Ireland of the Welcomes....NOT
 

Ireland of the Rip Off more like.Profit is the driving motivation now not hospitality.Sandwiches minimum four euro (Westbury Hotel recently two slices of white bread skim of butter one slice of dried out beef served by a boy in a white jacket whose hand shook so much we had to help him unload - 7.50) coffee often mimimum 2 euro, main course in almost any restuarant 18 euro steaks 27 euro wine on horrendous mark ups., And surly untrained people to seve it up to you. Why should anyone bother?. Take your hard earned money and holiday somewhere you'll actually be welcomed and have a terrific meal for less than half what you'll pay for rubbish in Ireland. Italy say or Spain. Oh look anywhere!!!!!!!!

Uhhhh..sounds like you may have stayed at the "wrong" hotel???????????

Flora it is very expensive in Dublin I live here and know it. Saying that any hotel will charge more no matter what country you are in. I am not a fan of the food at the westbury, I prefer the bar/lounge as there are better cafes to eat in. Coffee sit down anywhere will be approx 2 euro and I do not think that is expensive just the norm.

What restaurants did you eat in? Just curious as well. 18 plus for a filet steak is about right and to be honest I though its about the same or less than NY prices. 27 euro for wine is getting up there you usually can get a bottle house or decent other fro 20-22 euro.

It would really help to know what places you ate in. I am also unsurprised by the waiter. Its an unfortunate situation that many mid range places are hiring inexperienced wait stafff as no one else will apply and they are often stuck. Not good for the service industry!

Also the way the sandwich was made is how most places would make it vbar being dried out. We do not make the 2 inch high dagwood sandwickes. A ham and cheese is 1 slice ham and 1 slice cheese and if you want lett and tomato you have to ask. It's just a cultural eating thing.

As for being unwelcome I think its a bit unfair. People are very encouraging and helpful to tourists for the most part as we are aware we need the industry. You should write a letter tyo the Westbury about what you mentioned as it can only help them change. You are their target Market so let them know.

Sorry you did not have a nicer trip.

Once again apologies for the spelling

Yes prices here are quite high. Yes the service is not a patch on what it used to be (as a result of the economic boom it's hard to get quality staff for the rates that hotels and restaurants can afford to pay). But Dublin is not much worse that other big cities (Paris, Rome - we all have our rip off and rude service stories from there I'm sure). I was born in Dublin and (apart from a few years working in California, college in England and backpacking in Oz) I've lived here all my life. Dublin is only a small taste of Ireland and not even what I would consider as the "real" Ireland. I can only hope you had a better experience in the South and West of the country - I know I always do!

Flora - I suggest not going anywhere else if this type of thing irritates you.

I would also suggest you adjust your attitude or knowledge of restaurant and coffee prices. Two euro for coffee in an major Western European city (except a fast food place) is fairly cheap, if you are in a restaurant or cafe. It's about that even in the US at restaurants, and in Spain as I was just there.

Why would you think 18 euro for a main course in a restaurant is so expensive? And buying sandwiches is never a good idea in a big expensive hotel, they always cost that much in a hotel.

Your remarks about the young server are rather repugnant on the surface. Maybe he had an illness or genetic condition that made his hand shake, or maybe he was just learning or was nervous.

We learned early on in our trips to Ireland that the sandwiches were not up to our NY deli style. We sat with the owner of an O'Brien's sandwich shop who talked about opening a shop in the States. We told him the skinny sandwiches would not make it here. As for prices, I think when the currency changed, the prices went up quite a bit. But we paid almost 4 euros for a cup of coffee in Paris, so it's not only Ireland. We found that carvery lunches were a wonderful value and look for them in our travels. Sorry you had such a bad trip.

Maybe you should have tried a friendly B&B....
where you are met with a smiling face (and an occasional wag of a tail) and sometimes a fresh pot of coffee and cookies. Other times you may share some wine,beer, or tea with your hosts. They may even entertain you with their musical talents or refreshing Irish wit. All with no extra charge!

After the first meal in Ireland, we found that if we both ordered a meal it was way too much (and didn't leave room for the wonderfully fresh desserts!) so we usually shared and still were stuffed.

I think that the real Irish charm was in the small towns and the pubs, but even in Dublin the taxi drivers, bartenders, and all the locals that we met and chatted with were wonderful.

P.S. Why would you be drinking wine when you could have been experiencing Guinness, which is never better than when enjoyed in Ireland.

While I thought Ireland was pricey, I thought it was more to do with the euro vs the dollar. Remember as well that on an island, anything that isn't made there has to be shipped over water which is expensive. On our recent trip we stayed at hotels rather than B & B's and as we also found out, most of the service personnel were not Irish, mostly Malaysian, German, Lithuanian and others. However, we did not find the Irish or others to be unfriendly. You couldn't have possibly projected an unfriendly image because you were angry about pricing?

