Hotel Julien Dubuque is one of those classic grand hotels that immediately leaves an impression. I absolutely loved the atmosphere from the moment I walked into the lobby. It has that traditional old-world charm, and it's amazing to see how well the historic architecture and interior details have been preserved over the years. The building has so much character, which makes the stay feel unique compared to modern hotels. The front desk staff were friendly and accommodating, and the hotel also offers a large parking area behind the building, which was very convenient. Our room overlooked the river, and the view was fantastic, especially in the evening. We only stayed for one night before continuing our trip, but we thoroughly enjoyed our time here. There are also several restaurants within walking distance, making it easy to find different dining options. Overall, it was a wonderful stay, and I would gladly return the next time I'm in Dubuque. read more

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What on earth?? My friend and I stayed here not long ago and had a nice trip (see previous review). But today 9/11) she (who booked the hotel) got an email saying "In honor of September 11, here's a discount!" (See picture) What kind of tone deaf marketing is this? It's like saying "Remember Pearl Harbor, here's a discount!" Your marketing team should be fired. read more

Hotel Julien Dubuque - What??? Got this email after having stayed there a few months ago. How insensitive can they be? - Hotels Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

This a beautiful old hotel that has either been lovingly kept for decades or undergone a renovation true to its original design. Rooms are spacious. Beds are comfortable and staff is friendly. Lobby area, restaurant and parking all great. Perfect location in the heart of Dubuque. read more

When I booked this boutique hotel, I would have expected that I'd be rating it a five-star. But it didn't quite hit the mark. When we arrived on a Sunday afternoon (4-27-25) at about 3:00 p.m. they were in the final day of a week-long, city-wide International Film Festival hosted by the Hotel Julien. The lobby was busy with attendees to that event. We approached the front desk, expecting what you expect at a finer boutique hotel - a warm, welcoming, and helpful desk clerk. We got the opposite. This woman (name withheld to be nice) seemed uninterested in helping us, almost as if we were an interruption to her lack of things to do. She checked us in, with her elbows on the desk, not even standing up fully to greet us. Not a good start. The room, however, was very nice. Beautifully dressed bed, spacious and well appointed. Two robes in the closet, always a nice touch. And nice artwork on the walls. The lighting in the bathroom was really the only negative mark for the room - it just needed to be more plentiful and bright. We didn't try their restaurant that evening. Checkout the next morning at 7:00 went much better. The desk clerk was attentive, cheerful, and gracious, thanking us for staying with them. Would I stay here again if in Dubuque? Yes, I would. And maybe this time they'll hit the five-star! read more

just spent 2 nights here. what a beautiful hotel! clean - comfortable- affordable! all staff were friendly and helpful. we will definitely be back! Best of all the restaurant, Caroline, in the hotel was AMAZING. We ate 3 meals there and everything we had was so good!!!! We also had the couples massage that was so nice to have right in the hotel. Amazing all around read more

Really very nice. The good of this was it is a great location, beds were comfortable, window shades are blackout with nice sized windows when you open them. Shower was very nice. The onsite restaurant (see separate review) was excellent. Only real issues that knocked it down ever so slightly were non-traditional bathroom doors (maybe not a problem for you), and I could hear what was going on in both adjacent rooms. But overall, this is a very nice place, the people there were very helpful, and this was a very positive experience. I would definitely stay here again when I come back to Dubuque. read more

Friendly staff and reasonable pricing with free parking in the heart of the town. Minutes from the elevator and the river walk. Nice views of the Mississippi. Old fashioned decor on the lobby and rooms. Darker wood adorns the lobby nice bar attached with good happy hour . read more

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Spent a night here with handicapped husband, son and DIL. Very friendly staff. Nice ADA room. Ate breakfast at Carolines which was excellent. Nice downtown location. read more

I wanted to surprise my wife with luxury stay in Hotel Julien executive suite. Which is as beautiful as it was in the pictures. About 30 hours before my stay my wife was stuck in Germany so I went to cancel and realized there was no confirmation email so the morning of the day I was supposed to stay. I went there to cancel. There was so nice. They walked me through the room and said that they would switch days without a problem thank you hotel Julia. read more

