A Scott Dunn guide to Sun Gardens Dubrovnik

There are some hotels that tick the boxes. And then there are the ones that stop you in your tracks the moment you arrive. Sun Gardens Dubrovnik is firmly in the second category. Our team has been recommending it for years, and the guests who go tend to return. Here's why.

A setting that does a lot of the work

Start with where it is. The resort sits on the Dalmatian coast, about 40 minutes from Dubrovnik Airport, facing directly out to the Elaphiti Islands. The islands look beautiful, but they're also doing something useful: sheltering the bay and keeping the water calm, which matters if you have children swimming or you're planning a couple of hours on a paddleboard. A shuttle boat runs from the hotel marina into Dubrovnik's old port, so you can be walking the city walls or sitting in a restaurant tucked into a medieval building within 20 minutes of leaving the resort. Back at the hotel, the gardens run down to the shoreline, and the whole property is thoughtfully laid out, so everything is always within easy reach. 

Facilities that cover everything

Whatever you feel like doing on any given day, Sun Gardens has probably thought of it. Three pools, Nuku Beach with VIP cabanas and a beach bar that gets going in the afternoon, clay tennis courts, squash, a five-a-side pitch, a Technogym, and cycling and running trails along the coast. Families with younger children tend to find the pool areas—splash zones, smoothie bars, and ice cream stations—and not move far for the rest of the week, which is a perfectly valid vacation strategy. The spa offers Thai massage, reflexology, hot stone therapies, Ayurveda, and couples' treatments, and Nougatine Paris runs dedicated treatments for children and teenagers, too, so there's no reason for anyone to miss out. If you want to get into the surrounding area, there's hiking, cycling, oyster harvesting in nearby bays, and wine tours through vineyards that have been producing for centuries.

Room to spread out

The accommodation covers a lot of ground, and for families, the Residences are usually the answer. The one-, two- and three-bedroom options have full kitchens, proper lounges and private terraces; It’s spacious enough that a family of four won’t be living on top of each other by Wednesday. iSea View Residences face the islands; Garden Residences are shaded and open onto the grounds. Club Floor rooms come with a private breakfast terrace overlooking the water, which turns out to be a surprisingly effective reason to get up early. Standard hotel rooms and suites are also available for anyone traveling with fewer bags and fewer people.

Food that takes Croatia seriously

Croatian food doesn't get nearly enough credit, and Sun Gardens makes a decent case for why it should. Scott Dunn guests get an exclusive half-board arrangement, and with the range of restaurants here, that's not a small thing. The Market serves fresh seafood and Mediterranean dishes made with local ingredients, with no unnecessary fuss. Cilantro is set up for lunch under olive trees right by the water: oysters, seafood linguine, truffle chips. It’s the sort of meal where you look up and realize two hours have passed. La Pasta does wood-fired pizzas and an octopus ragu that tends to convert people who arrived fairly confident they wouldn't enjoy octopus ragu. For an unhurried dinner, Tavern Veranda does blue crab pasta, seafood risotto, and wines from Istria and Dalmatia that are worth slowing down for. Between June and September, the FESTA outdoor dining and entertainment series runs in the evenings and is included in the Scott Dunn half-board plan.

What Scott Dunn does differently

This is where it gets interesting. The Scott Dunn Explorers kids club program runs exclusively for Scott Dunn guests (no other operator offers it at this resort) and it's the thing families bring up most when they get back. Our in-resort team and Guest Relations Manager are there from the moment you arrive, taking care of the details that have a habit of eating into a vacation when nobody's paying attention. Families with babies and toddlers arrive to find cots, bottle warmers, and everything else already in place, so the first afternoon is spent at the beach rather than sourcing a travel cot from reception.

Younger children have a dedicated space with unique daily activities in the club and around the resort, along with direct beach access. Older children are given more independence, with opportunities to try the indoor climbing wall, take part in football coaching, go snorkeling, and set out on island explorations. For teenagers, the CREW program for 11 and over has the best itinerary: sea-kayak safaris to the blue caves of Kolocep, stand-up paddleboarding in Zaton Bay, SCUBA try-dives, sailing to beaches that don't get much traffic, and mountain biking on the outer islands with a picnic at the end. The kind of days that come up at dinner months later, when someone asks about the vacation, and the teenagers actually answer.

Many Scott Dunn guests book their next visit before the current one is over. It tends to have that effect.

Ready to make unforgettable family memories on the Adriatic? Our Family Travel Specialists will design an Explorers vacation at Sun Gardens Dubrovnik that’s personalized entirely to you.