B&B's near Hueston Station, Dublin
 

I am looking for recommendations of a good B&B to stay in within walking distance of Hueston Train Station in Dublin for 2 nights in early August. I have never been to Ireland before and will be stopping for a few days on my way home from Germany. I'm a 30 year old female staying alone so preferably somewhere that is safe! I am not familiar with this area so if it is not safe please speak up.

I will be booking a tour with the Rail Tours Ireland company to head out to the Cliff's of Mohr my only full day in Ireland and need to be at the station at 7am to board the train...hence wanting to be walking distance from the station. I won't be spending much time in the room so it doesn't need to be fancy but not bottom of the rung either.

Suggestions are welcomed! Thanks in advance!

I stayed at the Phoenix Park House B&B a couple of years ago. It is OK, and it is a short walk to Heuston Station.

Best sea chowda I ever had was at Ryan's FXB Grills.

Thanks! I checked out some of the reviews on Tripadvisor and they are a bit scary. The website does say under new management and it was recently refurbished though. The last review was early 2010 so more than a year ago. I sent the Tipperary House in that same area an email to get rates so I will see what they come back with. I do want other options though incase they don't have rooms available during my stay so I will keep this on the list. I will also be sure to check out the chowda (cracking up at the Boston style spelling of it by the way!)

I was at the Phoenix Park House two years ago. I'm sure that if it was as bad as some of those TripAdvisor reviews I would have left after one night and made some notes in my log book about the conditions. I didn't find it noteworthy either good or bad so that is why I said it was OK.

I live in Ireland (American/single woman) and travel to Heuston a lot. It's not an area I'd stay overnight unless it was only one night geared as you say to a train departure at 7 a.m. On the offchance you don't know it there's a tram (LUAS) that goes right to the station and (especially that early) doesn't take long right from Connolly station - going across many areas of B&B's. If you google up the route you might get some ideas.
I'm quite curious about your itinerary going to Cliffs of Moher on a Rail Holiday and also wondered why you chose that particular place --- if it isn't being too inquisitive!!

Thanks spaarne! Good to know it is okay vs the moldy smelly place many described.

tenaya - my main concern was the very early departure time and not wanting to rely on a taxi or other form of transportation I wasn't familiar with. I figured this way I can literally walk across the street. I hate mornings and know it is going to be a struggle to get up on time to make it there so the less travel time in between the better! I did not know about the LUAS. Is it pretty straight forward to figure out which one to get on and in what direction? Does it make stops between the two stations?

I also found a hotel in the same vicinity as the Hueston station which is a bit more money than the Tipperary & Phoenix Park but also a good bit nicer. It's called the Ashling Hotel. http://www.ashlinghotel.ie/

I haven't booked the rail trip yet (better suggestions welcomed) but since I only have the afternoon the Friday I fly in and the whole day Saturday before I fly back to the US Sunday morning, I wanted to get out of the city and see more of the country side. A few friends have been to that area and said it was pretty. I figured the transportation part seemed easy with a group (not comfortable traveling that far on my own) and you don't have to deal with the annoying "stay with your group" tour mentality at each site we stop at. You can walk around on your own then meet back at the required time. They stop at the cliffs, Bunratty Castle, The Burren and Galway Bay. Here is the link to the full description. It seemed like a good variety of things to see outside of Dublin. Like I said though if there is something you feel is more worth while please suggest it.

http://www.railtoursireland.com/trai...lway-Bay/dh06/

Thank you Tweedy for satisfying my curiosity!
First - I thought of suggesting Ashling Hotel but you had specified B&B's. Definitely go for it. Perfect location and good - recently totally refurbished - hotel.
Luas could not be easier to use and goes right past the hotel... walking distance from station. Googling the route would be good. You could check in the hotel and then nip back to shops etc.
Checked out your tour and it looks great --- "learn something new every day"!!!
Had a first jolt when I saw "train to Cork" which would be clearer if "the Cork train" as you are not going to Cork.
It is the business commute which is why breakfast is served and might be an interesting experience if you are into breakfasts.

One point which should not be a problem if this is an "escorted"
tour is that you have to change trains at Limerick junction - usually little if any wait for the connection -- same platform --to Limerick station itself where presumably your bus will be waiting.

Sounds like you are a well organized person and also that you've picked something that will be enjoyable even if it pours with rain all day which it just might do.

