desertgirl

I am wrapping up the Ireland planning, but have a remaining question about what part of Dublin to stay in for two nights in August--our last two nights in Ireland.

The Townhouse of Dublin has been recomended on this forum, but it is on Lower Gardiner Street, which others have said is a dicey part of Dublin.

We will have our two children (daughter, 17 and son, 14) with us, so we want an area they can safely explore together without us looking over their shoulders.

Any suggestions? I don't mind a short commute into Dublin on DART, which looks to be efficient. Our budget is around Euro 200/night, tops, and that is hopefully for two rooms.

Danna

We loved Stephen's on the Green. It was many years ago, but I'm sure you will be able to find the website.

IrishEyes

Generally, the Dublin 2 area is good. It is an expensive city to stay in. 200 euro for two rooms will not go far. You may want to search for special rates. Many hotels give discounts for two or more nights either at weekends or mid week. Try www.irelandhotels.com

nytraveler

We have stayed just off Grafton Street - great location and you can walk to most things. We also stayed twice in Ballsbridge - kind of far to walk to the center - but there are lots of cabs - and the area was quite pleasant. But did the latter due to business - on another vacation would do more central.

desertgirl

NyTraveler, do you recall where you stayed off Grafton St. or in Ballsbridge? We don't have to stay in the city centre, but the area should be safe enough for our two teens to do a little exploring without us.

IrishEyes, thanks for the link. I have been looking everywhere for someplace reasonably priced. We are doing the first week of this trip in Italy (expensive!) and I am trying to keep down our costs in Ireland.

OReilly

Also recommend the south side around Grafton street or Ballsbridge (Dublin 4) which will be cheaper - try to get a place near the DART.

I just got an excellent rate for the Conrad (four star) on Earlsford Terrece of 140 Euros per night for a room with two double beds - sorry more than you want to pay.

I am sure Siobhan will have a good recommendation for you.

musttraveloften

My family and I have stayed in several areas of Dublin. Last fall we stayed at Harrington Hall, which was a great place. It's not cheap. I think we paid $87 Euro/person, but Dublin just isn't cheap. It's in a great neighborhood, not far from St. Stephen's Green and an easy walk to all the sights. I've also stayed in the Jury's Inn at Christchurch which is a hotel chain. It wasn't too expensive and was a decent place to stay.
Have a great time!

IrishEyes

Just a thought but consider the suburbs. If you stay somewhere on the DART line you can whisk into the city center and then return to your lower cost B&B or hotel in the burbs every evening. Staying in central Dublin is quite expensive. The farther out you go the lower the cost goes. On the northside Malahide is great. Many like Dun Laoghaire on the southside but I find it to be just as busy as Dublin.

pontoon

The Central Hotel http://www.centralhotel.ie/ is hard to beat for a location and is often overlooked. I see they do double or twin rooms for €120. Also, this place is nearby and has got good reviews, similar price. http://www.graftonguesthouse.com/index.php Other areas outside the city centre that are attractive suburbs are Ballsbridge, Rathmines, Sandymount, Clontarf, Howth, Malahide. Drumcondra, Gardiner St, Artane etc are fairly dreary as holiday destinations!

SiobhanP

The Central hote is a great locationa dn I thionk you have to up the budget a bit for dublin. I do not know anyone who has stayed in the Grafton Guest house but its a gfood price and good location. Also try stauntons on the green. For B&B's try looking for some in Ballsbridge or Sandymount and its a quick hop from these places to Dublin via bus or dart. Forget the townhouse on Gardiner street. You get what you pay for here and the less you pay the didgier the places.

desertgirl

Thanks all--I have looked at the Central Hotel and it looks quite nice. I have also sent out inquiries to several places in Clontarf. Either location looks like it will work for us. Most of our trip will be spent in SW Ireland, but I am looking forward to seeing Dublin the last couple of days.

alanRow

I've stayed in Lower Gardiner Street & had no problems at all.

But why would you be exploring Lower Gardiner Street - it's only a couple of hundred yards from O'Connell Street & similar from the Liffey

uptowngirl2418

We stayed at Trinity College. The location was great and breakfast was included.
The room was nice for the price and we shared the bathroom to save the extra dollars.
We also stayed at Botanic View B&B which is in Glasnevin. Really nice place and host. I think price was about 33euro pp. It was very convenient to the airport for our last night. She is also on the bus route for Dublin city centre.

nytraveler

Yes - we stayed at the Westbury. Charming, traditional older hotel with fairly large rooms and a great location - almost everything you want to see in Dublin is walkable.

The two hotels in Ballsbridge were the Jury's - NOT a nice place. Gets by on the name and masses of tour groups that don;t know any better/or have any choice. The service was both supercilious and condescending (and this is the ONLY place in Ireland I have had bad service) the food was very poor - even breakfast - and the rooms were ordinary and tired.

The other was the Berkeley - a truly wonderful hotel. Beautifully appointed, fantsatic service (not that we didn;t deserve it since we had more than 60 rooms - but the Jury's was nothing short of rude in the same situation) and the food was absolutely wonderful. I can't reco this hotel highly enough in terms of service, helpfulness, warmth and charm (even from staff who didn;t know who I was the attitude was always helpful - going out of their way and more).

julia_t

I stayed at St Stephen's Green Hotel last December with my 14yo daughter. It is a great location for walking to Grafton Street, and I would feel they could explore perfectly safely by themselves from there.

I paid 114 euros a night, not including breakfast which we got for a much better price out in the town.

www.hotel-ireland.co.uk

I posted a trip report if you are interested...

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34723278

Friends of mine stayed at Buswells, also close to Grafton Street and liked it very much - the breakfasts were fabulous they said! I don't know what they paid though.

Have a great trip - I'm sure your teens will love Dublin!

pontoon

As you mentioned Clontarf, where I used to live, I see Clontarf Castle is doing a double and twin room for 2 nights (midweek) in August for €324 all in. Could be worth investigating?

SiobhanP

Buswells is a nice place centrally located and they were renovating a lot of room last summer.

Clontarf castle is lovely but maybe a bit out for you? Saying that the bus takes you from just outside to town and is convenient. We opften go to the bar here in the winetwr and I just found an old picture of me and the brothers as kids outside the castle in the 70's. time flies! Its more a hotel than a castle and the ground floor has some bits that are like a castle but the accommodation is not just so you know.

desertgirl

Thank you all. I have thus inquired about: 1) a self-catering apartment in Ballsbridge with a company called Your Home From Home, 2) the Ferryview House in Clontarf, and 3) St. Stephen's Green Hotel. I'm sure one of these will work out for us. The Clontarf Castle package NYtraveler mentioned was not available on our dates--the price shown was higher.