After our time away from central Dubrovnik, we moved closer to the more touristy areas, and stayed at Hotel Excelsior Dubrovnik. Our first stop in Croatia was at the Sheraton Dubrovnik Riviera, and I also explored some unexpected former hotels at the Kupari Complex. We then moved to the Hotel Excelsior, and focused our time near the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Old City Dubrovnik. I am definitely a fan of the Game of Thrones series, and the books they are based on. But I was most excited to visit Dubrovnik without the huge crowds that seem to descend on the city much of the year.
We were very fortunate to not experience crowding at all. Croatia has mostly remained open to tourism, but during our visit, it is far from the typical rush of people as in recent years. No cruise ships is probably the largest difference during our stay vs. most other recent times during the summer months. I wanted to use some of my Hyatt points for this trip, and one benefit of the partnership between Small Luxury Hotels of the world (SLH) and Hyatt is that Hyatt’s relatively limited footprint in Europe is expanded. Hotel Excelsior is a member of Adriatic Luxury Hotels, and part of SLH. We used Hyatt points for our stay here. Not cheap at 30,000 points per night, but I was happy to use that instead of paying over €400.
Hotel Excelsior Dubrovnik – Superior room partial sea view
We booked an uber from the Sheraton to the Excelsior. It was maybe a 15 minute ride, much of that navigating the one way streets of Dubrovnik to get to the hotel. While I hold Hyatt Globalist status, that doesn’t provide any additional benefit at SLH properties. Suite upgrades can not be used at SLH hotels.
No benefits based on Hyatt status, but all stays booked at SLH through Hyatt channels get free wifi and free breakfast. Plus, early check in and late check out, both subject to availability, so not sure how much of a benefit this truly is. Finally, a one category upgrade at checkin, also if available. For us, we got a slight upgrade, to a room with a partial sea view. Even this minor upgrade from a base room is appreciated. We weren’t here to hang out in our room anyway, so this was perfectly fine for our needs.
Our room again had a rollaway bed already in place. There is also a pole in the middle of the room, presumably structural support. The room is small, but again, other than sleeping, we didn’t’ spend much time here, so no issue. I’m just spoiled, and used to getting frequent room upgrades, often to suites, so this is noticeably different, especially with 3 of us in the room.
While the room is small, and the view is limited, the bathroom is spacious and high quality. Double sinks, large bathtub and a nice glass shower with rainfall shower head.
Hotel Excelsior Dubrovnik – public areas
Overall, the hotel is lovely, as is the staff. We had a welcome cocktail overlooking the sea and the Old City shortly after arrival, and enjoyed excellent breakfast each day of our stay. We also enjoyed the pool and ‘beach’.
There isn’t a sand beach at the hotel, rather just a deck covered with paving stones, and a roped off swimming area in the Adriatic sea. The sea is a bit chilly, but a refreshing dip was nice to cool off.
While nice to relax on the deck and cool off in the sea, my daughter much preferred the indoor pool. While it is more of a spa pool setup, it is large, with plenty of space. There were several other guests of all ages were enjoying it as well. I found it very pretty and relaxing. There are saunas and steam rooms, although these were closed due to COVID considerations during our visit.
Just upstairs from the pool is a small fitness center. I didn’t use the gym at all, rather got plenty of activity in walking all around Dubrovnik.
Other than our welcome drink, we only dined on property for breakfast. While there is indoor spaces for restaurants, seemingly everyone took advantage of the nice weather and beautiful views and dined outside.
Final thoughts
We quite enjoyed our time here. An easy 10 or so minute walk downhill into the Ploce gate of the Old City. This is definitely a high end hotel, and despite our small room, it is very well appointed, and service was excellent. Using this as our base for our time in Dubrovnik worked well, easy access to the touristy places we visited, and a lovely spot to relax and enjoy the beautiful seaside location. This was my first time at an SLH property since they became a partner with Hyatt. A more unique place than a more cookie cutter Hyatt Regency at some places, but that there are 2 properties in Dubrovnik really opens up some additional options in the otherwise meager Hyatt footprint in Europe. Have some Hyatt points and headed to Dubrovnik? I’d recommend checking out the Excelsior.
