Sun Gardens Dubrovnik

I stayed here with my family for 8 nights in September. The hotel itself looks lovely and we had a great sea view from our balcony. I cannot fault the suite we had and the walkways and pool areas look beautiful. However, apart from this, the holiday was a let down. Mainly because the service from restaurant staff was awful. I have been to 3* and 4* hotels that had much better service than this. I was honestly shocked and became very frustrated by the end of our stay. We were staying half board and really struggled to find a table for breakfast or dinner (there was only 3 of us, so not a large party). The whole lay out of the restaurant was overcrowded and we had to ask 3 different staff members one morning for some milk for our coffee.. They didn’t seem to care. No manners at all. Seems like a small inconvenience but when it’s happening every day of your stay it’s just not acceptable. For that reason we would unfortunately not return and would not recommend this hotel.

We stayed here on a self-catering Jet2 Indulgent Escapes holiday over the school half-term holiday and were given an apartment at the top level by the sports centre. When booking we were led to believe that there was a mini-market on site for self-catering supplies. Sadly, it had closed some weeks earlier (along with most of the restaurants, pools, childrens' facilities etc). After spending an hour or so searching for it, we went to reception to speak to the manager. He was apologetic and professional and gave us a free buffet breakfast and the use of a hotel car for a single trip to a local market for supplies. This was a big help, but the lack of a shop on-site was rather limiting. On one occasion we opted to have a buffet dinner in the hotel, which was very expensive, especially given that the food was so poor with such limited choice. Now, I understand that it was end of season (the hotel was due to close the next day), but this was not a 5-star Indulgent Escape quality experience. The breakfast buffet on the other hand, was very good. We found it better value to take an Uber into Dubrovnik, have a wonderful meal and drinks in the old city and then Uber back, than to eat at the hotel. Our apartment was excellent, with loads of space and quite nice sea view. There was a large screen TV, but almost nothing in English apart from Youtube and PPV movies. The sports centre was a great facility right outside our door and we used it a lot for football, squash and pool. I found the staff there to be especially friendly and helpful, and happy to chat and joke. Generally speaking, the staff tended to be at worst polite and efficient, and at best friendly and warm. Overall, I was very impressed with them. I have read a few reviews of rude staff, but honestly, that wasn't my experience. My son is 10 and he was treated very well and with respect and he enjoyed that. A few things to keep in mind. If you are travelling here early or late season, double-check to see if the facilities you want on-site are actually available. The resort was like a ghost town on our last two days and not so pleasant. If you have mobility challenges, please be aware that there are a LOT of steep steps and steep ramps. The hotel has some little buggies, so it's worth asking if they will pick you up and take you to the beach etc. The beach is a pebble beach, which is not to everyone's liking and very tricky to walk on to get to the water. TBH, the above applies to lots of places in the region, so it's worth bearing in mind. Outside the main entrance is a lovely little bakery, and well worth popping in for snacks or packed lunch for a day out. The hotel has a little shuttle boat that takes you into Dubrovnik. Even if you only do it once, you must do it; it's such a lovely journey. I am not sure if I would stay here again if I went at this time of year, but I would be happy to recommend this hotel with caveats.