We went to Dubrovnik with our 20 month year-old boy, so wanted either two adjoining rooms or a suite - neither of which were easy to come by. We eventually settled on the Hotel Bellevue, and booked suite 301 for three nights.
Arriving at the airport, we took the Atlas bus to the Old Town and transferred to the number 4 bus to take us up the hill. We were told different stories about how many stops and how long it would take. In reality, the hotel is only a 15 minute walk, but with heavy bags and a boy in tow, we took the bus. I think it's about £25-30 to cab all the way from the airport. On the number 4 bus, when the road forks to the right and turns left at some traffic lights (by this time you're at the top of the hill), get off. The hotel is across the road. It's fairly easy to miss (the sign is on a bit of rock on the left hand side, facing (I think) in one direction only) - the easiest identifier is its pull in for taxis / cars and lots of blue glass, including a blue glass fanned canopy over the glass doors.
The hotel itself clings to the cliff, so you only see the ground floor from the road - the rest is literally on the cliff-face, which is quite dramatic, with a glass fronted lift to take you down to some of the rooms, and another lift to take you down to the private beach in a pebbly cove.
The staff were all extremely helpful and friendly, speaking excellent English, and really loved having a little one in the hotel. I think we were pretty much the only family with a child there, but it was well equipped - high chairs in the dining room (you have to get one sent down if you eat at the beach-side restaurant) and we had a brand new wooden cot in our room with a very decent mattress. Made a nice difference. Even the kitchen were happy to cater to our son's occasionally bizarre requests (e.g. for a plate of mushrooms!). We were also met by the hotel manager on our first day, who gave us her card and said 'let me know if there's anything you need'. This was also a nice personal touch and made us feel valued.
The room was finished and equipped to a high standard - spotlessly clean, with lots of table lamps and artwork. We had two bathrooms, fully spec'd and finished in travertine - one with a large raindrop shower, toilet and sink, the other with a whirlpool bath, sink and toilet. Products were plentiful (l'occitane). Other gizmos included the customary tea and coffee facilities, hairdryer, big flatscreen tv, safe and minibar / fridge. There is free high speed wi-fi across the hotel. No music facilities or alarm clock in the room (unless we missed them). A very nice touch was the daily plate of fresh fruit and petit fours which arrived when we were out - though this may have been because we were in a suite. We had a lovely balcony with two chairs and table overlooking the ocean - in fact, I think all rooms have a stunning ocean view.
Onto the food... Breakfast is a big buffet style affair, with a huge internal dining room and big terrace. Decent hot food and a big range of cold food. You could also order from a small menu for additional items. Again, staff were super friendly - Antonia deserves special mention. The Vapor restaurant is billed in all the guides as 'fine dining', which it is, and comes at a hefty price. The a la carte menu was really expensive, even by London top end standards, but they did a set menu for a much more reasonable £30-£40 per person, which included oysters (sadly not available when we were there - though they let us choose an a la carte appetiser), a delicious seafood salad, garlic bread with oils, big plate of langoustines with polenta and finally a dessert - I had cherry Baklava - which was the only thing I didn't like. Sadly, there was only one other couple in the vast restaurant, which meant there was no atmosphere - although it wasn't high season, which might explain it. Cocktails were good value, and really lovely on the terrace. The beach-side restaurant is also lovely, offering a range of lighter meals. Given we had our son with us, we actually stocked up with bread, cheese, meats, fruit and a few beers at the small shop across the road and ate in our room for 2 out of the 3 nights, which was both cheaper and actually more fun in many ways.
We didn't use the spa much, which was a shame, but always difficult with a young one. We did try to swim, but unfortunately, the big indoor pool was much colder than we'd have liked - so much so that even I baulked at the temperature. Our son put one toe in and screamed (and he loves swimming!) Maybe we were being soft - but it really was cool rather than warm. The jacuzzi was out of order, hence I'd call it average (for our stay, at least).
Overall, a lovely if expensive stay. If I had a wish list, I would add more child-friendly 'bolt-ons' like a room monitoring service to enable knackered parents the ability to go and have a drink and a meal in the restaurant (in-room baby monitors linked to reception are offered by a Luxury Family Hotels in the UK which is a godsend) and maybe a dedicated soft play area. But hey, these aren't offered by most hotels, so as I say, a wish list!
Recommended.