Just spent three nights in Apartment 2 at Orka Apartments outside of Dubrovnik. This is an old family villa/complex - perhaps about 500 years old for the main house - and the top floor is converted to four apartments (one or two are studioes). We are directly on the bay and a short bus ride to Dubrovnik. The two-room apartment was relatively small but just perfect for our family of four (two adults, two small children). I am glad that we did not stay inside Dubrovnik, which we really thought about, and also glad that we did not stay in a hotel (rooms are small and overpriced). The family who owns Orka is absolutely delightful - and the location worked for us, as it allowed us to see Lapad (including a really enjoyable morning at Copacabana beach) as well as Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik, while beautiful, is hard to take in afternoons once the tourists really settle in. I was glad to be away from it, off the beaten path a little. If we did this trip again, I would stay at Orka - I felt that we got a little taste of Croatian life from a really outstanding couple in a clean, well-priced, safe, and very nice apartment in a convenient setting.

We are just back from 6 days in Dubrovnik, at the Orka Apartments. We loved it! Anamarija and Nikola are so friendly and accommodating. Anamarija collected us from the airport (for only 25 euros) which was great as the airport is a long way out of town and we would have got lost trying to find the apartment. She recommended lots of things to do and gave us info about the local area. She even went to the trouble of asking a friend of hers about day trips to Montenegro (although we didn't end up doing that). Our cable television wasn't working and Nikola had it fixed in about 10 minutes. They could not have been more helpful and really want their guests to have a good time.

We stayed in apartment 2 which had a lovely view across the marina. It was clean and well-equipped. Although the apartment is small it has everything you need - although my friend and I had to share the double bed which was okay for us but obviously better for couples. The apartment is in a quiet part of the Lapad peninsula. Given how busy the old town was, we were really happy to be staying outside as we could escape the heat and the cruise ship tourists! The number 6 bus goes to the old town gates, from just outside the apartment, and while it was convenient, it was always overcrowded, but what can you do. You can just buy bus tickets from the tisaks, the newpaper kiosks that are everywhere. There is a great restaurant a few doors down - Bistro RIVA - full of locals watching the euro football which was fun. The food is mainly pastas, pizzas, fish dishes but we would recommend the chicken fillet and the fish fillet orly - yum! We were really disappointed with the restaurant further down - can't remember the name - it has a upstairs terrace but the food and service were lousy. Cococabana beach is about a 20 minute walk from the apartment. We wouldn't walk it at night. Not the greatest beach but nice to cool off. It's pebbles/rocks so you need those swimming shoes.

Mljet is definitely worth a day trip if the weather is good. The boat "Melita" leaves daily 9am from the old port - directly oppostite the apartments but you have to walk all the way around the marina. The return boat trip costs 100 kuna each and takes about 1.5 hours, and returns from Mljet at 4:55pm. While the boat trip was disappointing - can't sit out on deck, can't see out the windows and no commentary - the island is definitely worth it. The whole island is a national park. Once you get off the boat, don't bother buying a map from the information kiosk unless you are going to cycle or drive. We got the mini bus to the lake, then the boat across to the monestary and spent the day swimming in the gorgeous water. We had packed a picnic as heard the restaurant was expensive. We ran out of time to get to Mari Most as had to coordinate with the boat/minibus times but I think it would also be worth seeing and is apparently a better swimming spot for young children. Anyway Mljet was absolutely beautiful and definitely the highlight of our trip. You need to wear the swimming shoes as all rocks and pebbles but we bought them from the island giftshop for 90 kuna.

We would definitely recommend climbing the city walls early in the day - they open at 8am - as it gets hot and crowded but is definitely worth doing. There is not much in the old town itself - lots of souvenir shops and restaurants - but it is nice to wander day and night when the gas lamps come on.

We spent another day out on the island of Lokrum. Boats leave every hour from the new port in the old town and take about 20 mins. Costs about 90 kuna return. Again we just had a walk around the botantical gardens and then spent the rest of the time swimming. It was lovely but not as nice or secluded as Mljet. There are restaurants and cafes but we took our own picnic.

We also did a day trip to Mostar in Bosnia/Herzegovina - passport needed. We're both Aussies so no probs with visas. We booked with Adriatic Explore - a travel agent in town but think a lot of other companies offer the same. The bus collected us from our apartment, which was really convenient, at 8:15am. After collecting a few more people, we drove out of Dubrovnik along the Croatian coast - lovely - to the Bosnian coastal town of Neum. It was a typical bus stop - toilets, cafe, nothing to write home about and seems to be for convenience rather than anything else. We then had another stop about an hour in - can't remember what it was or why we stopped but by that stage it was pouring with rain so no one really bothered to get off the bus. We arrived in Mostar at midday and were met by a local tour guide. She took us on a walking tour, which we abandoned to go straight to lunch at a local restaurant given the terrential rain. Some people had paid 1 euro extra to go to the local mosque and turkish house - neither of which I thought were great although for 1 euro each you can't expect a lot! The lunch was great and gave us a chance to talk with our guide about Bosnia, the war etc, which was fascinating and left us feeling that we need to learn more about that part of the world. We left Mostar around 3pm and were dropped back at our hotel at 6pm, being delayed at one of the border checkpoints. Anyway we would definitely recommend this day trip, despite the rain.

All in all we loved Croatia. The people are so friendly, helpful and have a great sense of humour. We found it much cheaper than London, where we live, although the locals say that it's expensive now. We would definitely go again and would stay at the Orka Apartments again.

Nice location on the lapad. Apartment was well equipped and had beautiful views from the window. They had a friendly small dog named GIZMO that added to the place. Nice friendly owners and very clean. A+

Lovely set of 4 apartments recently built in 2007 at the top of an old Croatian portside villa. The owners are lovely and will pick you up and drop you off from the airport.. There are lovely gardens and views from all rooms over the harbour. The apartments are small but have everything you need for the average traveller and are ultra modern! Highly recommend these slightly off the beaten track apartments rather than one of the hotels. Just down the street is a great little restaurant. Try the mini calzone pizzas from any bakery!
Dubrovnik is great. We visited in October, best time when there are less people around.