Done correctly and maintained properly an older historic property can be nice; unfortunately, this property misses the mark. The temperature in my room was all over the place, and the thermastat seemed to make no difference. The furniture in the room was old dirty and beat up; drapes had holes in them.The bed was very firm. The TV in the room had a terrible picture and about 60% of the channels didn't work. The bathroom looked like it had been remodeled in the last few years, but whoever did it did not place rubber seals around the glass door, so lots of water ended up on the floor. The towels were rough and thin, also there were only three left in the room that had two double beds. I stayed for three nights, and the room was never serviced. I got it during the pandemic why hotels did this but at this point it's far enough past that it is time to stop being cheep, your charging $180+ night; it does not take long to exchange towels and empty trash once on a three night stay. read more

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Some great things. The lobby atmosphere is wonderful! The fire and music, and the quaint bar with amazing bartenders! The staff are wonderful! Rooms are very nice! Dissalpointing that I have a bad hip and got the ADA room. Ironically the room 266 was so much walking down 3 long hallways and dragging suitcase on rugs was hard. The hallways are a bit dark. A good stay regardless! read more

I chose my hotels based on how I feel and what I'm doing so sometimes I want a nice room in a nice hotel and sometimes I just need a place sleep in besides my car and it doesn't matter. When I thought about a trip to Dubuque IA and Priceline popped up this hotel I fell in love with grand comfortable seating areas all over the beautiful lobby and the fireplace cozy area is my favorite. I researched the hotel and it's like 180 years old, rebuilt once after a fire but still 180 years is amazing. They have a lounge and a restaurant and spa packages. The pool is big and they have an exercise room also. I had the executive king room on the 7th floor over looking the river which has a great view. I would say that my room was nice with stone finishes and real wood furniture. A nice walk in glass shower and a flat screen was in my room. It had a fridge, Keurig Coffey set up and real glasses in the room. The lobby of the hotel is absolutely beautiful and parking is free. Across the street you have an aquarium, casino, water park and a winery all in one area. My key cards went dead so house keeping let me in my room and I called the front desk and they promptly sent two fresh key cards up to my room. Overall it's a very nice hotel that does show some wear but it's only perfect once and it's used 24 hours a day 7 days a week and I would only stay here again when I'm in Dubuque for sure. read more

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My wife and I went too Dubuque Iowa for our 12th anniversary for the first weekend in November. We drove down from La Crosse, WI to visit a City we had never been to before, taking the scenic route along the Mississippi River. Our stay was fine but I left my expensive binoculars behind the draperies and did not realize that until I got home. That's when I found out that you cannot contact the hotel directly, no phone number, no email. just a booking service. No help. I found a way to contact housekeeping and left a message and the recording stated that they would get back to me in 72 hours. Two weeks later, still no response. Beware of this establishment. Joe G read more

Hotel that is over 100 years old in the downtown area of Dubuque. Although it is rated a 3 star hotel on many sites it is best described as a 4 star hotel. There is a large pool, hot tub, a decent exercise room and a spa for massages and facialsIt has old world charm. The restaurant is excellent for breakfast. Dinner is good. read more

It's a unique hotel, old building, interesting room layout. Water was hot for shower. Bed was comfortable. Seemed decently clean. But don't think it's worth the cost read more

Pretty nice older but renovated hotel on the Main Street here In Dubuque. Fairly close to all the attractions near the river front and easy street or lot parking. Nice lobby and excellent bar with a great mixologist! Rye Manhattan coming right up! Quiet room with a Krupps coffee maker included. There was some minor damage to a drawer where the lamp was by the bed and they are a little behind the times with no support bars in the shower and by the toilet which needs to be addressed at some point. Still, we has no complaints and would stay here again. It beats a chain hotel by far. read more

Wanted to stay here memorial weekend Saturday and Sunday but Saturday all booked. Stayed here Sunday night after exploring Galena IL and Aquarium. Parking is across the street in a lot. This is a historical hotel in downtown Dubuque. The lobby is fancy and the room. I walked down to the pool but it was super cold and a couple was extremely amorous in the hot tub so I returned to the room. They had an older tv channel that had Chips on. Oh the memories from childhood. They have a chair and ottoman for watching tv. The room was spacious and had a shower stall in bathroom. The beds were very comfortable. K cups and a keurig is in the room and a fridge. Again no microwave. My only critique is maid needs to bring cups to a dishwasher not wipe them as there was lipstick residue on a cup. Yuck! Otherwise great stay and highly recommend. read more

