THE FACTS ABOUT THE PUCIC PALACE

Croatia Dubrovnik

With just 19 bedrooms and suites, the Pucic Palace is the first luxury boutique hotel in Dubrovnik and the first hotel of any kind in the Old Town, a World Heritage Site of pretty squares and narrow streets that has been the subject of a major UNESCO-sponsored restoration programme. The Old Town is known for its beautiful Renaissance palaces and Pucic, with its lovely stone façade right on Gundulic Square, is a fine example. Once a stately home, it was completely renovated by Amsterdam-based Sagrada Hotels International and now has Italian-mosaic bathrooms with huge windows and freestanding, copper-encased baths, polished olive-wood parquet floors and high ceilings, and is furnished with antiques and original artworks. One masterstroke has been the creation of a Parisian-style café, Café Royal, with tables on Gundulic Square, providing a people-watching spot in one of the Old Town's prime locations; in addition, the hotel has an Eastern Mediterranean restaurant (Defne) and a winebar (Razonoda), which has a good cellar and serves cocktails and snacks. If you are in Dubrovnik on business, the hotel supplies fully stocked 'business carts' (laptops are also available), although guests are more likely to be tempted by the hotel's private yacht which is available for trips up the coast. WHEN TO GO This year the Dubrovnik Summer Festival of arts, including classical music and theatre, runs from 10 July to 25 August WHICH ROOM TO BOOK The Gundulic Suite on the first floor, with two windows overlooking the square and its own balcony CONTACT The Pucic Palace, Uzel, Turizam, Dubrovnik, Croatia (00 385 20 326222; fax: 326223; www.thepucicpalace.com). Doubles €323-€567; Gundulic Suite €915-€1,159