Kamara Dubrovnik — Hotel in Dubrovnik

We spent 4 nights here (booked a triple/superior room) & felt well rested.||Really warm welcome from the lady on reception, she was so efficient & great with advice for places to eat/see/map directions etc. Explained access codes (and they always worked)|| Communal areas; foyer & stairs were always clean & tidy.||||Our room was 1 of 3 on the top floor- a decent size balcony, 2 comfy chairs & a table fitted on it with ease. The awning was not in place though, perhaps under repair as all other balconies had one.|| Facilities wise the bedroom was very spacious, full black out curtains, a large and comfortable double bed with enough pillows & beside lighting/tv/kettle etc. Aircon was welcome & worked well & quietly. One decent sized wardrobe (more coat hangers would be good, especially if 3 people were to be staying there). The third bed was a converted sofa, looked comfortable but we did not use it so can't properly say.||The fridge didn't appear overly cold, but everything we placed in it stayed fresh & cold. Because the nearest plug socket was used for the fridge, the hospitality kettle etc on the table above we just moved its tray to a bedside table & unplugged one bedside light. Decent sized mugs were a winner; no there was no breakfast tea, though there was green tea & some coffee sachets.We normally bring stuff like that when we travel anyhow so didn't feel that a big issue.||The bed was comfortable, with 2 pillows each & spotless crisp white bedding.||The bathroom worked perfectly well - a corner shower, plenty hot water and decent big sink and mirror. Hairdryer in drawer below.||We didn't chose the breakfast inclusive option, preferring to walk to town to try different places.(liked Dubravka1836- just Outside the Pile gate)||||The walk to the old city is about 15 minutes downhill - breath-taking views. There are frequent buses but we never did use them. Walking uphill with a gelato always won out!||You can also walk the other direction towards Babin Kuk on Lapad - we did that one day - the whole Babin Kuk coastline on that peninsula with frequent stops for "refreshments". Most establishments on the actual cliffs. Just beautiful. - and notably less pricy than the old town!||||One major recommendation - have dinner next door at the Bosnian restaurant Taj Mahal.(it's within the Hotel Lero) Wonderful food.||||I feel it important to point out, we didn't book this room based on it having fancy décor - if you want a resort hotel, or boutique city pad look elsewhere and be prepared to pay accordingly in a very popular (and rather expensive) city.||We wanted somewhere convenient, which was comfortable and safe. We got all of that, plus nice customer service & a decent amount of space.|| We would stay again...

WARNING: We had an awful stay at this hotel. We checked in around 4pm and rested for a bit before heading out to explore Old Town. When we returned to our room around 10pm, there was an awful septic smell to the room. The bathroom was emitting some type of smell that didn't seem healthy or normal.

When we tried to contact the hotel, absolutely no luck. We tried the phone number listed four times and never heard back. I emailed the contact email with an urgent request for someone to come help us with the situation but no luck. We went down to the desk and again, you can see where I'm going here... no staff. They had told us their hours at the desk were 8am-10pm but we assumed that if there was an issue, they would respond to the email or phone calls. Not true.

We had a super early flight the next morning and so, left with no other options, kept the windows and doors open for the night and got some restless sleep for a few hours. We were VERY happy to leave this place!

Bad situations happen - I totally get that. What was unacceptable was the response -- or complete lack of response -- from the hotel. 12 hours later, already well into our travel day, we had yet to hear from anyone at the hotel. It was up to us, as customers, to call and check in. Their response? It was a busy morning with check outs. This hotel has NINE rooms. Ok, right. When we asked about a refund for our room, given our awful experience, their response was quite inadequate:

"I've checked your room this morning at 8:00am and then again later and there was no smell neither in the room nor in the bathroom. Hotel Kamara is a new built building with new installation and we never had such issues. Last evening all rooms in hotel were occupied, and when we ask our guests today, nobody has any complain about smell. If something like that you experinced last evening happen, it could be becuse of the pressure and only temporarily."

It was insulting to me that when I reached out for help, not only was there none provided and that my stay there clearly didn't matter to them, given the delayed response, but that they didn't even believe me that there was a smell!! If they had responded in the evening instead of checking the room after hours of airing out the room, they would have smelled the same stench we did. Instead, we had no help and no options and had to sleep in a gross room. Again, I get it, things happen, but what matters is how a hotel responds to it. I found Kamara Dubrovnik sorely lacking and would...

We have mixed thoughts about our stay at Kamara in Dubrovnik. As others have said, it is in a quiet location away from the busy old city area (we stayed during the frantic summer period), about a 15-minute (mainly downhill) walk to the old city gates, or the #4 local bus (15 kuna on the bus, or 13 kuna if you purchase at a newsstand) stops almost outside so this is very convenient.. ||||We did arrive during their reception opening hours which are limited - they are at pains to highlight that they are a guesthouse rather than a hotel - and we did take their offered transfer (30 euro cash paid directly to the hotel) from the airport which was very efficient. ||||The welcome was excellent - the receptionist was very helpful in pointing out local highlights on the map. The room is quite spacious and clean with mainly IKEA furniture (literally, the labels are still attached); there are no toiletries provided except some lavender shampoo and a pump handwash - no soap for the shower. The tiny fridge didn't seem cold and you have to crawl under the table to change plugs for the TV, fridge and kettle. There were no coffee (3-in-1) sachets as the "the supplier hadn't delivered them" but the receptionist kindly gave us a couple from her own stock, and the tea sachets supplied were green tea. ||||We booked a sea view room - there was a sea view but it was in the distance, so don't mistake this for "seafront" as it is situated a few hundred metres from the sea.||||The included breakfast is next door at Hotel Leno and is quite decent; however, the service was poor and there are tour groups staying at this hotel so avoid times they are having breakfast as it is chaotic.||||On check-out (which is 11:00), we needed to store our luggage (which they offered) until an afternoon transfer but there was no-one at reception at this time on a Sunday morning and we didn't want to leave our luggage unattended (despite reasonable security) in the tiny reception area, so this was a bit awkward - we eventually stayed in the room until a staff member arrived at 11:30am.||||Overall, this accommodation was satisfactory - our biggest concern was the value, we thought it was very expensive (even allowing for summer seasonal pricing) for what you receive - we paid almost 175 euro for one night.||||We are not saying 'don't stay here' as it ticked many boxes for us - we just want to point out our experience with this guesthouse for further...