Dubrovnik, Croatia

Palace Natali

Price per night from$294.87

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (inclusive of taxes and fees) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (EUR268.50), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Palace Natali Photos

Style

Nuanced nobles’ rest

Setting

Slopes of Mount Srđ

Explore

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Originally a Renaissance summer residence just outside Dubrovnik’s Old Town, adults-only Palace Natali has an illustrious history of hosting Adriatic-bound aristocrats throughout its sea-facing, stone-walled suites and landscaped gardens. Meticulous restoration works mean that little has changed since these blissful bygone days, save a few modern additions including an outdoor pool, Mediterranean-inspired restaurant, and skippers on speed dial for all your island hopping whims.

Smith Extra

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€40 credit to spend at the restaurant

Facilities

Photos Palace Natali facilities

Need to know

Rooms

21, including eight suites.

Check–Out

11am, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.

More details

Rates include a buffet breakfast of fresh pastries, local honey and jams, seasonal fruits and made-to-order eggs.

Also

The hotel’s listed status means that there’s no lift, and the steep stone staircases are sadly unsuitable for guests with limited mobility.

Hotel closed

The hotel is open this year until 15 November 2024.

At the hotel

Lounge, library, games room, boutique, charged laundry service, and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: smart TV, air-conditioning, minibar, coffee machine, tea-making kit and Rituals bath products.

Our favourite rooms

Spread across the main house and three outlying stone buildings, each room and suite at Palace Natali differs slightly from the next; some come with private saunas, others have fully equipped kitchens and furnished terraces. We’d book one of the suites with a balcony – they’re more modern than the bedrooms in the 16th-century wing, but win you over with superlative sea views.

Poolside

It’s all eyes on the Adriatic from the hotel’s raised pool terrace, with sweeping views out to sea from the strategically-angled loungers and hydromassage tub. The surrounding citrus trees and rosemary shrubs fill the air with delicious scents, and the pool’s waterfall feature sets a soothing soundtrack.

Spa

There’s no spa, but massages and beauty treatments can be arranged on request. The fitness room is ideal for simple holiday workouts, with various cardio machines, free weights and a boxing zone.

Packing tips

Save some room in your suitcase for finds from the hotel’s well stocked shop, where bottles of local wine, olive oil and other Croatian delicacies are laid out in the palace’s former kitchen.

Also

Cooking classes are held in one of the palace’s old stone cisterns, with a built-in bread oven for making focaccia from scratch(ia).

Children

Palace Natali is for over-18s only.

Food and Drink

Photos Palace Natali food and drink

Top Table

Any of the terrace tables; or for an extra special set-up, arrange ahead to be seated under one of the olive trees in a secluded part of the grounds.

Dress Code

Aiming to look as though you’ve just stepped off a yacht will win points with the boating brigade here.

Hotel restaurant

Restaurant Natali’s Mediterranean fare is as verdant and nature-immersed as the views from its garden’s-edge locale. Delicate dishes of pumpkin risotto and handmade ravioli tossed in sun-dried tomato pesto start each candlelit dinner with fresh ingredients from local farmers, and the slow-cooked octopus and grilled sea bass bring flavours of the Adriatic Sea to the alfresco table. 

Hotel bar

It’s all quite relaxed here – simply ask for a glass of aromatic Istrian white or house G&T to be sent to wherever you’re sitting, be it poolside or in the saloča (drawing room).

Last orders

Breakfast is from 7.30am to 10.30am, and dinner is from 7pm to 10pm.

Location

Photos Palace Natali location
Address
Palace Natali
Privežna 21
Dubrovnik
20000
Croatia

At the foot of Mount Srđ, Palace Natali lies on the outskirts of Dubrovnik within easy reach of the Old Town and Šulić beach.

Planes

Dubrovnik airport is a 25-minute drive from the hotel, with private transfers starting from €70 (one-way).

Automobiles

Cars can be more of a hindrance than help in Dubrovnik, but there’s free 24-hour parking at the hotel if you do decide to drive.

Other

Palace Natali is under 10 minutes by car from Gruž port, for ferries to the Elafiti islands.

Worth getting out of bed for

To get your bearings (and for panoramic views over Dubrovnik), join one of Palace Natali’s guided walking tours which climb Mount Srđ before heading down into the Old Town along the historic city walls and towering forts. The hotel’s owners are yachting enthusiasts, which means that there are plenty of sailing trips on offer – including day trips to the islands of Šipan, Koločep, Cavtat, and Lokrum, passing the deserted isles of Mrkan and Bobara. The longest is a 10-hour excursion around the Mljet National Park, where you can swim in Odysseus’ Cave (legend has it that this is where the Greek hero was captivated by the nymph Calypso for *ahem* seven years), then bathe in the mineral-rich mud at Blace lagoon. Dalmatian picnic hampers are provided on board, so you can tuck into local wine and cheeses as you drift along. For wine tastings and vineyard tours, head to Ston – a mediaeval town on the Pelješac peninsula known for its Plavac mali grapes (and being home to Europe’s oldest salt factory). Save time to sample oysters at nearby Mali Ston Bay, where fishermen use the day’s catch to prepare a traditional buzara stew right on the dock. The pine forests and mill-dotted banks of the Ljuta river flowing through Konavle Valley are catnip to walkers – especially if you time your visit to the region’s pretty villages for a Sunday, when there are farmers’ markets, folk dancing and silk making. 

Local restaurants

The reasons behind its Mallorcan-mountain name tag may be lost to time, but you’ll be lost to the bay views from  a table on the terrace at Restaurant Tramuntana, where grilled seafood comes just caught from the waters you’re overlooking. The waterfront setting at Restaurant More is equally lovely, and the zesty Mediterranean dishes draw from Dalmatia’s coast and countryside.

Local bars

Cave Bar is an all-day watering hole hidden away in – you guessed it – a natural sea cave. Highlights include the signature ‘caveman cocktail’ (a citrus- and star anise-infused take on a G&T), and the sparkling Sgroppino which is topped with a lemon ice-cream float.

Reviews

Photos Palace Natali reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this restored Renaissance residence in Dubrovnik and unpacked their Dalmatian wine and olive oil, a full account of their coastal city break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Palace Natali in Croatia…

As painstaking renovations of listed buildings go, the current owners spent three decades restoring Palace Natali to its former glory – which is clear to see from the moment you walk through the vine-covered gloriette. Original elements have been retained wherever possible, including the spectacular stonework laid by local mason Nikica, which gives the property its honeyed gleam from the Adriatic-facing façades to the grand staircases within. Several cavernous cisterns have found new lives; one in the former stable block is now tacked up to cosset you beneath its impressive vaulted ceiling in Olea House (named after the surrounding olive trees which offer some welcome shade), and another has been kitted out with a wood-fired oven and backgammon boards for games nights and wine tastings. For your leisure time, look to the Renaissance nobles who summered on this Adriatic shoreline – sip spritzes under a mulberry tree, play cards by the fireplace, and sail from one neighbouring isle to the next.

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