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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
[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.
[Ed. Note: Welcome to our Good Rate/Bad Rate feature where we usually look at hotel prices in the same city and decide which more deserves your hard-earned benjamins. The screen shot here was captured on March 6, 2007 and rates are subject to change. Enjoy.]
When a room rate goes from $478 one night to $73 the next night, you know the first rate is greedy gouging, pure and simple. We imagine a standard at the Dublin Skylon Hotel is really worth $78 tops, but it's bumped up a factor of 6.5 on March 17 to hopefully cash in on St. Patrick's Day. (See the screen shot here from Expedia.) With that kind of inflation, the hotel doesn't have to sell out to make a handsome profit.
We wondered what it would be like trying to find a room on St. Patrick's Day, in Dublin, in a year when St. Paddy's Day falls on a Saturday. As expected, pickings are slim, but we did find some quality hotels in the city center, including this week's Good Rate the Gresham Hotel.
Dublin Skylon Hotel is not great or convenient--just priced high for the night. It's essentially an airport hotel that gets most of its business from travelers in transit. Reviews on TripAdvisor include quotes such as these:
"It's a dump."
"Steer clear!"
"Shabby and tatty"
"I leave and can once again start to enjoy my life."
"Highly disappointing"
"Very very poor"
Judging by the experience many guests have had here, you'd be better off passing out on the sidewalk after a night of revelry and getting a room in the city center the next morning. You'd save $478 in the process.
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by juliana
