Valamar Argosy Hotel

What a great hotel. Room was fantastic, friendly staff. Great breakfast and such a great atmosphere. The outdoor pool are amazing with lots of sunbeds and magnificent views. Despite being near the end of the season, everything is here for you. Great link to the city centre by number 6 bus. Great combination of a pool holiday and city break all in one.

The hotel is lovely, with incredible views and an excellent location. A nearby bus stop offers frequent, reliable service into Dubrovnik, making it easy to get around.

The food was the standout. Breakfast was included and offered an excellent buffet with extensive choice and high-quality food. We were so impressed that we chose to try the dinner buffet one evening, and it was equally excellent. This was genuinely the best hotel buffet we’ve experienced in Europe, comparable in quality and choice to the Caribbean and Mexican resorts where we’ve found buffets far superior. At €35 per person, the dinner buffet was excellent value for the quality and variety on offer. Drinks at the hotel, however felt expensive. I also had the best Niçoise salad of my life here, made with fresh rather than tinned tuna.

The pool areas were lovely, pool towels were readily available and most staff were fantastic. The Serbian lady at the bar deserves special mention for being incredibly friendly and excellent service. However, our first impression was less positive: the gentleman who checked us in seemed miserable and rushed through the information, making the welcome feel unwelcoming.

The biggest negative, and the reason I wouldn’t stay here again, was our room and its location. The room was fairly average and didn’t feel particularly high-end. The balcony was tiny, around 60cm deep. Although it had chairs, it wasn’t large enough to sit outside comfortably. Some areas of the hotel also showed noticeable wear and tear, making them feel tired. We even saw a member of staff hoovering from a corridor socket that had come away from the wall, with its wires exposed—unacceptable at this price point.

Worse than the room itself was being next to a room labelled “Office”. Every morning at around 5:30am, staff talking, banging and ringing mobile phones woke us. At night, music from the hotel bar was still clearly audible in our room. This made getting a decent night’s sleep difficult and significantly affected our stay.

It’s a shame because the hotel gets so much right: the setting, views, location and food are all excellent. However, a hotel room needs to provide somewhere to sleep, and being woken at 5:30 every morning by staff activity is unacceptable.

We travelled outside the school holidays, the hotel felt geared towards an older clientele. We’re in our 40s, while most guests appeared to be over 60. This isn’t necessarily negative, but it’s worth knowing if atmosphere matters to you.

Overall, this is a beautiful hotel with excellent facilities, exceptional food and mostly wonderful staff. However, the rooms and some areas don’t quite hit the mark, while our room location(203) and daily 5:30am disturbance seriously undermined the stay. We’d love to stay at this hotel again, but the idea of not sleeping, means we will probably try their sister hotel, The president, instead.

Rooms had a great view. Buffet for breakfast and dinner we're fantastic