Plan 1 night in Dubrovnik before your Croatia yacht charter. Boarding day goes better when you are already in town: a delayed flight has time to sort itself out, and you step aboard rested rather than rushed. Charters that start or end here board at Gruz harbor or the ACI marina at Komolac, up the Rijeka Dubrovacka from town, not at the old port below the walls. Most of the hotels below come off our brokers’ own shortlists. Starting in Split instead? See our Split hotel picks, and if you are still weighing the 2 cities, our Split vs Dubrovnik guide settles it.
Dubrovnik: Walls, Cliffs, or the Harbor Side
The hotel decision splits 3 ways: inside the walls for the atmosphere, on the cliffs either side of them for the sea, or out toward Lapad and Gruz to be near the yacht.
Hotel Excelsior Dubrovnik
Photo: dronepicr, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Excelsior is the grande dame. It grew out of a 1913 villa at Ploce, about 5 minutes on foot east of the old town gates, into a 158-room hotel with a private beach and views across to Lokrum and back at the walls. The guest book runs from Queen Elizabeth II to Elizabeth Taylor. If you want the classic Dubrovnik postcard from your balcony, this is it.
Villa Dubrovnik
Villa Dubrovnik is the hideaway. A 1961 modernist building set into the cliff at Sveti Jakov, a 15 to 20 minute walk east of the walls and a member of The Leading Hotels of the World, with the old town and Lokrum in view from the water side. It is the farthest of the city hotels from Gruz, so boarding day means a longer taxi ride; seclusion with the walls still in view is what you are buying.
Hotel Bellevue Dubrovnik
Photo: Tony Hisgett, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Bellevue is the one name that appears on both of our brokers’ Dubrovnik lists. The hotel is built into a 30 meter cliff above Miramare Bay, about 10 minutes from the old town, with 91 rooms that all face the sea, a glass elevator down to its own pebble cove, and a Michelin-recommended restaurant. Of the city hotels on this list, it is the closest to the Gruz side after Kazbek, which keeps the boarding-day run short.
The Pucic Palace
The Pucic Palace is the only hotel on this list inside the walls. A 17th-century Baroque palace on Gundulic Square with 19 rooms and suites named after Dubrovnik writers and artists. The old town is pedestrian, so luggage is portered in from the gate, worth knowing the night before a charter, and the reward is waking up on the market square inside a city most people only visit for the day.
Boutique Hotel Kazbek
Kazbek is the natural pick for charter guests. A Renaissance-era stone villa on Gruz Bay in Lapad with 13 rooms and a heated pool in the courtyard, and the closest hotel on this list to where the yachts board. The hotel keeps a speedboat at the marina in front for island runs, so the boat life can start a day early. The old town is about 10 minutes away by car.
Sun Gardens Dubrovnik
Sun Gardens is the resort and family option. A 22-hectare resort 11 km up the coast at Orasac, under The Leading Hotels of the World flag, with 201 sea-view rooms plus residences, 3 outdoor pools, its own beach, and the Elaphiti islands on the horizon. It is not walkable to town and does not try to be; for a family with a day to spend before boarding, the pools beat the queue for the city walls.
1 Night Ashore, 7 Nights Afloat
Book the room for 1 night and the yacht for the week. Many of our best weeks run one way between the 2 cities, like our 7-day Split to Dubrovnik itinerary, which works just as well sailed north. If the budget question comes first, our guide to what a Croatia yacht charter costs is the place to start. Then tell us who is traveling and when, and we will send a shortlist of yachts that fit, transfers from any hotel on this page included.
People also ask
How many nights should we stay before a Croatia yacht charter?
1 night before boarding is the standard we recommend, and 2 if you are flying in from North America or connecting through 2 airports. The margin is the point: bags have time to catch up, and you start the week rested instead of jet-lagged on deck. After the charter, a late flight out of Split or Dubrovnik usually works without an extra hotel night.
Where do Dubrovnik yacht charters actually start?
At Gruz harbor or the ACI marina at Komolac, a short drive up the inlet from town, not at the old port below the walls. Many weeks run one way between Dubrovnik and Split. Our guide to where Croatia charters actually start covers the bases in detail.
Should we stay near the marina or near the old town in Dubrovnik?
Near the old town, unless the boat comes first. The transfer to Gruz is a short taxi ride from the city hotels, so choose the hotel for the evening. The deliberate exceptions: Kazbek if you want the yachts next door on Gruz Bay, and Sun Gardens, a resort 11 km up the coast where the day before boarding belongs to the pools.
Can the crew arrange transfers from the hotel to the yacht?
Yes. Send us your flight and hotel details and the transfers get arranged in advance, airport to hotel and hotel to marina included. On a crewed charter the crew know your arrival time and are ready for you and your luggage, so there is no dragging bags along a quay looking for the right boat.
