I recently stayed at Hotel Perla for two nights after my United flight was canceled in Dubrovnik. I booked the hotel online, and nowhere did it mention that cabs cannot come directly to the hotel — you have to walk a bit since the road is closed for vehicles — or that the rooms required climbing a flight of stairs after taking the elevator.

Since I went there around 9 AM, I dropped off my bags and went out. Upon returning around 4:30 PM, a different receptionist was at the front desk. She casually mentioned that I would need to take the elevator to the third floor and then carry my luggage up a flight of stairs to the fourth floor.

When I explained that I have a bad back and couldn’t carry my suitcase, carry-on, and other belongings upstairs, she was dismissive and unhelpful. I politely requested a room on the third floor to avoid the stairs, but instead of showing understanding, she questioned me — saying things like “Don’t you take stairs when you travel?” — which felt unnecessarily confrontational. She told me I should have mentioned this on Orbitz, but I had no way of knowing stairs were involved before booking.

After some back-and-forth, she eventually offered to send someone to carry my luggage — but by then, her tone had already made me feel as though I was being difficult rather than a guest in need of assistance. When I asked if there were other available rooms, she said there were but she could not move me, without offering any solutions.

My family and I stayed in a triple room. There was no bathtub, just a shower room. Breakfast was bacon, sausages, grilled meat, bread, cereal, yogurt, fruit, etc. If you have a Dubrovnik Pass, you can ride the local bus (line 6) to the old town for free. The line 6 bus runs until late at night, so it was convenient. It was about a 5-minute walk from the pedestrian mall in front of the hotel to the bus stop. There is a supermarket near the hotel, so I recommend buying drinks there (you can buy them for about half the price in the old town).