flora

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!!!!!!!!

TopMan

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

SiobhanP

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.

SiobhanP

Once again apologies for the spelling

Plates

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!

tmh

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

Christina

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.

allisonm

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.

chip

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.

buongiorno

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?

strass

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.)

StephenG

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.

JMM

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

IrishEyes

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.

tropo

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.

rj007

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.

Neil_Oz

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?

lyb

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!!!!!

Clifton

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.

Clifton

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.