Dublin Travel Guide
Hotel Openings / Hotel News / Dublin Hotels / Ireland Hotels / Leading Hotels of the World / → All Tags
Dublin's Dockland Area Debuts The Marker Hotel
It's about that time when folks start preparing for their European vacation. The quandary is always the same though--where to stay that won't break the bank, especially when airfares to cross the pond can get outrageous this time of year.
Luckily we've found a happy medium and it's called The Marker Hotel Dublin. Opened on April 2nd, the city's Dockland area has received its first five-star property. But despite the ritzy status (it's become part of the Leading Hotels of the World), the 187-room hotel appears to be quite down-to-earth, yet trendy with a fun cocktail bar, the biggest roof bar in Dublin, and of course, walls dotted with whimsical Irish art.
Reality TV Hotels / The Layover / Celebrity Chefs / Anthony Bourdain / Four Seasons Hotels / Dublin Hotels / Ireland Hotels / → All Tags
Anthony Bourdain Does Deluxe For "The Layover" Dublin Hotel
Anthony Bourdain is back for another season of “The Layover”, and we like it because he names the hotels in the cities where he'll be spending his precious time. We figure, he won't be laying his salt-and-pepper head just anywhere, after all, he's big time now. So, for entertainment and a dose of travel value, we’ll give you some details on the properties he picks, just in case you find yourself looking for a place to stay in a city that’s sanctioned by this travel personality/chef.
Layover Hotel Episode 5: Honorable Mention 1: The Davenport Hotel This traditional hotel right near Merrion Square is what Bourdain says, is in "a good location and great for the less than 150 euro ($196) a night rates." We agree.
Honorable Mention 2: Kinlay House Cheaper still is this budget spot in the Temple Bar section. The comment? “It's a hostel. But, who doesn't love sharing a room with strangers?” The upside? "It’s within walking distance of many of the typically touristy spots in town and lots of bars." And at 12 euro ($16) a night starting rates that includes free light brekkie, we can't be mad in a city where many people crash and burn in their beds after heavy nights out.
But where does Tony choose to slumber? Take a guess. We've been here before.
Hotel Rebrandings / Hotel Renovations / Dublin Hotels / Ireland Hotels / Hilton Hotels / DoubleTree Hotels / → All Tags
Dublin's The Morrison Reopening Feb. 1st As A DoubleTree
Shuttered since November while undergoing a 12 week flash makeover, progress is on schedule for Dublin's Morrison Hotel, with a grand reveal set for February 1st.
The Morrison first made headlines last February when it was scooped up by billionairess Elena Baturina (who's just…you know…the richest woman in Russia and the wife of Moscow's former mayor). Apparently she liked the River Liffey views of her new little Irish investment, but felt the interiors left something to be desired. Hence the $9.3 million "splash" of improvements.
The hotel is joining forces with the Hilton franchise and will re-open as Dublin's first DoubleTree.
Hotel Amenities / Hotel Toiletries / Holiday Inn Express Hotels / Dublin Hotels / Airport Hotels / → All Tags
At Holiday Inn Express, There's Free WiFi, Free Breakfast and Free Toiletries
Normally when we think of the toiletry offerings at Holiday Inn Hotels, we think of soap, shampoo, lotion and if we're lucky conditioner. But at the Holiday Inn Express at the Dublin Airport, the hotel offers guests additional amenities like shaving cream, disposable razor, toothpaste, comb, toothbrush, cotton wool and even special stuff for the ladies.
This "Forgot Something" was snapped by HotelChatter Flickr contributor (UggBoy♥UggGirl) and we've found out that all Holiday Inn Express hotels now have the "Forgot Something" extra amenities program (and have been for a few years now.)
St Patrick's Day Hotels / Dublin Hotels / Luxury Hotels / Hotel Deals / → All Tags
St Patrick's Day in Dublin Is Way More Affordable Than You'd Think
The Dylan: nice beds, no dubious rockers. We could deal with that
Well oi’ll be damned (say that in an Irish accent, it might make more sense). It’s St Paddy’s Day coming up (17 March) and if you want to go ultra-authentico and spend it in Dublin, you’d better get your planning skates on.
But here’s the good news – pricewise, places seem to be less than extortionate, considering Dublin is an extortionate city, even on the off season. We just checked out two of Dublin’s poshest hotels: the Clarence, which is owned by Bono and his greasy chums, and the Dylan, which is so sleek it has no need of dodge celeb booking.
The Clarence has double rooms starting at €189 ($256/£168), and the Dylan’s even cheaper at €179 ($243/£159). If you don’t want to travel on a hangover, it even has a stay two nights, get one free package going down at the moment. Who’da thunk it? That leaves plenty of euros left to spend down Temple Bar.
Anti-View / Dublin Hotels / Business Hotels / → All Tags
Dublin Strikes Again with a Hotel Anti-View
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing, it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.
This rather grim view was what greeted hotel fan uggboy during a stay at The Crowne Plaza Hotel Dublin-Northwood. We know—when you think of Ireland, you think of rolling green hills, or lovely seaside cliffs. Not, um, bland brick walls.
HotelChatter Reviews / Hotel Video Tours / Dublin Hotel Reviews / Dublin Hotels / Jaunted / → All Tags
Five Mellow Days in Dublin at the Maldron Cardiff Lane
Once again, Jaunted's weekend editor Victor Ozols is back. This time with an in-depth video tour of the Maldron Cardiff Lane Hotel in Dublin. Remember his last killer video from Key West? It's like that but with British robot voices in the elevator and Guinness in the vending machines.
