Zara

Hotel Description

You know what’s funny about Hotel Zara? I almost walked right past it the first time – it’s tucked away on this quiet residential street in Komolac, and honestly, that turned out to be the best thing about it. While everyone else is dealing with cruise ship crowds and inflated prices in the Old Town, you’re about ten minutes outside Dubrovnik in what feels like actual Croatia, where locals are walking their dogs and hanging laundry on balconies.

The hotel itself is this unassuming three-story building that doesn’t try to be anything fancy, but man, they’ve got the basics down perfectly. The owner – I think his name was Marko – checked us in personally and immediately started drawing on a map, showing us the bus stop (literally two minutes away) and this little bakery around the corner that makes incredible burek. The rooms are clean and comfortable, nothing Instagram-worthy but everything works, and the shower actually has decent water pressure, which… well, if you’ve traveled in this part of Europe, you know that’s not always guaranteed. What really got me was the balcony view – not of the sea, but of these rolling hills covered in olive trees and the occasional red-tiled roof. Super peaceful, especially in the evening when you can hear church bells from the village.

Here’s the thing about staying in Komolac – you’re close enough to catch the bus into Dubrovnik whenever you want (runs every 20 minutes during the day), but far enough out that you can actually afford to eat dinner without taking out a loan. There’s this family-run restaurant called Konoba Kolono about a five-minute walk away where we had the best peka (slow-cooked lamb under a metal dome) for like half what you’d pay on Stradun. The hotel doesn’t have a restaurant, but they do serve breakfast on this little terrace – nothing elaborate, just fresh bread, local cheese, coffee that’s actually strong enough to wake you up, and homemade jam that I’m pretty sure came from someone’s grandmother. I mean, the whole setup feels more like staying at a friend’s place than a hotel, which is either exactly what you want or completely not, depending on your travel style. For us, after a few days of tourist madness, it was perfect – somewhere to decompress and remember why we fell in love with Croatia in the first place.

Rooms

• Estimated price from: $92. Two-Bedroom Apartment with 2 × 1 large double bed and 1 sofa bed for Max persons: 4

Reviews

• Exceptional – Marijana from Croatia – 5 May 2025 (10/10)

  Jako lijepo uređeno i uredno, s prostranom terasom, u novijem objektu. Objekt je na dobroj lokaciji, u mirnoj obiteljskoj četvrti, u blizini trgovine, obale, 15 minuta automobilom od centra Dubrovnika.
  
  What could be improved: Šifra za wifi bi trebala biti jasno izložena u apartmanu.

• Exceptional – Antonio from Croatia – 27 April 2025 (10/10)

• Exceptional – Anja from Croatia – 21 April 2025 (10/10)

SURROUNDINGS

Facilities