Tirena Sunny Hotel by Valamar

There are 3 lovely beaches nearby. Hotel was nice, but the food was a disappointment poorly presented, mostly fried food and cooked in lots of oil. Breakfast was also disappointing. There is a local bus that goes to Dubrovnik. Hotel otherwise very clean. Dubrovnik is beautiful although very hilly.

We arrived in late September for a 1 week break. Here's what I was looking for before booking: Temperature: Late September/early October, it was a very comfortable 24-26C. Location: Babin Kuk is a lovely quiet resort about 15-20 minutes out of Dubrovnik City. There are buses every 10-15 minutes into the city centre, with bus stops close by (buy tickets in the shops as it's slightly cheaper than paying on the bus). I would recommend walking through the park area to the President hotel to have a better chance of getting a seat though. As with most coastal resorts, the local area is very hilly. We found all of Dubrovnik quite expensive (mid-range UK prices), but prices have gone up since Game of Thrones was filmed there. Shops: There are a variety of local shops accessed through the park area, or from the external doors from the restaurant. Prices are marked up for tourists, but the Studenac Market is more reasonable (it is 1.3km along the Ul Iva Ducica road towards Dubrovnik). There is a pharmacy next door if needed. The road is fairly hilly though and could be challenging for some in the heat. Room: Basic but comfortable twin beds, TV (I think there were 2 English channels - news only), small fridge which contained a minibar, easy to use safe, hairdryer, adjustable air con. Good net curtains which helped keep the mosquitos out when you opened the patio doors. Ten clothes hangers per room (we took extra and left them). Extra pillows and duvets if you need them in the top of the wardrobe. Good housekeeping, with towels and bedding replaced every 3 days (I asked!). Towels and bedding are OK - clean but a bit tatty and could do with replacing. There were a few mini toiletries provided in the bathroom. The small balcony had a table and 2 chairs and a pull-out towel airer, but was cramped and heavily shaded by a large tree and not worth paying extra for. The bathroom was a good size with a covered wall socket and plenty of shelf space for toiletries, however there was no window and the steam took a long time to clear. The (over-bath) shower pressure was good, but the bath had very high sides which, even with grab rails, was a challenge for my mum with minor mobility issues. No kettle or cups/beverages provided so take your own if this is important to you. Pool: Accessed at the side front of the hotel. Good sized clean and attractive pool area with plenty of sunbeds available (late season) which all had face screens. The beds were very hard though and would benefit from mattresses (available at their 4*+ hotels), I'd have paid extra for them. Free use of towels at the poolside was a nice bonus. There are cold poolside showers but the toilet area does not have shower or changing facilities (which would be useful on the last day if you have a late departure). Pool was unheated, and very cold (unusually so for late season when you'd expect it to have warmed up over the summer). Beware the steps into the pool, which are unevenly spaced and difficult to see. There was a good snack bar which served lunches and drinks, though more often we had a good breakfast and went through to dinner with a few snacks. The pool bar was closed late season. Some slightly older reviews state that you can use the pools of the other local Valamar hotels but this is no longer possible and must have changed over the past year or so. It is possible to use the Valamar Lacroma Hotel (next door) indoor and outdoor pool areas, gym and spa for additional fees. 2019 prices: Relax Day 170 kn Pools (3 hours) 70 kn Fitness (3 hours) 70 kn Spa Zone (3 hours) 80 kn 25 min massage 290 kn 50 min massage 460 kn Restaurant: Most would probably call it a canteen - noisy with closely-packed tables and lots of hard surfaces which increase the sound. Free coffee and teas, milk and fruit juices are available at breakfast, in the evening drinks orders are taken at the table and are chargeable (and overpriced considering the environment). The Valamar Club hotel is a similar price and had local wine and beer included with the evening buffet when I checked in 2019, which if you drink these would be a good saving as drinks are at UK restaurant prices. The Club is a family hotel though so there will be more kids about. Food buffets: About right for a 3* - not great quality. Breakfast was okay, and included cereals, milk and a plain runny yogurt. There was also fresh fruit and fruit salad, a selection of boiled eggs (a bit old judging by size of the air pocket), cold meats and cheeses with salad, pastries and bread. Cooked items included bacon, sliced sausage, beans, grilled peppers, courgettes and eggs cooked to order. I wouldn't recommend the omelettes - they were thin and tasteless, and the scrambled egg was just an omelette cut into pieces! But if you can catch them cooking the fried eggs, try asking for sunny side up and they will do it for you. The pancakes were lovely - watch out for a fresh batch! Evening buffet was okay for a few days but became repetitive. There were two soups always available (but watch out if you are veggie as it was sometimes mis-labelled!) The salad bar was much the same each night, though the variety of cold fish varies. There were four different pasta salads, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, shredded carrot and cabbage, olives - very basic, no frills! A different hot fish and braised meat dish was served each night, some were better than others (The fish is not boned). The grill served chicken and beef most nights but it was quite tough! They also cooked mushrooms to order. Potatoes, rice, carrots, sprouts and cauliflower were available most nights. The pizza was freshly made and was delicious when just out of the oven. Desserts - there were a variety of cakes and creamy desserts but they were all pretty bland. A basic fruit salad was always available, in addition to a selection of ice cream (basic supermarket quality). There was not a huge choice for vegetarians, and vegans would be hugely disappointed! Allergies/Intolerances: No allergens were labelled. Lactose-free milk and yogurt was available at breakfast. I didn't see any gluten-free alternatives but there were plenty of other choices. Entertainment: Limited, not sure if more is available in high season. Info on the notice board did not make it clear that some entertainment was in a different hotel. General: The central lift accesses all floors (the restaurant is at L1 which is labelled 'Service' and may need to be authorised for wheelchair users). Housekeeping was very good but restocking the mini-bar at 8:30am was not appreciated! There is a games table located near the restaurant - this is the only indoor recreational activity we saw. The reception area was clean and welcoming and staff friendly and helpful. However, there was very little indoor seating - just a few seats opposite reception and a small bar area with tables and chairs. This is fine most of the time, but as you get into September and October there can be heavy rain some days. Unfortunately this happened on our last day. We had an evening flight and the hotel lobby and bar was noisy and overcrowded. The small luggage room was overflowing due to being piled up with cushions from the outside chairs, so we had to keep our cases with us. It would have made much more sense to bring the seating and cushions into the lobby so that people could actually sit down, and the luggage room could be used for its intended purpose. Cats!: There are various mentions of the local outdoor cats. They are very friendly and wait outside the food areas for any scraps the guests give them, but we also saw restaurant staff taking lots of leftovers for them, so they do get fed regularly. There are also locals who look out for them and feed them over the winter, and we were told that they are all routinely neutered and a vet visits once a week to check on them. Tip: We booked through EasyJet and took the option of private transfers to and from the hotel as it was not much more than the coach transfer. It took around 30 minutes, was well worth the extra and taxi drivers both ways were lovely. It also meant we arrived ahead of others on our flight so there was no wait to check in. Overall, it was reasonable value for Dubrovnik, but if I returned I would pay the extra for a 4* hotel.

We had a room overlooking gardens so from the balcony we were overlooking other balconies.Large pool and pool area and short walk down behind pool to beach. Meals are buffet style with help yourself wine on tap.Hotel is in quiet area but with good bus link into town centre.