Lodging in City Walls of Dubrovnik

Inside the city wall is mostly VERY steep, and noisy. If you stay inside the walls you will need to drag you bags up those hills/stairs by foot. Not sure what month you're going but if there is any rain the wet rock is very slippery. I would look for a place just outside the walls where a taxi or uber can drop you and your bags off. Then you can walk into the city without the bags. I recently stayed at an Airbnb above the town called Ana's Place, beautiful, large two-bedroom place, and she had two apartments in the building that she rents. Good luck finding a place. J

Staying in or near the old town is what most in this forum normally advise, with good reasons and I totally respect that, but I'm kind of a contrarian. I actually think there is a lot to be said for the Lapad area -- nice hotels (I stayed at Kompas with a group, which was excellent), cute little beach for swimming, a nice walking path along the water with some good restaurants, generally a bit more relaxing than the hectic old town. The downside is that you do need to take a short bus or taxi ride to get to the old town but I found that to be quite manageable.

My RS tour stayed at the Hotel Aquarius. Not in the city Center, but easy access by a 10 minute bus or taxi ride. Very friendly staff and nice rooms. Several restaurants and a grocery nearby with the beach a short walk away.

We stayed at Karmen Apartments located inside the city wall about a 5-minute walk from Ploce Gate. This area is flat. We did not have to walk up the steep stairs/hill. There are about 4 or 5 steps to get inside the building. However, I don't remember how many apartments there are so you might want to check them out ASAP since there are 8 of you. What month is this? We loved staying inside the walls.

Try Bed+Breakfast Andio or Dubrovnik Gardens. We’ve stayed at both.

We stayed on the Lapad Peninsula at the Royal Palm Hotel which is part of a resort complex that includes the Royal Blue, Royal Hotel Neptune, Royal Hotel Ariston, and Royal Princess. We really liked the hotel and the beach area (rock slabs) was awesome. I like snorkelling and there was some great sea life in the water (nothing scary). The walkway along the water is great and it leads to some nice restaurants. Hotels away from the old town are generally less expensive. We took a cab to the old town when we wanted to go there and it was not that expensive. The peninsula is in a rough horseshoe shape. The Royal Palm is in the bay of peninsula on north side of the bay but there are clear views from the hotel room balconies to the west and the sunsets are beautiful. Zoom in on google maps and you can click street view on the walkway along the water. I do not know why people are advising to stay in the old town, most people I know have stayed out of the old Town. It all depends on what experience you want. We wanted to see the old town but also have a nice peaceful place to relax afterwards, with access to the Adriatic. Sea access, right from your hotel is harder to get in the old town. One recommendation I have for touring the old town is walk the walls as early as possible in the morning especially if your are going in July or August - it gets hot real hot! On one of our days there we walked the walls and old town till about 1:00 p.m. had lunch and then headed back to the hotel for a relaxing swim. Dubrovnik old town is not that big so three days in the old town is quite a bit imho.