Leaving this Saturday and I'm SO excited. I even found a restaurant in Dublin that serves GF fish and chips - YUMMY. Question though, do hotels in Ireland have ice machines? I'm an ice-aholic. Many thanks.

I have never seen an ice machine in Ireland.

Buy cold water before you get to your hotel or you will have to buy from bar. I used to chew ice all day, craved it but was anemic, had two pints of blood pumped into me one night and didn't want ice at all the next day. MacDonalds might have ice but the most you will get in a drink is a cube or two.

Just ask and any hotel will send it up to your room....

Take it GF fish and chips are an American imitation of the real thing. Try getting up to the Market in Howth on Sunday for some fresh caught local offerings, you might also find the lack of salt and artificial preservatives a bit distasteful but as mentioned above your hotel will more than likely be happy to supply you with some ice, also readily available at supermarkets.

<<GF fish and chips are an American imitation of the real thing>>

I think she means "gluten-free." If it means "guilt-free," then forget it, I'd rather have the guilt and a side of mayo.

If GF is Gluten Free and a requirement then that should be more important than Ice Cubes.. Please inform any planned Accommodation in advance, Ireland is very Coeliac friendly. https://www.coeliac.ie/ might be a useful reference point.

For some reason, people that run/work bars, etc in Ireland treat ice like a precious commodity. The whole fill the glass with ice thing is an anathema to them. You must be persistent in obtaining more than a few cubes at a time. Baffling! And don't even try to order "iced tea". Their head will explode! I am being a bit funny, but it is true, can't figure it out in my almost 20 years of regular travel!

I guess there is a hidden ice machine in a hotel somewhere but I have only seen a couple of cubes in all of Europe. I usually drink beer and bottled water so don't even ask. Some think the ice upsets the stomach and waters down the drinks.

You need to stay at the Crowne Plaza, they have ice machines on all floors,

Small ice buckets in the rooms but you can't have everything

Ice certainly waters down the drinks and since you don't get free refills why would you want half a glass of water instead of soda?

I have trouble ordering drinks in the US since all drinks come with too much ice. If I want a G&T? I want to taste the gin not a watered down version, so I ask for ice on the side.

I'm with you alya, too much ice in drinks in the U.S. I really hate that whole glass of ice thing.
When I'm in the States I have to ask for just a little bit of ice. If the tonic or bottle of water, soft drink, whatever, has been in the fridge, that plus about 3 cubes of ice is good for me.

Cultural differences...

It's definitely a cultural thing - that leaves a lot of us baffled. Anyway, many supermarkets sell bags of ice quite cheaply, if you're desperate! I guess you could leave them in the sink of your bathroom.

DH and I were in a hotel once (it might have been in Scotland, though) where we followed signs for the ice machine around and around the hotel until finally we asked at the desk. We were told the machine had been removed and to ask for ice at the bar.

Hello, remove the signs, would you??

Ice Machines come into the same Health and Safety Regulations as HVAC and require documentation and testing for the likes of Legionnaires disease. The added hassle and cost make the provision of such things unviable for smaller operations.