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First, let me say that the staff here is awesome. The hotel itself is a beaut and the location is smack in the epicenter of Dubuque awesomeness. We were traveling to Iowa to see a show at the casino and then to pop down to Galena. This is clearly the best hotel in the area, historic, elegant and reasonably priced. When we arrived, we stepped in some wetness in our room. We called the front desk and let them know and asked for another room. However, the hotel was sold out along with everywhere else in the area. So, the manager was kind enough to comp the room and get maintenance to fan dry the wet and disinfect the room. Plus, they comped the stay. I've had a couple of really negative experiences with hotel managers who had no idea what customer service is about. At Hotel Julien, the staff gets an A+. The areas for improvement to get a perfect 5 stars would include: better pillows (these are that thin type), actual vending machines on the floors that say "ice/vending" (there only seemed to be ice machines). And, one of the two elevators was out of service leading to a difficult exodus this morning. All of those are easy fixes. So, cheers to Hotel Julien. It's a really lovely place. read more

Overall, great stay! Very quaint hotel. Phenomenal location with many restaurants less than 5 minutes away. Great coupons included with check-in. Spa services and nice shop on site. ONLY drawback was the outdated workout room. Dumbbells and bench were fine, as well as, stretching area with PhysioBall. Very outdated and rusty BodySolid universal gym, and older True Fitness treadmills. read more

Very comfortable and somewhat upscale hotel in downtown Dubuque. It's a great location for exploring the area or even if you are playing golf at Galena they are many more restaurants and a little more light life in Dubuque then there is in Galena. The staff is all extremely friendly. They have a very nice pool with hot tub on the lower level. Be aware that the door sticks and if there is a sign saying that the pool might be closed don't assume that it is, we had to call for maintenance to open the door for us but the door was just stuck because they have a very tight airlock! Lol At least three or four fairly good restaurants within a few blocks so you shouldn't have too much trouble finding someplace you could walk to for dinner. The rooms themselves are nicely appointed and the western ones have a nice view of the big hill just west of the main drag in town. You could walk to the Fenelon elevator from there as well which is a inexpensive and fun little excursion. We will very likely return the next time we are golfing in Galena. read more

We have enjoyed staying at Hotel Julien several times around Christmas. The lobby is beautifully decorated at Christmas and the location is great. I will say the man who checked us in on our most recent stay was less than welcoming and I felt like I offended him somehow. We also had a poor experience with an employee who took it upon himself to yell at my two young children in the pool, with me sitting right there, that they were not to throw each other in the pool (btw, they weren't....). Just thought it was a bold move for this dude to feel he could yell at kids in general and also in front of their parent. Because I'm a friendly person, I said, "sorry!" He literally gave me a dirty look and walked away. Okaaay Merry Christmas. The pool, besides the ornery employee, is really nice and my kids love it. We also love the views from the rooms that we have stayed in. I will say it's odd there are no extra sheets or pillows in the rooms, and the blankets on the bed are super thin, so prepare to be cold at night. My daughter ended up getting food poisoning the night we were there, and a really nice front desk clerk (unfortunately didn't grab his name) gave us a really late check out. That was extremely nice of him and allowed our daughter to rest up for the ride home. We greatly appreciated his kindness. Some good, some bad, at this hotel. Would probably come back but not opposed to checking out other local hotels on our next trip to the area. read more

What a great find in Dubuque! I stayed here for a week on business. Upon entering the hotel, you are greeted with an upscale lobby and friendly staff at check-in. There is a bar attached to the north. They had ample parking (in front of and behind the hotel). The good impression continues throughout the hotel. I had a large room which had a bedroom area, soaker tub and spacious bathroom. My room was a on a corner and had 8 windows! It was missing a luggage rack so I had to put my luggage on the floor (I asked co-workers if they had one, and they did). I noticed that the room was warm so I attempted to make it cooler in the room with no luck. I stopped in at the front desk when I came back from meetings and they adjusted it to the temperature I specified. Unfortunately, it continued to be unpredictable. The air conditioning is the only reason for 4 stars instead of 5. I would definitely stay at Hotel Julien again! read more