No, thank you! Everyone was suggesting B&B's as they might be a more authentic (also cheaper) experience vs. a chain hotel. Finding a nice one in that area though has been posing a challenge hence this topic post in the first place. Tipperary emailed me back this morning though and either needs me to call them with my credit card info or mail them a 20 Euro bill in the mail. Both are not easily done from the states. The Ashling is actually double the price which sucks since I won't be spending much time in the room but at least I can book online with my credit card and it's still a short walk. I will check out some other places near the Connolly station before booking anything to see if I can find a better deal.

In regards to the tour, all of the reviews stay they just short of hold your hand on the transfers between the trains, buses etc. and make sure everyone from the group is there and accounted for. Dare I ask what you mean by interesting? Should I pack my own breakfast? Is the food really weird?

This will be my 5th trip to Europe in the past 8 years. I have learned being well organized means you get to see more in the short amount of time you are traveling. There's no sense in stopping in Ireland on the way home if I only get to see 2 or 3 things. That would be a big waste of money!

I will definitely pack my rain coat and umbrella! Thanks!

No the food isn't weird - in fact delicious last time I tried it. By interesting I mean an "unusual" experience for a tourist breakfasting with "Executives"! You'd probably prefer to sleep as the journey to Limerick is pretty boring.

Yes hotels are very expensive over here (IMO) - and B&B's aren't really the thing in Dublin (and if they actually agreed to cook breakfast at 6 a.m would you want it???????)
Here is my true suggestion. Get a hostel: take a taxi to Heuston and buy croissants/coffee/takeaway at the station (lots of choice.) Heuston's a cute station -- very old-fashioned.

I imagine the Rail Tour people want a deposit - but if they won't take a credit card I find it strange. I'd have thought they'd want full payment at some time.

I admire your ability to organize yourself into seeing as much as possible. I've been travelling all my life and tend to "go with the flow" ... i.e. I'm lazy.

Are you having second thoughts about doing so much in the one day? I've often thought of spending a day on the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) which goes along the sea south into Wicklow (and also North).

With a Day Ticket one can get on and off on a whim starting perhaps with Dun Laoghaire (pronounced Leary). You could google up the route.

For hostels in Dublin you might start checking Isaacs which is on Luas and Dart (at Connolly).

Hope all this is helpful. Glad I mentioned "Rain".

Should have read your posts more carefully --- Train Deposit not the issue.

If you stay in a B&B see if you can get an early breakfast. Breakfasts in Irish B&Bs will put some beef on your bones. Typically you get 2 eggs, ham/bacon, potato, tomatoes, toast, juices, fruit, coffee/tea/chocolate, and probably some other stuff that I don't eat.

I booked everything today! After many many searches for B&B's and hotels that were either near the Hueston Station or along the red LUAS line I decided the Ashling was going to be the best bet for me. I read reviews on every hotel I looked up on Tripadvisor and many of the hotels that were cheaper had more bad reviews than good ranging from noise late into the night, moldy smelly mildewed rooms or rooms that were just plain dirty.

I wasn't real big on the hostel thing as I will have my laptop and other valuable items with me that I didn't feel safe leaving in a room with strangers. I was also quite disgusted at some of the reviews of how dirty they were and many had issues with bed bugs. YUCK!

I can easily afford the 3+ star hotel rooms, I was just hoping to find something a bit cheaper since I was going to spend so little time in the room. I won't however get eaten alive with bugs just to save a few bucks. I did end up getting a good deal through Hotels.com getting an upgraded room for much cheaper than the basic room and also have coupons to get a rebate once I return home.

I also ended up booking the rail tour out to the Cliffs of Mohr. Assuming I like Ireland (I'm sure I will) I will be sure to try out the DART train to see other area's of the country next time around. Not having been to Ireland before and having no idea how to get around I feel a bit more comfortable sticking with a group this trip. I'm sure I will survive the breakfast with business executives. I work in a corporate environment so it really won't be that out of sorts for me. Oh and no second thoughts, I am used to taking tours with school that pack a million things into one day. This will be relaxing comparatively speaking!

Hopefully next trip I can stay out in the countryside and find a B&B that is a bit nicer than the ones I found in Dublin. Then I can eat the yummy breakfast spaarne described above!

Thank you both for your help!!