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Dubuque · Hotel shortlist

High end hotels in the university district, Dubuque

Stefan Bauer

Stefan Bauer The American west

Updated 1 September 2026 · 12 Dubuque hotels assessed

These are my five favourites in Dubuque, out of the 12 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.9770164 down to 4.6.

115202 / Charming Downtown Dubuque Apartment is the one I would book myself.

115202 / Charming Downtown Dubuque Apartment

Highest rated of the five

115202 / Charming Downtown Dubuque Apartment

★★★★★4.9770164 from 419 reviews

115202 / Charming Downtown Dubuque Apartment comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.9770164 from 419 guest reviews is a score that holds up at that volume, which is the whole test here. A perfect ten from nine people does not beat it.

It is found under city centre and around $209 a night on the dates we checked.

12 hotels in Dubuque qualified for this list and five made it. Cloran Mansion Bed and Breakfast is the one I would book if the first is full.

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All five, ranked

  1. 115202 / Charming Downtown Dubuque Apartment1

    115202 / Charming Downtown Dubuque Apartment

    ★★★★★4.9770164 from 419 reviews

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    • Cloran Mansion Bed and Breakfast2

      Cloran Mansion Bed and Breakfast

      ★★★★★5 from 308 reviews

      • Spa
      • Parking
      • Pet friendly
      • Kid friendly
      • Air conditioning
      • Accessible

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    • Saint Mary's Place | Downtown Dubuque3

      Saint Mary's Place | Downtown Dubuque

      ★★★★★5 from 218 reviews

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      • The Steamboat House Bed and Breakfast4

        The Steamboat House Bed and Breakfast

        ★★★★★4.9 from 97 reviews

        • Parking
        • Air conditioning

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      • DeSoto House Hotel5

        DeSoto House Hotel

        ★★★★★4.6 from 1,878 reviews

        • Restaurant
        • Bar
        • Parking
        • Kid friendly
        • Air conditioning
        • Accessible

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      How this list was put together

      12 Dubuque hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating, then on class, and took the top five.

      Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.

      The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.

      What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.

      Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.

      Stefan Bauer

      Stefan Bauer The American west

      Chases total solar eclipses. Seven of them on four continents, from Wyoming to a fishing town in Chile. Banks days off through the on-call rota and books the trips years ahead, because eclipse dates do not move.

      Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.