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Hubs and I returned to Hotel Julien for the first time since being married here in June, 2013. We absolutely love Dubuque and Hotel Julien. There's really no better place to stay. We checked-in on a Sunday evening and immediately went to dinner. We returned at about 9:00pm that night and I noticed that we could hear our neighbor through the wall. Mostly his/her TV, but I'd never experienced a noise issue at the Julien before. I debated calling the front desk, but opted to turn on my white noise machine instead. It seemed like everyone staying at the hotel on this particular Sunday night was staying on the 5th floor. I'm sure there's a legitimate reason for keeping guests on the same floor (convenience? easy for housekeeping?). Our rate for the evening was $150. Definitely more pricey than other lodging accommodations in the area, but you get what you pay for. Our room was very clean and tidy. Had I remembered my Diamond Jo card I likely would have received a big discount. We had a good time nonetheless. Highly recommend Hotel Julien. Sign-up to receive special room rates via email, or flash your Diamond Jo card for a nice discount. read more

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To start it is a really beautiful place. We stayed for 1 night. Was very expensive. We both have wanted to stay for a long time. The room At first appeared very clean. When I entered the bathroom there was an obvious large Feces stain on the lid of the toilet. Went down let the front desk know. They apologized and since the hotel was booked up they would send housekeeping up to clean the bathroom. With that being said we were not very confident on how clean our room was. I also believe the hotel could have done more. A discount on the room maybe even a couple of free drinks at the bar but nothing. A beautiful place but probably won't be going back read more

Hotel Julien Dubuque - Hotels Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

What a nice and luxurious place for a overnight stay. The checkin was effortless and social distancing was being practiced. I will definitely be back this is a hidden gem in Iowa. read more

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Beautiful room, great bed. Terribly thin walls. Like I could hear the neighbor's midnight conversation word for word. I now know all about their relationship issues. She's clearly the dominate one of the two and I don't think she's going to put up with him much longer. I would have preferred to not know these things about these people. Sleep would have been preferred. read more

I'd give negative stars if possible... To start... Checking in... I waited 45mins after check in, I overheard the room # when I originally asked & 45mins later I ended up on the floor above my original room. Makes me wonder what kind of party they had the night before. SO while I waited 45mins to get checked in I overheard them give a guest two $20 vouchers for food at the restaurant AND two vouchers for a wine tasting; naturally I thought sweet at least having to wait will pay off with a few vauchers... NOT THE CASE, in fact they said nothing when I FINALLY got checked in except "sorry for the wait" I went ahead and asked where I could get some wine.. You know, hinting I over the free wine vouchers I just heard them give out... "The best selection of wine around here would be at HY-VEE, it's a grocery store down the street" ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! I bit my tongue & just said okay... What else... Three of the food items in the room were expired, along with three of the drinks in the fridge... The people next door were up til 1am making more noise than you can imagine, then again at 7am!!! I will NEVER stay here again nor suggest this place to anyone! You may think I'm being a bit ridiculous but when paying over $250 for a whirlpool suit you'd think they'd take care of you or at least act like cared... They had an attitude like someone else will stay here, you've paid, we have your money, who cares... To top this experience off the young man who checked us out the next day asked how our stay was & we replied pretty much to the T of this post and he didn't hesitate to offer a voucher for the restaurant. I explained I thank him for the offer but it's a little late for that, his coworkers had a chance to keep me as a customer the day before but dropped the ball!!! Anywhere is better than Hotel Julien, I didn't mention a few other thing, like missing light bulbs in lamps & I had to fix their broken blinds before using! TOO MUCH went wrong here for it to be a coincidence this hotel is TERRIBLE!!! read more

