Okay folks. Need to make sure I'm not pulling any bonehead moves here. A 30-something pair of girlfriends is traveling to Ireland in May. How does our itinerary/choice of hotels sound?

First night - Dublin at the Gibson Hotel
Second/third nights - Galway at the G Hotel
Fourth/fifth nights - Killarney at the Ross Hotel
Sixth night - Kilkenny or Waterford (still figuring out the accommodations, but thinking of a nice little b & b I saw posted on another site...Newlands Country House)
Seventh night - Dublin at the Croke Hotel

We plan on sightseeing, hitting some pubs, but nothing too overly crazy, eating some good meals.

Insight from the folks who know is greatly appreciated!

Is it too late to set your flight to fly into Dublin, out of Galway?

Then
2 nights Dublin
1 night Kilkenny (my choice over Waterford)
2 nights Killarney
2 nights Galway, which is not un undoable drive from Shannon unless your flight out is very early)

I don't care much for your choices of location in Dublin.

Uh oh. What are your suggestions for Dublin. Unfortunately, it is too late to fly out of Galway Airline tix were the first thing we purchased...

I don't use hotels in Dublin. As a general guide, I suggest that you focus on the south city centre, but if you like to get some sleep, stay out of the Temple Bar area.

Both the Gibson and the Croke Park hotels are located near major venues and that's the business on which they make their money. They are not in locations that are very suitable for tourism.

Okay. So, does anyone have suggestions for hotels that would be suitable for tourism? Tips would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!!

http://www.buswells.ie/?r=3708004&gc...FRBT7AodlnQEXg I did my booking with booking.com

I have stayed in Dublin four times. I loved the Harding Hotel by Christ Church, but my other two times the hotels were closer to Temple Bar and they were very loud and did not sleep much. I did research and found Buswells. Loved it and will be my hotel in Dublin. There were cafes close by, the bus stops were everywhere and it is close to Trinity, Grafton and anything else you would want. I got it for Sept for under 90 euro a night which is not bad for Dublin, it was a double room, a double and a twin bed. Nice staff.

Just checked out the Gibson. Very nice but would not like that location at all. Buswells is a very old Dublin hotel, nothing super modern like the Gibson so not sure if it is your taste. I just loved it because it was a safe area and close to everything.

Thank you! Yeah, Gibson actually gets a high mark on tripadvisor. I will check out Harding and Buswells. Thanks!!

The G Hotel was great. It's a bit of a walk to the area around Eyre Square but the hotel is really nice. Easy enough to grab a taxi back to the hotel if you're planning on spending some time at the Skeffington Arms or the pubs along High Street. (Though a bit touristy, The Quays Pub is a great value for lunch or dinner. Also popular with locals.)

Probably too late to do anything about it, it sounds, but flying home from Shannon might have been a better idea. First two days in Dublin with circle west towards Galway and home from Shannon might have be an easier drive.

Regardless, you might want to plan on stopping in Kinsale or Cobh when heading back east from Killarney. I might suggest an evening in Kinsale would be a better option than Killkenney. The benefit is the town is a lot nicer, IMHO, with the downside that it means a longer drive back to Dublin.

When driving in Dublin you may want to get detailed directions from your hotel. We drove from Cork to Dublin for our last two nights and without the hotel giving us directions based on landmarks, we never would have been able to get to them as roadsigns weren't exactly well placed.

Regarding your original hotel choices, both Dublin hotels are not well placed for hitting the city centre. We have found the Conrad, off St Stephens Green, a bit on the international chain anonymous side but sometimes offering good value for its central location.
The G in Galway is also a little removed from town centre. Not the biggest in terms of room size but very well located, checking out the House Hotel (www.thehousehotel.ie) might be an idea.

Hi, My nephew stayed at the Harding Hotel - he liked it, said that it was convenient to downtown.