During our recent vacation in Dublin, we stayed in the Maldron Cardiff Lane, a large, seven-story hotel located on the south bank of the River Liffey, near the city center. We stayed there for five nights and came away feeling that we got our money's worth with a hotel that delivered what it promised. It didn't exactly ooze personality, but it gave us what we wanted in terms of location, amenities, and general coolness, and we'd be happy to stay there again.
Also, I didn't seek out this particular hotel. I used Priceline's blind opaque auction site. After a few misfires, I made a successful bid of $170 a night for a four-star hotel in Dublin city center, south of the Liffey. And that's how we ended up at the Maldron.
HotelChatter Reviews / Dublin Hotel Reviews / Bed and Breakfasts / → All Tags
Kilronan House Welcomes Guests with Drunk Cards
On a trip to Dublin recently, we decided to be brave and rent a car. We also decided to shack up one night at a B&B. When we arrived at the Kilronan House in Dublin and didn't see the valet—free parking was a selling point—we pulled our rental into the adjacent driveway. A man from the business that owned said adjacent driveway came out and started screaming while we patiently explained our sitch. Then our concierge/valet/white knight Cormac came out, politely smiled at the screaming man while ignoring his nastiness and parked our car. Talk about service with a smile.
We followed Cormac into the white-pillared Georgian-style bed and breakfast, which blends in nicely with the townhouses on the street. At check-in, we got the rundown of the area and some maps. Cormac also handed us "drunk cards," wallet-sized pamphlets of the B&B with its address prominently displayed, because he knows that even when out-of-towners stay at a classy joint like this, they will inevitably get forget-your-name drunk in Temple Bar.
Hotel Hell / Hotel News / → All Tags
The Scariest Thing That Could Happen at an Airport Hotel...
This is the stuff of nightmares. Via a story reprinted over at Hotels Mag, we just caught wind of an incident in Ireland that is really, really terrifying: Recently-released reports have now confirmed that a commercial jet narrowly avoided disaster in 2007 when it flew towards a Dublin airport hotel after the pilot mistook its rooftop lights for a runway. Seriously.
From a story printed in the Herald today:
The plane, with 112 passengers and six crew, started its approach to Dublin Airport at around 23.24hrs on August 16, 2007. Weather and visibility were good [...] At around five miles from touchdown, the aircraft began to deviate left of the approach course.
The Aviatjet plane was just 200ft above the height of the hotel before the pilot took corrective action, less than 570 yards from the building. "The aircraft continued to descend below the minimum descent altitude, without proper visual identification of the runway in use, and continued to descend to an altitude of 580ft above mean sea level, before executing a go-around," the report said.
Can this happen? Seriously? Apparently, these reports reveal that the pilot had mistakenly identified the lights of the hotel — which has been identified as the Days Hotel Dublin Airport — with the approach lights of the runway he was supposed to be landing on.
Um, this should never happen. Ever.
Hotel WiFi / Dublin Hotels / Airport Hotels / Snapshot / → All Tags
Ease Your Hangover With Free Bathroom WiFi at the Clarion Dublin
Happy St. Patrick's Day! If you plan on being in Dublin today or tomorrow, we bet that very shortly you will be nursing a severe hangover. Never fear, in case you feel the need to Tweet every minute of your life, you can vomit assured knowing that a hotel in Dublin has got free WiFi in all parts of its hotel.
This is a shot from the men's room at the Clarion Dublin Airport Hotel. You see that sign? It says "Free WiFi." Yes, the WiFi at the hotel is so free that you're free to log on from the public toilet. How 'bout that?
This photo comes to us from Flickr user 8lettersuk, who says, "Now I'm all for free wifi but in the gents of the hotel? The Clarion at Dublin Airport gets top marks for effort!"
Yeah, you know what? If an airport Clarion's got it together enough to give you free WiFi from the public toilets, we think other hotels should at least give us WiFi that we can log onto from the privacy of our guestroom toilets. Sometimes the newspaper just don't cut it, ya know?
The WiFi crusade continues.
[Photo: 8lettersuk]
Anti-View / Dublin Hotels / → All Tags
A Dublin View That Will Still Be Unattractive After Ten Guinesses
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.
So, you fly to Dublin and it's dark when you check into your hotel. When you wake up in the morning and look out your window, what do you expect to see? Rolling green hills, sheep meandering about in the light rain, a rainbow here and there ... you know, the stuff on the Lucky Charms box.
But no. None of this. Imagine opening the curtains of your hotel room and finding this view. Makes you wanna drink ten beers, right?
Celebrity Hotels / U2 / Bono / Dublin Hotels / Hotel Renovations / → All Tags
U2 Hotel Renovations Approved So Long as Rooftop is Open to the Public
The rock band U2 has been struggling to get the addition/renovation plans for their Dublin Hotel, The Clarence, approved for quite some time now.
Initially, the city's preservationists called the plans a "bastardisation" but it looks like Bono and Co. will get their way after all. The Belfast Telegraph reports:
The Republic's planning board, An Bord Pleanala, has granted planning permission for a controversial redevelopment of the Clarence Hotel on the Dublin quays, but included an unusual condition that the public must have access to the fabled 'sky bar' which is an intrinsic part of the plans.
True, that might mean the rock stars, celebrities and dignitaries Bono wants to host at his hotel may have to rub elbows with the common folk but we say he'll just have to deal with that.
Now that the plans have been approved, the hotel can begin construction which will quadruple the size of the hotel and include a huge glass atrium as well as an indoor pool.
[Photo: Informatique]