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Biggest "Price Gouging Hotel "During the Holidays! Price goes from $100ish for a King room to $300 for a room when called they had NO explanation. MY OPINION IS HIGHWAY ROBERY! Stayed here before and things have been great but when I called the lady person on the phone was very rude. I called again the next day to talk to the manager. The same rude lady answered and was rude again..... That associate needs customer service training.... To continue the review the day before I asked for a manager and she insisted that I would get the same answers while still being rude about everthing. I just said I wanted to talk to a Manager nicely.... I also was notified that they wouldnt honor the Diamond Joe discount any longer on weekends and the lady seemed to have made it up in my opinion as she gave me since a month or two ago. Again in my opinion to PRICE GOUGE ME! Below the manager states in his reply that they stopped over a year ago.... As for the discounts we all try to maximize them...Diamond Joe was always the same discount as an Employer rate. UNBELIEVABLE that contacting a family member to have me alter a review I frown upon that and shake my head tisk tisk... and is bad business. Also a violation of yelp policies........ IN ALL I WOULD CHECK AROUND AT OTHER HOTELS THEY WAY STAFF AND THE MANAGER TREAT PEOPLE...... As you can see the professionalism of the manger in the comments below. AND I LEAVE THIS TO THE COURT OF THE PUBLIC TO DECIDE HOW RUDE THE MANAGER IS..... Read other reviews he responds to as he's very disrespectful and can tell he doesn't have Good Management training. Also kind of feel like a privacy policy has been violated in some of your comments disclosing my stays to the public...... LATER DWIGHT ALTERD HIS REVIEW REMOVED HIS PRIVACY VIOLATIONS. ------------------------------------------------------ 7/1/15 Management reply below was edited after Privacy Policies were violated. I have an official screen shot of his original reply I will attach picture of his rudeness but I again will also leave that up to the Court of the Public to read his other rude replies... ------------------------------------------------------ read more

Hotel Julien Dubuque - unprofessional Manager response. See other posted review for changes. Obviously Dwight hasn't been in the hospitality very long. - Hotels Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

Well, it is nice historic hotel in downtown Dubuque. Common areas look good, no doubt. Rooms are attractively furnished, and so are bathrooms. Nice beds too, good sleep. However, sound isolation is not good, paper thin walls, I guess or some other problem. Caroline's is good place to eat, but food leaves a lot to be desired: see my other review of Caroline's. Spa is grossly overpriced, in our opinion. All is good, and it would be 5, if not for basic housekeeping mishap. Never ever I give 5 out of 5, when housekeeping staff is making silly mistake of trying to force their way in my room, no matter what, at 9 am on the day of check-out at noon. They better know when the guests are checking out... Such a basic and stupid mistake always leaves an aftertaste... Where is the app for housekeeping services when you need it?! read more

This is a lovely old hotel in Dubuque, Iowa. I wanted to give it a 4.5, but couldn't, so it gets top rating! There's an indoor pool and hot tub, plus an exercise room. The restaurant (Caroline's) is the best restaurant I have found in town. I have eaten both breakfast and dinner there and was not disappointed. When you check in they'll give you a coupon for a free dessert (the semifreddo was excellent) and a buy one get one free coupon for drinks at the bar. Back to the room - this time we somehow got a suite, complete with kitchen, living room and bedroom. The kitchen was well stocked. It's a nice, clean place and I would pick it first among the hotels in town. read more

The Hotel Julien has a great location if you are interested in exploring the downtown district or the Diamond Jo Casino or Aquarium. The 'river view' is really a view of the casino! The architecture downtown really is adorable, not to be missed. The Hotel Julien is advertised as a boutique hotel, but the remodeled rooms just look and feel like an Embassy Suites. At least my King Suite room did - and I paid about 350 per night through hotels.com if you include taxes. Seemed overpriced to me. If you have been to boutique hotels around the country and world, you would not agree that this is a boutique hotel. There was no one to park our car or carry up our bags, which is totally fine with me, but might surprise some people, so I thought it was worth mentioning. However, the self parking in their lot is completely free. Don't eat at Caroline's - I won't get into it, you can read my separate review. Do book a treatment in the basement Potosa Spa - great massage therapist there by the name of Stefanie. The hotel will give you a 15% off coupon. Take the time to notice the awesome mail chute! Enjoy the Aveda products in the room - okay, that part is kind of boutique-y! Bring your own pillow. My husband and I thought they were way too fluffy - so uncomfortable! The WiFi worked well, was totally free, and ZERO hassle. This is rare - my husband feels the hotel deserves 5 stars on this point alone. The pool is small, but chances are you will have it to yourself. There is also an ADA handicap lift/chair for the pool, which I don't think I've seen at a hotel before. The workout room is nice and deserted. I will definitely be going back! read more

