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Ireland Hotel Reviews
Dublin's Dylan Hotel: Friendly Staff and a Current Obsession with Shopping
November 13, 2007 at 9:28 AM | 0 Comments
Dublin's new Dylan Hotel is getting huge hype at the moment, and we're curious about why. Recent guests just can't rave enough about it, and one comment seems to sum up everybody else's: "We really couldn't find one negative thing to say".
Many positive comments about this 44-room boutique hotel in the south side of Dublin refer to the friendly and helpful staff. For example, they aren't "over pampering" and they don't "try to be ubercool." One guest said she and her family hugged and kissed all the staff as they left, since they'd been made to feel so welcome there.
It all sounds great, but the Dylan marketing team somehow decided to put together a VIP Shopping Package as a lure for guests. For what it's worth, the package includes a double room and breakfast, two $70 vouchers to spend at department store Brown Thomas, a foot spa for tired feet after a shopping spree and an in-room movie and popcorn to relax at the end of the day.
That package comes for $640 which is decent value, but personally we'd head to Dublin for other reasons than to go shopping. Just staying at the Dylan seems like a good enough reason, in fact.
[Photo: mithu1974]
Related Stories:
· Hotels in Dublin [HotelChatter]
· Dylan Hotel Reviews [TripAdvisor]
· Travel Stories in Ireland [Jaunted]
Ireland Hotel Reviews
Ireland's Hotel Scene: Clontarf Castle
September 6, 2007 at 10:38 AM | 0 Comments
HotelChatter had an operative in Ireland last week who has so graciously forwarded us reviews of some hotels. This is the third in a three-part series.
Our Hotel Maven left the Crowne Plaza near the airport to spend a few days at the Clontarf Castle, also in Dublin. Here's the review:
The property was built hundreds of years ago and has been nicely updated. The rooms were spacious and had many modern luxuries. The hotel had various restaurants and bars. It is also just a short walk from the water and the city.
Overall, this was a very upscale and impressive hotel. If your looking for a great experience in Ireland we highly recommend staying at these hotels. Slainte!
As for the "castle" part of the hotel, that only seems to apply to the exterior as the hotel website claims the "turrets, tapestries and an ancient history, the thick Castle walls conceal a hotel interior that would not be out of place in Manhattan or Miami." And the €10 million makeover helped turn it into a savvy boutique hotel as well.
Actually most of the public areas still look like the inside of a castle, complete with a knight's armor and sword standing ready to greet you. Yet it's the rooms that have been modernized with new furniture new baths and 28" LCD screen TVs. Rates start at about €250 a night.
[Photo: ManchesterMatt]
Related Stories:
· Ireland's Hotel Scene: Crowne Plaza Santry Hotel [HotelChatter]
Ireland Hotel Reviews
Ireland's Hotel Scene: Crowne Plaza Santry Hotel
September 5, 2007 at 11:45 AM | 0 Comments
HotelChatter had an operative in Ireland last week who has so graciously forwarded us reviews of some hotels. This is the second part in a three-part series.
Our Hotel Maven continued on from his hotel in Cork to the Crowne Plaza Hotel near the Dublin airport. Here's the review:
The hotel provided complimentary service from the airport. It was a fairly new hotel with a Holiday Inn attached. We were upgraded to an executive level which included free use of the executive lounge and access to free refreshments.
The rooms were nice with a modern decor and included the largest working desks that we have ever seen in a hotel. This hotel would be perfect for business travelers and included a trendy bar, Asian-inspired restaurant and they brewed Starbucks coffee.
Er...we're pretty sure "working desks" meant work spaces not actual desks that do work. Although, that would be cool.
As for the Holiday Inn, that makes some sense since these are both Intercontinental Hotels but it is weird that it is attached to the Crowne Plaza. Nevertheless, room rates average about $265 a night and since the hotel was recently renovated in 2003, everything is fairly brand-new and updated. It actually looks to us like a cool airport hotel. And there's a forest behind it! (See the hotel website's photo tour.)
[Photo: xangav ]
Related Stories:
· Ireland's Hotel Scene: Jurys Doyle Hotel Cork [HotelChatter]
· Hotels in Ireland [HotelChatter]
Ireland Hotel Reviews
Ireland's Hotel Scene:: Jurys Doyle Hotel Cork
September 4, 2007 at 5:05 PM | 0 Comments
HotelChatter had an operative in Ireland last week who has so graciously forwarded us reviews of some hotels. This is the first in a three-part series.
