Royal Palm Hotel

Royal Palm Hotel is in Ston, Dubrovnik (Kardinala Stepinca 31, Dubrovnik, Croatia), close to Fort Bokar.

Recent rates started around €311 per night, but prices are set live — check the booking page for your exact dates.

Royal Palm Hotel is a 5-star hotel in Dubrovnik.

Guests rate it 4.5 across 264 reviews. It's a luxury choice for Dubrovnik.

Book Old Town and Ploče hotels for July and August by January or February — the Summer Festival dates of 10 July to 25 August sell out first. Game of Thrones walking tours, the cable car up Srđ, and the kayak trips around Lokrum should be booked a few days ahead in peak season. If you want to eat at Restaurant 360 or Nautika, reserve two to three weeks out for a summer evening. Ferries to Mljet and Korčula fill on peak-season weekends, so book the Jadrolinija or Kapetan Luka sailings online rather than turning up at Gruž.

In shoulder season (May, late September, October) a solid 4-star runs €150–220 in Lapad and €200–300 inside or beside the Old Town. In August the same rooms are €280–450, and top-end sea-view properties in Ploče like Villa Dubrovnik or the Excelsior push €800–1,200. Budget 3-star options in Gruž, Boninovo and Montovjerna sit around €80–130 outside July and August. Sobe (licensed private rooms) undercut hotels by 20–30% and are common in Lapad and Ploče.

The Old Town itself is entirely walkable and entirely pedestrianised — Stradun is 300 m end to end from Pile to Ploče gate. Between neighbourhoods it's less obvious: Old Town to Lapad is 4 km with a steep hill in the middle, so most people take bus 6 for 15 minutes. Pile to Gruž port is a walkable 2.5 km downhill but you'll want the bus back up. Inside the walls, expect stairs — streets north of Stradun like Prijeko and Ulica od Sigurate are stepped, which matters if you have luggage or mobility issues.

Not any more — the Pelješac Bridge opened in July 2022 and removed the need to cross the 9 km Neum corridor to reach Split, Ston or Pelješac. The Bosnian border stop used to add 30–60 minutes each way and is now bypassed entirely on the D8 coastal route. Neum itself is only worth stopping for cheap fuel and duty-free spirits, not sightseeing. If you want a genuine Bosnia day trip from Dubrovnik, go to Mostar (140 km, about 2h 30) rather than Neum, and take your passport plus the car's green card insurance document.

Ploče or Pile — both sit within a 5-minute walk of the Old Town gates but let you avoid the stairs and luggage haul inside the walls. Ploče has the upscale sea-view hotels like the Excelsior and Grand Villa Argentina plus direct access to Banje beach, while Pile is cheaper and closer to the Libertas bus stops for Lapad and Gruž. If it's your first trip and you want to be on Stradun before the cruise crowds arrive at 9am, these two areas make that easy. Old Town itself works too but expect to climb steps with your suitcase.