We never paid 18 euro for a tasty and satisfying meal in a pub! It's hard to imagine Ireland as inhospitable--we had a totally different experience, I guess. I often dream of returning. (And $2.25 for a cup of restaurant coffee is standard, here in Chicago.)

Let me first state that I was in Dublin and Ireland this year for 2 weeks and had a completely different experience. Our family of 4 did not stay at the Westbury but we did eat meals out except breakfast that we cooked in our apartment, about 8 euro per morning for 4. Outside of the
cities we did B&B's and were treated like kings with great breakfasts and great comfortable rooms. Prices were never out of line!!!
Meals in Dublin were not in Hotels, who ever eats in Hotel? Wine is something I know about, I work for a California Winery. The markup and values were excellent all over the country including Dublin and Galway.
To brand Ireland as not being hospitable because of one bad hotel is outragious. We never felt so welcome as we did in Ireland. We did notice the prosperity especilly in the real estate prices but the Irish people remain humble and down to earth as always.

An expensive sandwich destoys an entire trip! How VERY odd. Personally i have never let a sandwich make or break a vacation.

For deli style sandwiches in Ireland I suggest Jam. It is self-service and they put whatever you want on it. Just tell them to keep piling it on till you are satisfied. Most bakery/self-serve places will do this. I will never forget that an acquaintance said they would never return to Ireland again because they couldn't get a decent hamburger. In fact they cut their trip short because of the hamburgers! There is no pleasing everyone. You can get crummy food anywhere in the world, even at home. You just have to know where to go. Don't condem an entire country because of a sandwich...or a burger. ((c))

I thought this Travel Board was for people to get the "good oil" on travel locations, hotels, eating places, that didn't rip you off.
I stayed in farm Bed & breakfast establishments on my Irish tour last year, and I couldn't fault them. The breakfasts were excellent, the hosts gave extremely good advice on eating establishments, that gave good service & food.

Another example of why I like B&B's over hotels. Very gracious hosts who served breakfast which is included in the price. The people of Ireland are among the friendliest people in Europe and of course, the beauty of Ireland is why we keep coming back. flora - maybe you should stay home for your next vacation.

chip, whose tail was wagging in those B&Bs you stayed in? If it wasn't the dog's, could you please pass on names and addresses so that the rest of can have a shot at real Irish hospitality?

I get a feeling that Flora may not have traveled outside his/her little world before and expects everything to be same as her safe little world. Also, as someone else mentioned earlier, if an expensive sandwich ruins your trip, I think you have some issues that go way beyond an expensive sandwich.

Lastly, how horrible, people in Ireland want to make a living and don't give away their food to tourists. How awful of them! Pleeeaaase!!!!!

Sorry you had a bad trip flora. Especially in one of my favorite places. Obviously, what you experienced doesn't happen to everyone that goes to Ireland. Or they may just have different expectations. It's certainly a popular repeat destination.

But there's lots of places in the world and everyone can't like everyplace. I hope your next goes better.

Nevermind my post. I got curious and see that this wasn't the first trip for you either. Saw you were making positive recommendations for places in Ireland already sometime back. I guess I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. :)

Bongiorno - Thanks for pointing out something that very few people realise. Ireland ships Most goods into the country even a lot of produce (Go to the fruit/veg/glower market off capel street at 4am!). All shipping adds cost to the products. THis is why I like to do major shopping if I have a bit of cash outside Ireland.

Stephen G - I was surprised to see you think the mark up on wine is good here. I get quite frustrated to see how much more we pay for the same wines in other countries. Champagne has the highest tax and one new restaurant recently started serving sparkling wine instead of champers on the menu as it is more realistically priced. The 20-23 euro would be a house wine and ok you need to get into the last 20's toe 30's for a good wine. I just cant justify paying a 300% markup on a bottle of Fleuie in a restaurant when I can take the ferry to francy and buy a case for much less.

I forgot the differences in Sandwiches as I have nor been to the US in a while. Sandwiches are not huge over here or stuffed with everything. You must ask for all that you want in it. O'Briends is a good chain on the rund and just have one made up to what you like. I never heard of Jam but that siunds food too. Nude is another Dublin place that have smoothies and oannini and soups etc and is healthy.

Flora,
Sorry you didn't like Ireland. Maybe some reseach would have helped. Ireland is documented as a VERY expensive country. Personally this posting sounds as much like you had a problem as the country. To compare Ireland to Italy is not exactly comparing apples to oranges. Each country is unique not a copy of another.

I too found Ireland grossly over-priced (and I would go as far to say not worth it). I never yet found the true Celtic hospitality there either even in the remoter parts. The standard of service in many establishments was very poor indeed and did not merit the high costs.

If it continues many tourists will simply go elsewhere unless Ireland raises its game.

I agree with some of the points posted as I don't think the mid price ranges restaurants are up to scratch with service or food. What will make changes is if you write these constructive critisms to the tourist board. It you slate the Westbury specifically it will have less impact than if you tell them in general what you feel would keep tourists away
It will never change unless you voice an opinion.

