We stayed in apartment Elena in June 2009, and I always meant to write a review because it was fantastic! The apartment is fairly compact but perfect for a couple, and definitely well equipped enough to make your meals there if you so choose. I really loved the decor, as it was simple but with a few traditional touches. We found the temperature really comfortable in the high 20s/30 degrees and ate our breakfast on the terrace every morning. We used the air conditioning for 5 euros a day - which rapidly cooled the apartment when necessary. It is very private and quiet for sleeping - it's nice being just outside of the city walls as it is much quieter and free from hoards of tourists. The location is absolutely fantastic - 2 minutes to the gate to the old town, 2 minutes to the beach! fantastic bakery at the bottom of the steps - perfect for breakfast pastries. supermarket just down the road. it is at the top of a few steps, but given that Dubrovnik rises up across the hill side, we felt we had the best deal compared to people staying miles above the sea! The view from the terrace was incredible - day and night. Finally, Ivan was very welcoming and a thoroughly nice guy. Also, noting the review below, we didn't see/feel any bedbugs! I would absolutely recommend this apartment to any couple looking to visit Dubrovnik, it was just ideal for us and we felt it was great value for money.

We stayed at apartment Elena for 4 nights.
We only checked their website, but the room and the small gardens were much better than we had expected.
They locate so close to the entrance of the old city and we can enjoy the view from the apartment. On the short way to the entrance of the old city, there are a supermarket, bakery, and bus&taxi stops too. Very convenient.
The room was reasonably priced too.
The owner Ivan is friendly and always welcome to help us.
I would recommend this place to my friends!!

We also were in the unit separate from the house. Large bedroom, with a/c (didn't use), 3 or 4 steps down from the kitchen. Entry into house through the kitchen, which was small, with table for 2 or 3, bathroom with shower off the kitchen. Morning sun into kitchen, evening sun into bedroom. We were there when it was very hot, but were happy with the fan we brought with us.
The photo of the view to the harbor, showing a covered sitting place, is great once the sun sets. Due to the extreme heat (90's), it was much too hot and bright during the day (but, a great place to dry your clothes - there is a washing machine in the kitchen). Therefore, we asked Mr. Kalas to let us use his BBQ room. It has a tiled roof with a large open window to view the old city. We left the door open, and a breeze always came through - perfect!!! We had our meals there, as the kitchen was very small, and after cooking, too hot.
One drawback is the school next door. If you are gone for the day, you won't be bothered, but one day we stayed in the apartment and the children were there until after 7 pm. Noisy - but only for that day.
He has a beautiful home and grounds, so close to the old city, but completely enclosed, so it is very private. You have to walk up about 25 steps from the main road to get to his home and apartments, so pack light. But, when you enter his walled enclosure, it IS fairly magic.
There is a restaurant on the main road, AWAY from the old city, on the same side of the road as Apartments Kalas. It's the only restaurant on that side, not more than 200 meters. It has wonderful, fresh fish and vegetables, simply grilled. The young owners are in the process of buying the restaurant from their uncle, and are sweet, enthusiastic, and most obliging. The wife's sister is a singer of Croatian fame; we heard one of her albums while we were dining - wonderful. They told us where to buy it in the old city, and so we did, and still love it.
Dubrovnik, of course, is wonderful. We would rent from Mr. Kalas again - after trying for cooler weather!

We reserved for a week at Apartment Kalas in August/September 2008. We were in the large apartment named Karmen.

Our first impressions were very positive as to the location, the old-world rustic feel of the buildings, and the apartment was spacious and comfortable. Ivan was very accomodating with a child's cot/crib for our 18-month old son and although I wouldn't call him warm, he was happy to help out in whatever way he could, and even gave him one of his grand-child's toys to play with.

There was the instance where his wife (I think) was taking a shower (in the nude) on the patio one morning in plain view. We were both surprised and embarrassed. Still, it did give it a kind of homey feeling in a weird sort of way.

We were so disappointed then when my wife woke up during our second night to a bed-bug crawling across her face. We spent a horrible night, on a search-and-destroy mission to find as many of the little beasts as we could. In various nooks and crannies in the bed we were sleeping on we found close to 20.

Needless to say, the thought of these bed bugs infesting our luggage and feeding off of our toddler son was too much to take. We cancelled the remainder of our stay. I found accomodation elsewhere for us.

To Ivan's credit, he took our complaint very seriously, especially when we were able to produce so many of these live crawling bugs that we had captured. The apartments are very visible from the harbor and we could see that there was some activity going on in our apartment later that day, windows open, mattress hanging out the window.

If Ivan has sorted out his bedbug problems, I wouldn't hesitate to say this is a very good bit of accomodation. I wish him well, and hope he does. He was clearly taken by surprise at what we found.

Still, I don't think I could bring myself to go back there...certainly not to the Karmen apartment.