Roko House

The people were welcoming: I arrived a few hours before check-in and they let me in, the landlady was kind, and the restaurant staff always said hello. I could dry laundry on the rooftop and have a beer there while looking at part of the castle wall. The bed was all right and the air conditioner worked okay. The place is very close to Pile gate, along a flat road, which is probably its strongest point. The room was much smaller than I expected, and the bathroom was tiny. The shower door wouldn’t close all the way, so water splashed around the room. The furniture is decades old, the WiFi was painfully slow, and the restaurant across the street got noisy at night. There’s no lift for luggage or reception. Even with the location inside the wall, I don’t think it’s worth the price. Facilities and price, no; location and people, yes.

We found the room small but just right, and the place was very clean. It was a great base for seeing the city early or late, once the crowds had cleared. The woman who gave us the key was friendly, just keep her updated if you’re running late. It’s an old building, so expect steep, narrow stairs. The location is excellent, and you don’t have to haul your bags up lots of city steps to reach it. I’d recommend staying here.

What we got was a tiny 9m² room, not the apartment we thought we’d booked. The bed was only 1.20m wide and pushed against the wall, leaving nowhere for our luggage. The bathroom was extremely cramped, and the room was on the third floor with no elevator or anyone to help carry our bags. We had to enter through a restaurant kitchen. There was no reception or any kind of service, yet they charged us like it was a five-star hotel in Dubrovnik. The place looked nothing like the pictures on Google. A total scam and incredibly overpriced.

The bathroom had mold, and I was sick the whole time I stayed there. The room is right above an extremely loud restaurant, where the chef yells at employees all night amid banging and breaking glass. It was awful, especially for what they charge. The location in the middle of Old Town is convenient, but that’s the only upside I found. Hotels.com let me book with a credit card, then the owner demanded cash when I arrived and said I had to hand over my passport until I could get the cash. There’s no desk, just a woman I’d never met before, and nowhere did it say cash only. She put me on the phone with the owner, who knew about the problem but wouldn’t fix it. His response was, “we can’t remember everything.” I can’t believe this place has so many good reviews. Don’t take the chance unless you’re used to hostel living. There are so many better places to stay.