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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

Where: Northwood Park Santry, Dublin, Ireland

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.)

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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

Where: 4 Eastmoreland Lane, Dublin , Ireland

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

Where: Northwood Park, Dublin, Ireland

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.

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HotelChatter Reviews / Hotel Video Tours / Dublin Hotel Reviews / Dublin Hotels / Jaunted / → All Tags

Five Mellow Days in Dublin at the Maldron Cardiff Lane

Where: Cardiff Lane, Dublin, Ireland

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.

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Hotel WiFi / Dublin Hotels / Airport Hotels / Snapshot / → All Tags

Ease Your Hangover With Free Bathroom WiFi at the Clarion Dublin

Where: Dublin Airport, Dublin, Ireland

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

Where: Upper Leeson Street,, Dublin, Ireland, 4

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?

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Celebrity Hotels / U2 / Bono / Dublin Hotels / Hotel Renovations / → All Tags

U2 Hotel Renovations Approved So Long as Rooftop is Open to the Public

Where: 6-8 Wellington Quay, Dublin, Ireland, 2

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]

Anti-View / Dublin Hotels / → All Tags

Room With an Anti-View: Ugly Roof Syndrome in Dublin

Where: Camden Street, Dublin, Ireland

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.

Aptly described by a guest as a "non-view", this is what you'll see out of some of the rooms of the Camden Court Hotel in Dublin. Camden Court's a pretty big hotel with 264 rooms plus 12 meeting rooms, and an indoor pool--we're not sure what's under this ugly roof here, but perhaps it's the pool, or some of the larger meeting rooms--whatever the cause of this unimpressive flat space, we're definitely labeling it an anti-view.

However, it's not all bad news at Camden Court. For one, they have recently introduced wireless broadband access which is available throughout the hotel (not just in public areas)--although we're not sure that it's complimentary (yet). We hope they're working on it, since these things can be improved, but the bad view probably can't.

[Photo: rowan72]

Celebrity Hotels / Dublin Hotels / Hotel News / Bono / The Edge / → All Tags

The Edge Sticks Up for The U2 Hotel's Planned Renovations

Where: 6-8 Wellington Quay, Dublin, Ireland, 2

Last fall, the renovations plans for the U2 Hotel, aka The Clarence, in Dublin were slammed by preservationists who called the proposed hotel design a bastardisation.  

And the fight is getting nastier as a planning board hearing was underway today. Guitarist The Edge stood up for the renovation which would give the hotel a "new building topped with a massive glass dome." He said:

"We feel that while it's very important to preserve the fabric of the period parts of the city, you've got to weigh up the benefits of what would be an incredible coup for Dublin City, a Norman Foster building," he said. "I feel that that outweighs the sacrifice of parts of what are relatively ordinary period buildings."

Oh snap! He just called the city's buildings "ordinary."

While we usually tend to side with preservationists in these types of situations, the promise of adding almost a 100 new rooms making it a total of (140 rooms with 26 suites) to the hotel does sound appealing. Which means more U2 fans can stay there. Hopefully, they will work out a solution.

[Photo: Informatique]

International Hotel WiFi / Dublin Hotels / Best Western Hotels / → All Tags

International Hotel WiFi: Sounds Promising at Academy Plaza in Dublin

Where: Findlater Place, Dublin, Ireland

After finding that the Best Western Madrid does pretty well in the WiFi stakes, we weren't surprised to discover that the same chain is advertising good access in Dublin, too. The Best Western Academy Plaza Hotel in central Dublin boasts free WiFi throughout the hotel; they emphasize that this is throughout the property, including guest bedrooms.

We've been hunting for feedback, but haven't yet heard from anyone who's used the WiFi service. There is also an internet service in guest rooms if you don't have a laptop, and it seems to operate via the television set--one recent guest complained that their room didn't have a remote control for the TV and it had to be operated using the attached keyboard. Really?

Another guest complained this internet access was almost impossible to navigate and they went downstairs to use the computer provided in the lobby instead. Still, connectivity sounds good and if you're prepared with your own equipment, the Academy Plaza is keen to get you wirelessly online for free.

[Photo: Coops65]

Dublin Hotels / Celebrity Hotels / → All Tags

Taking a Closer Look at U2's Clarence Hotel

Where: 6-8 Wellington Quay, Dublin, Ireland

Who's the best person to open a luxury hotel? A trained hotelier fresh from hotel-school? An old dog who's been working his way up the management tree of the Four Seasons? Nope - we say the people who know most about what makes a good luxury hotel are the people that actually stay in them. Celebrities.

It seems like Abba star Benny Andersson's making a success of his Hotel Rival in Stockholm. And Richard Branson's just-opened super-luxury ski-chalet looks set to join his Necker Island fantasy playground and other hotel ventures.

So what about the cheeky chappy Bono and his mates from the band U2, who run the boutique Clarence Hotel in Dublin, Ireland?

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Good Rate / Dublin Hotels / Ireland Hotels / St. Patrick's Day Hotels / → All Tags

Good Rate :: A Nice Dublin Room on St. Patrick's Day

Where: 23 Upr. O'Connell St., Dublin, Ireland

[Ed. Note: Welcome to our Good Rate/Bad Rate feature where we look at hotel prices in the same city and decide which one deserves your hard-earned benjamins. Rates quotes here were valid on March 5, 2007 and are subject to change. Enjoy.]

During a peak period, questions of good rates and bad rates become more fluid: sometimes it's hard enough just to find a room. Just ask the spring breakers trying to get a room at the last minute for South Padre Island in Texas.

So, we wondered, what would it look like for St. Patrick's Day, in Dublin, in a year when St. Paddy's Day falls on a Saturday?

We wanted to find a room for two nights, March 17 and 18, so we'd be able to sleep in until noon if we wanted the morning after. When we pulled up March 17 to 19 on European site Venere.com, however, we got this discouraging message: "We're sorry, we have not been able to find any properties that meet your requirements."

When we skipped over to the booking service at EuroCheapo, however, we found 13 places that still had rooms, including the Gresham Hotel in the city center. At 485 euros for two nights that will set you back close to $600, but this is not a weekend where you can patiently pick and choose. Besides, the Gresham is in a historic building with easy stumbling distance access to everything, but the rooms were all upgraded last year and they win our hearts by throwing in free WiFi.

This one gets good reviews overall from guests, especially for the location, which will be key on a night when finding a cab will be a challenge.

Related Stories:
· Gresham Hotel reviews [TripAdvisor]