Welcome back to Beautiful Spaces—a series of posts in which I talk about the apartments, hotels, hostels, & B&Bs I stay in during my travels. It all started in 2013 when I realized that my contentment on the road is directly connected to how much I love where I’m living…and so made a commitment to find beautiful spaces to call home along the way.
You guys, I think I just found my favorite Airbnb rental ever.
Located about 20 minutes on foot from the Dubrovnik city center (a real relief if you aren’t into crowds), the apartment is a top-floor two-bedroom with a balcony overlooking the deep green hills and terra cotta rooftops of Lapad.
The interior is bright and prettily decorated, with colorful pillows and happy wall stickers that remind you to be happy every day. The beds are comfortable and soft and each room has not only windows, but blinds to shut out ambient light. The living areas are bright, with tons of natural light streaming in through floor-to-ceiling glass doors and tall windows. And the kitchen is fully equipped with not just the essentials, but also an electric kettle, a blender (I almost never find blenders in Airbnbs, so I was thrilled and promptly started making homemade hummus and salsas), and multiple sharp chef’s knives.
It was, in short, exactly the kind of place I want to live.
But I haven’t even gotten to the best part: We had the best landlords ever.
Every week, they’d arrive to do the weekly cleaning, bringing with them some exceptional local goods. Homemade liquors and brandys. Dried figs from their garden. Sugared orange peels, homemade. Bottles of local wine. Baked Easter treats and hard-boiled eggs painted with wax.
Whenever we needed anything, they were quick to respond and help. When we asked where we might find a bread knife, they brought us one right away. When we needed a water filter, they picked one up. When we asked for suggestions in nearby towns, they brought us flyers and offered us rides.
They even bought Luna a dog bed to use during our stay.
Every moment of the day, we felt taken care of.
If you’re thinking about spending some time in Dubrovnik and want a place to sneak away from the crowds after a long day of exploring, somewhere quiet and sunny that feels like home, this is that place.
They don’t normally allow pets, so check with them first if you’re traveling with a pooch. And it’s two bedrooms, so perfect for traveling families or a couple couples.
Don’t forget that it’s on the top floor (and in a building on a hill), so be prepared to climb some stairs (no problem for us, but if you have trouble with stairs, this wouldn’t be a good place to stay). And expect about a 20 minute walk (or a short taxi or bus ride) to get to old town.
If you’ve never booked with Airbnb before, use this link to sign up and we both get a nice little credit toward our next trips. When you’re ready to book, here’s the listing. Tell them I sent you.
4 comments
This airbnb looks incredible & doesn’t Luna look happy! Like you Gigi, I’ve come to realise that simply being happy to crash with a roof over my head in a cheap hostel have long gone and a major part of my travel experience is now about staying in a happy “space.” If the space feels good, then we feel good ..if the space is crap, we feel crap.
We’ve been travelling in Europe for over a year and so now the little things like boil a kettle & make a cup of tea late at night, access to a washing machine…luxury oh luxury and of course internet that can be picked up in bed, rather than sitting in a cold corner huddled over the modem. We are also airbnb hosts at home and went out of our way to pick-up guests from bus/train stations, show them the sights, share meals and offer our travel advice. Must be good karma because now we’ve been receiving it back in spades.
Yes! It makes such a difference.
Looks like such a great place! We’ll probably be in Dubrovnik in September, so I’ll check this out. It’s so worth being in a comfortable place!
OMG Luna is so cute!
Yes! And the landlords are truly some of the best we’ve ever had. If you stay there, let me know and I’ll point you toward our favorite sushi place (it’s super far if you stay near old town, but probably only about a 15 minute walk (away from old town into Lapad) from the apartment. Their sushi was killer.