Hotel Julien Dubuque - Bottom of the beautiful mail chute. - Hotels Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

The hotel is a 4 or 5 as far as the actual rooms and building are concerned. It's a 1 Star as far as service goes. On multiple occasions I have showed up at 4:00 to 5:00 and my room wasn't ready. Today I left at 7:30 am and when I returned at 4:10, housekeeping had not touched the room. It was a Monday. No reason a well staffed and run hotel should not have the room serviced by 4:00 pm. I asked for the GM to call me (gave my cell phone number) and the housekeeping manager came to my room at 4:50, asking if I still want it serviced and that they have not made it to my side of the floor yet. Same exact thing happened on my last stay. It's bad and hasn't gotten any better. Great old hotel that is being led down a bad path due to really poor management. read more

We recently spent 2 nights there and like other people commented we had a problem with the thermostat. My husband called the front desk and was informed that the reason we could not turn off the blower was because it is controlled by the front desk. They turned it off and all was good. The beds were very comfortable. My only criticism would be the bathroom. Perhaps 2 bars of soap instead of one so that the one at the sink did not have to be transferred to the shower. Now the shower. Apparently at one time there was a strip at the bottom of the shower doors to keep the water from spilling out on to the floor. Not only was there water all over the floor but on the ledge where the shower doors meet the ledge that you walk over to step out. Not sure why this was never discovered by housekeeping as I would think you would need to turn on the shower to rinse off what was used to clean the shower. We kept safe by putting towels on the floor. Perhaps if we return to Dubuque we will book another stay at Hotel Julian. read more

Spent one night on a whim driving through Dubuque. Hotel staff was great and no issues at all. PJ's Boutique is a "must stop". You're especially lucky if Deb is working. read more

Hotel Julien Dubuque - Mom enjoying the beautiful hotel. - Hotels Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

Pros: Unique Historical Hotel, Great location downtown near restaurants, bars etc and the Spa was FABULOUS! Cons: Service and Cleanliness of rooms - when your a hotel at this price point it is service that SHOULD set you above the competition. That was not the case here and while unique I would not stay here again. I'd save my money and stay at any of the other hotels downtown (we walked by several) and enjoy the cool downtown vibe that Dubuque had going on. read more

Writing this review from my Executive King room, my second time staying here on business. The good: - Beautiful lobby and historic charm. - Well-lit - and free - self-parking directly behind the building. - Large rooms and bathrooms for a historic hotel. Large, nicely-tiled shower with good water pressure and hot water. Only one double-plug outlet beside the bathroom sink though. - Aveda soap and toiletries - nice touch! - Mini-fridge in room. - Desk setup - with TV wall-mounted above it - makes for a nice place to knock some work out while listening to news, etc. The bad: - The mattress is so firm that, as a side sleeper, I cannot get comfortable - no matter how I position myself. - Noise from the highway behind the hotel is quite bad. Every semi coming down the hill using their engine brake is easily heard. - Thermostats are puzzling. Takes a while to get the room to a comfortable temp upon check-in. Attempts to make adjustments in half-degree increments make the digits on the display jump like numbers on a slot machine. So you have no idea if your setting has been changed. Both rooms I have stayed in had this issue. On my first stay, it was mid-summer, and I could not get the room cold enough. - Upon check-in, the desk clerk - who had been personable and friendly initially - ventured into giving her opinion on Covid vaccines and criticizing those who don't get them. Quite bold to venture into a controversial topic with a customer, particularly when you don't know if they share your viewpoint. - Breakfast - I have not tried it, but coworkers did. I was told it was quite slow (they were late making it to the office for our meeting as a result), and also expensive. They said the quality was not good enough to make it worth the wait/cost. If you want something quick on your way out of town and aren't concerned about the menu, there is a McDonald's about 3-4 minutes away by car. I want to like this hotel, but with the noise, temp control, and mattress issues, I will likely be staying elsewhere on my next trip to Dubuque for work. read more

Hotel Julien Dubuque - Beautiful lobby. - Hotels Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

