Argentina

Very nice resort hotel within friendly and attentive staff. Well located, ＜10 mins walk to the Dubrovnik old town. Well appointed room (although a bit old). Very nice dinner and breakfast area overlooking the coast and the old town. If you leave the hotel early in the morning and miss the breakfast, you can even preorder a breakfast box for free and pick up at the front desk when you leave. And most importantly, it features a very nice swimming pool right under the cliff and next to sea water, with easy access via elevator.

Firstly, there are some very good points to this hotel, in particular its location close to Old Dubrovnik and views of the sea from public rooms. However, you should insist for sea view, otherwise you could be looking at a concrete wall, car park and a very very busy road, so buy some ear plugs. Do not accept a room on 7th floor with an even number. Check in was poor with lack of advice and hardly a warm welcome, although some staff were delightful and helpful around beach cafe/restaurant area. They need to move to the front desk. Our room was small and tired, lacking attention to detail with stained carpet, mould around sink and scuffed walls, but you do get a chocolate at bedtime on the first night! The rooms are looking tired and carpets looking threadbare and faded. Cleaning of room is also well below standard you would expect of 3* hotel, never mind 5*. We put in a complaint to our tour operator, who were fabulous and dealt with our concerns. We got moved to a quieter room promptly and the young porter was great. There are some lovely staff here, and some who need a course in people skills. I think management need to manage better and monitor where there is a lack of attention and quality of service, otherwise staff can not improve. Gym facilities very limited, tired and poorly maintained. Jacuzzi out of action all week. This was our first visit to Croatia and we will be back, but sadly not to this hotel. We are feeling slightly bruised, as we thought that by selecting one of the high end hotels in Dubrovnik, we were in for a 5* treat. I have stayed in nicer 3* hotels. Sorry Argentina, you must do better than this!

We stayed a week in a deluxe room, in the newer part of the hotel with a balcony and sea view. The room was spacious and in the main well equipped, the bathroom similar and clean but just a little tired, some discoloured and cracked sealant around the shower screen. The bed was large and comfy and daily room servicing excellent. Our room had spectactular views over the Adriatic towards Lokrum Island and Dubrovnik to the side, great sunsets. The breakfast was very good with a wide choice and helpful staff if we wanted anything made particularly, we had omelletes to order a couple of times. I have celiac disease so I eat a gluten free diet and was pleased to find a dedicated gluten free table with various cereals, a fresh loaf of bread, sweet breads and cakes. All gluten free and well stocked every day. Added to the already gluten free options it provided a wide choice. The outside pool area and access to swim in the sea (its deep mind) is very good. Really helpful staff and always a couple of free sunbeds. There is an excellent terrace restaurant, great for lunch, that also provides a poolside service. The gardens are a surprise and worth exploring, they stretch across the neighbouring hotels with lots of quiet spots to relax. Overall I really liked this hotel, I can see why some feel it may not be true 5 star but it has charm, the staff in my experience were excellent and the gripes are small ones. So to the gripes, there was no coffee or tea making facility in our room, there was a door stop positioned behind the bathroom door but directly in front of the toilet so you needed to be constantly aware of it or put a towel over it to protect your toes particularly in the middle of the night. The service in the piano bar in the evenings was at times painfully slow and out of keeping with the breakfast team. I would definitely stay again if I could and would recommend the Grand Villa Argentina.