despite being part of a larger tourist complex, this hotel is well managed, quite seperated and welcoming. All areas are very clean and inviting, the rooms are good for tourist quality, and the choice for breakfast more than satisfactory. Being only a few hundred meters away from the coast-line is an added bonus with wonderful walks along the cliffs to the neighbouring bay and some very nice restaurants along the way.

We booked the Tirena Hotel direct through their website after looking at other hotel booking websites like expedia and hotels.com and booking through the hotel direct was by far the cheapest option. The hotel also arranged a free transfer to and from the airport which was a perfect touch and saved us around 500 Croatian Kunas {£55-60} if we had to use a taxi. Our flight to dubrovnik was delayed by 5 hrs and I was slightly worried that the hotel transfer wouldn't be there to greet us. What a joy it was to see the driver there waiting for us after a long and tiring journey. The hotel was a comfortable 20 kms from the airport and as we arrived in the early hours of the morning the transfer took us right past the Old Town. The views were stunning as the majority of the.road from the Airport is coastal and the Old Town stood out majestically. Check in was quick and easy and the breakfasts were good, with a great choice of buffet items.

As three Tirana hotel was part of a chain you could.use the facilities at her sister hotels which were all within a 1/4 mile. I would recommend using the infinity outdoor pool and heated indoor pool at the Larcoma hotel adjacent to the Tirena as the Tirena s pool was freezing.

The bus into the Old Town is located about 200 mts from the lobby - its the second stop on the journey and I would recommend catching the bus from the bus station which is easily reached from the hotel and clearly signposted from the shopping area. The number 6 is the one you want for the town and it stops directly outside the Pile Gate. But beware the bus gets extremely.busy and although the Croatian people are amazingly.friendly the concept of queuing is completely alien to them!!!! So after much pushing and standing for the first few days we decided enough was enough and got on at the bus station so we could guarantee a seat. Number 6 Buses run every ten mins until 0115 hrs and the journey to and from the Hotel to the Old Town was roughly ten mins. The cost of the buses were 15 Kuna (£1.70) Bought on the bus from the driver or 12 Kuna (£1.40) from the hotel shop. We bought a 7 day Dubrovnik Card which cost 220 Kuna each (£26) which seemed quite steep but that included 20 bus journeys and entrance to 8 historic attractions incl the wall walk. Each attraction would have cost around 70 kunas. So we saved a pretty penny. The Dubrovnik Card was sold in 1, 3 and 7 days only. They can be bought in the Tourist Info located outside the Pile Gate just as you get off the bus. All the staff there speak excellent English and are extremely helpful.

The town is amazing but does get extremely busy when the cruise liners are in, which is usually between 9am to 4pm. So if you want to experience the wall walk do it early, it opens at 8am and after the tourists have gone, closes at 6pm. It's quite tiring and steep and slippery in places so could be difficult for those with mobility issues.

BEAUTIFUL VIEWS across the bay. If you get a chance visit Cavtat it's about 16 km away from the Old Town and is stunning. It's best to reach it by boat and is 80 Kuna for a return ticket and leaves the harbour every 30 mins or so. There are tonnes or boat companies with excursions to offer and most are very approachable and don't try the hard sell. Cavtat is a lot cheaper than the Old Town and the best view of the harbour can be seen from the restaurant at the extreme right of where you disembark, I forget the name now but it begins with a P and it's right next to the celebrity hangout restaurant called Luna/Lena not that you would really tell from looking except when you look at the prices, somewhat shocking.

The Old town was amazing at night and came alive with live music being played around almost every corner. It made gor a magical and romantic experience. The small alleyways at first were confusing but helpful marron banners are hung at every junction that lists all the shops, restaurants etc town that particular lane. The ol Puca street that runs parallel to the Stradun is were the main take away food is located as is a number of small, and almost deceptive supermarkets.

The nicest restaurants we found were off the Ol Puca and were reasonably priced the Mea Casa a particular favourite of mine providing massive salads, pizzas and pasta dishes for a decent price. Do check carefully though the prices in the menus at some restaurants as some are terribly overpriced and are definite tourist traps.

The Domino restaurant was another superb find and highly recommended for meat and seafood dishes and extremely good value compared to others.

Would definitely return to Croatia and Dubrovnik an awesome place, a wonderful and extensive history, romantic and a joy to visit. xxx

We stayed at this hotel from 8th to 15th October and can thoroughly recommend when visiting Dubrovnik.
A slightly older hotel but extremely clean with a variety of good food. The staff were attentive and friendly and nothing was too much bother for them.
The pool area was welcoming with plenty of space for the few sunseekers who used it.
It was easy to get into Dubrovnik using local buses.
Use the Tirena when visiting Dubrovnik - you wont regret it!

Some previous reviews have been critical but we were happy with our 4 night stay although the hotel has a slightly dated feel due to the furniture and rambling layout of the accomodation.

We imagine that some of the rooms would not be ideal if they are located above the bar and terrace area as live music was played on most evenings. The corridors are not carpeted so can be noisy at night.

However the general location of the hotel is good with pleasant walks along the coastal path and also the use of the other hotels nearby as they are owned by the same chain.

You can purchase a bus ticket from the hotel shop to visit Dubrovnik which is 15 minutes away. Beware -- the tickets are returns as long as you come back within 1 hour, which as holidaymakers is unlikely. Therefore a couple need to purchase 4 tickets to get back safely!!

The buffet food was very good with a wide choice and there was a chef preparing fresh food at both breakfast and in the evening.