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This is definitely one of the top 5 nicest hotels I've ever stayed at. and what's even better is that I got an excellent deal on this place through Kayak (around $90 for a Saturday night stay). The rooms are luxurious, the lobby is elegant, the parking is FREE and located right next to the lobby, and the place also has a pretty nice fitness center and pool/spa. We had a great view of the hills surrounding Dubuque from our room. We ordered room service breakfast from Caroline's Restaurant on the bottom floor of the hotel, and the food was both good and reasonably priced. The television was a flat screen and pretty good size, and you can open the windows. Free WiFi was definitely a plus, it's nice that this place doesn't try to nickel-and-dime you on things like that. We spent most of the weekend in Galena, but Dubuque is only a short drive away and we enjoyed walking along the Mississippi River and seeing some of the local architecture. Most of the hotels in Galena were two or three times more expensive and didn't even appear to be as nice the Hotel Julien, so I'm very glad we stayed here. Downtown Dubuque doesn't have a whole lot going on, but there are a couple of nice restaurants within walking distance of the hotel. Great place for a romantic getaway or just a fun weekend trip. Hope to return here sometime! read more

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I turn to Yelp for advice whether it's for a hotel, a restaurant, a store, a school, practically any type of business I'm looking to support. My husband and I purchased a travelzoo deal months ago for the Hotel Julien as we had a trip planned to dig up some information on my ancestry in Dubuque. As we kept up on our chosen travel dates I called the Hotel Julien to book our stay. The gentleman I spoke with was very friendly and completely helpful in getting my room booked. He made me excited to check in. I asked him some questions about Dubuque itself as I had never been and we spoke for several minutes on the phone after booking my room. After I hung up I thought I would hop on Yelp to maybe see some pictures and also take a look at what people were saying about the place. The pictures made me really excited, the reviews made me a little nervous. I have stayed in hotels all over the country. My husband and o travel a lot. I do understand that someone can have a bad experience but the reviews on here are crazy and nit picky. The Hotel Julien was amazing for us. It is a beautiful building with so much history and that I can appreciate on a separate level other than me seating there. Our room was clean, bed comfortable, staff were extremely friendly and accommodating, free coffee in lobby (who doesn't love that?!). To anyone reading this review, please know that this hotel is amazing. If you choose another while you're in Dubuque I truly feel as though you will be missing out on this beautiful historical building. read more

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One of the first (if not, first) hotels in Iowa! Such a historic and beautiful hotel located near the river and central to many great dining establishments! It may look old on the outside, but the inside is BEAUTIFUL! Our hotel room was smaller than what we are use to, but it worked as it was just for sleep. The king sized bed was comfortable and loaded with fluffy pillows... I slept like a queen! This hotel was perfect for our romantic getaway as it includes a spa, a cocktail lounge, and Caroline's Restaurant! We very much enjoyed our stay and would recommend to anyone coming to Dubuque! read more

I was really expecting this place to deliver a nice weekend but it just did not. It's obviously an old building with character but with updated rooms. Upon entry we were greeted by a clerk at the counter for check in. That was relatively quick and painless. Found our room and at first glance seemed good. Upon returning to the hotel after a day of hopping around the neighborhood we wanted to grab some drinks and water for the room. Apparently there are no vending machines nor is there a store to purchase water and pop/juice or whatever for the room. It's very strange since there was no water in the room. We were offered a bottle each by the night clerk. This would barely cover us for the night so we both woke up a little dehydrated. Yes we could have drank the tap from a glass but we shouldn't have to. After watching some tv we are ready to sleep and discover there were no extra blankets or pillows in the room. Of course we could call but who wants to get up in their pajamas and answer the door? Did not matter anyway because our room phone did not work. So in the morning we called ahead for breakfast on our cell phone. Of course not a big deal but we shouldn't have to. Lastly when we did check in we were handed a sheet explaining the Covid precautions the hotel is taking including leaving sanitizer pads in the room. There were two of them. They were a square inch and that's being generous. What are we supposed to do with that? Again it's not a huge deal but we should not have to worry about this or call for more. For us the little things go a long way towards our comfort. We really wanted this to be a nice experience away from our toddler for the first time in 2020 but the little things just added up to an overall disappointing time. read more