SoibhanP: I just cant justify paying a 300% markup on a bottle of Fleuie in a restaurant when I can take the ferry to francy and buy a case for much less.

Europeans are definetly spoiled on wine markups, I will agree in Italy and France the restaurant prices are more equivelant to retail stores but we had many wines in Ireland that were only 150 -200 % marked up. Especially good values on South African wines.
Here in the US we are seeing 500 % markups on even California Wines.

I was always under the impression California wine was well priced. Wow! I just think due to the close proximity to France etc we should be cheaper in prices but we are taxed up the ar*e over here. In Tuscany I weep at the prices in the off license. I cannot condone the taxes when in Paris I get a real glass of champagne for 4-5 euro and its 15-18 in Ireland. 5 euro might get my a glass of sparkling or Cava if I was lucky to find it in a bar. There was an article in the newspaper in Dublin that basically said, Jameson which is brewed in Ireland is 12 euro more here than the same bottle bought in Italy. I think we are shooting ourselves in the foot these days.

Any place I can get some info in Californian wines? I am usually at a loss when I am in America of what to order as I am not familiar with them. I want my Irish Partner to try some.

Maybe it's my British/Irish heritage but when I was growing up, my mother and grandmother always made sandwiches just as you describe. Perhaps if we didn't pile it on Carnegie-Deli style so much in the U.S., people wouldn't be so overweight!

But I feel for you as far as your Dublin experience. Though I loved the rest of Ireland (and got some good, cheap meals, too), the Shellbourne Hotel in Dublin is by far the worst hotel in which I've ever stayed - what a total rip-off!

SiobhanP, Jam is in Killarney & Kenmare: http://www.jam.ie/

>.Perhaps if we didn't pile it on Carnegie-Deli style so much in the U.S., people wouldn't be so overweight!<<

Not to start a battle...but so VERY true. When I was in Italy last year, I liked the idea that their sandwiches weren't so huge, it reminded me when I was young and our sandwiches were just a couple slices of meat, lettuce and maybe tomatoes. Nowadays, my God, sandwiches have to be so big, and yes, we are a nation of overweight people. I think it's not just a coincidence.

Overall, we found food prices in Ireland to be fairly reasonable -- of course we didn't go anywhere near the Dublin area.

I agree that the sandwich can be sort of a cultural shock for an American. I can remember my wife's first encounter -- "Butter? They put butter on my sandwich? Yuck!" ((a)) We are more accustomed to mustard/mayo.

Pub lunches were around 9-10 Euro (About $10). This was a full-course meal - meat/veg/potatos.

And my Guinness was only 3.1 to 3.3 Euro (about $4.00) which I thought was very reasonable, and you get the "real" thing. ((b))

Budman - You put mayo and mustard on your sandwiches? Yuck! I grew up in an Irish household and butter is the thing to put on a sandwich.

I travelled through the Republic in 2001 and never felt that prices were overinflated- in any way. For Aussies, Ireland was MUCH cheaper than Britain at that time.
I can only say that Americans have had profitable cross-rates for a long time. When the US dollar finally dropped- they are now finding it a little hard to cope with.

I can only say the food was wonderful(I've never ate more salmon or have had more "full" breakfasts), the people were wonderful (hotel staff were first-rate -in the leading hotels) and the prices were what were to be expected.I bought some gold jewellery in Galway and actually came away with what I judged to be a "bargain.

I travelled through the Republic in 2001 and never felt that prices were overinflated- in any way. For Aussies, Ireland was MUCH cheaper than Britain at that time.
I can only say that Americans may have had profitable cross-rates for a long time, but that's changed. When the US dollar finally dropped- some travellers are now finding it a little hard to cope with.

I can only say the food was wonderful in Ireland (I've never ate more salmon or have had more "full" breakfasts), the people were wonderful(the hotel staff were first-rate) and the prices were what I had expected. I bought some gold jewellery in Galway and actually came away with what I judged to be a "bargain" compared to the price I would pay in Australia for similar.
My father was born in Northern Ireland. He (and I, naturally) hold a surname that may sometimes raise eyebrows in the South.
But I never had the slightest problem. My time in the Republic was just wonderful. My attitude to the "troubles" is so a-political that it wouldn't even rate a mention. And didn't.

Forget what some (and I hate to say this) un-informed idiot is saying. Ireland is a wonderful place. The food is great. The people are great. Even the sandwiches (God forbid!) are great.
Would I go there again.
Yep. Yesterday!!!
Possum

Let's face it folks, Flora must have been hormonal at the time. :) And if he/she felt so strongly about all this, what hasn't he/she come back for a rebuttal?

I've never been to Ireland myself, but a good friend of mine did last year. He had nothing but complimentary things to say about everyone, and he did go to Dublin.

So, I think one person is a little moody, let's face he/she even put down someone who probably has a disease that makes him shake. What does that say about Flora? A LOT!!!!