Our Hotel Maven first visited the Jurys Doyle Hotel Cork in Cork County, a four-star hotel which just opened eight months ago. Here's the review:
We stayed in a king bedroom on the fifth floor (their highest floor). The room was rather large and had a modern decor. The bathrooms were especially nice with a tub separate from the shower stall.
We stayed in Cork County for 2 days and the hotel had a great location for walking around the city. The restaurant and bar inside the hotel were good too. You can sit out by the river and enjoy cocktails.
We highly recommend going to Cork and staying at this hotel. However, don't confuse this hotel with the Jury's Inn, another Cork hotel.
Just a quick note: Room rates at this property start at €139 for weekends. Another quick note: Jurys Doyle Hotel group has its own Flickr page. How tech-savvy! Anyways, so far so good on the Emerald Isle. Stay tuned this week for the rest of the reviews.
Related Stories:
· Hotels in Ireland [HotelChatter]
International Hotel WiFi
International Hotel WiFi Tip: The Clayton Has It Free in the Lobby
May 21, 2007 at 12:10 PM | 0 Comments
We got another update to our International Hotel WiFi Report. This time, Hotel Maven Dave sent us this live tip from Ireland.
I'm in Ireland, in Galway, at the recently opened Clayton Hotel which has free WiFi through the lobby/bar area. There's no `guests only' policy - it's completely open.
I can't seem to get WiFi in my room (I'm on the 4th (top) floor), but there is an Ethernet cable. WiFi would be nice though, as the room is large and I could then sit on the sofa or on the bed to surf, but I have to tether myself to the desk, which is central in the room and unfortunately inches from the large LCD TV, thus making surfing while watching TV difficult.
Not that TV watching is great, with only a few channels.
Yes, WiFi in the rooms is so much more comfortable than trekking down to the lobby with your computer (especially when the channel selection is limited.) That's why we gave props for those offering free WiFi in the lobbies but we weren't too excited by it.
Remember to send us your International WiFi tips.
Related Stories:
· Best and Worst International Hotel WiFi [HotelChatter]
Ireland Hotel Reviews
Cosmo Browns is Not Ireland's First Gay Hotel or a Gay Hotel At All
April 24, 2007 at 3:05 PM | 0 Comments
Wow, it seems that hotels thought to be closing/opening also come in threes. First, the W Honolulu was to turn into a swank Balinese-themed hotel but ended up remaining a W. Then the Hotel Du Cap Eden Roc was reported to close but the owners said that talk of the hotel turning into a private residence was not true.
Now we learn that Ireland's first gay hotel actually never opened at all last June.
A tipster says the Cosmo Browns @ the Ritz in Carlow is neither a gay hotel or gay bar.
Cosmo Browns @Ritz Hotel Carlow was NEVER a gay hotel. The last manager ran in to problems with banks etc. and the rumors had it that the venue was opening as a gay bar.
This is sad for Ireland's gay community but probably better for the travel community as a whole, since the TripAdvisor reviews from last summer were horrendous. Back then, it looked as if the hotel was operating not as a gay hotel but just some hole in the wall to stay for a night.
Related Stories:
· Ireland's First Gay Hotel [HotelChatter]
· Cosmo Browns Hotel reviews [TripAdvisor]
Hotel Hell
Sleepless in Kingsvalley, Galway
March 2, 2007 at 11:33 AM | 1 Comment
It looks so nice in the pictures. And the Kingsvalley Hotel in Galway, Ireland, also contains the Bodkin's Bar and Eatery and the Bodkin's Beer Garden--how convenient! But a blogger named Prem found this quite the opposite during a recent stay at the Kingsvalley, when loud music, disco beats, happy birthday songs and drunken people made sleep impossible before 2.30am. Bad enough, until we read about the manager's reaction:
When I complained to the Manager in the morning about the low standards of the hotel, he says that I must be wrong and that there's no way the music can reach me ... [later] he apologized and he only offered me a little discount (not even the full night free!) for all the inconvenience. 20 euros discount on a 100 euros night and getting just above 3 hours sleep?? Definitely not again
Well, we have sympathy for the three hours' sleep, but it is Ireland, and the Irish do like to drink and have a good time, right? Perhaps if you're really in need of a good night's sleep it's best to avoid any hotel with an in-house beer garden.
Related Stories:
· Kingsvalley Hotel reviews [TripAdvisor]
· Never Stay in Kingsvalley [Prem Gurbani blog]
