Morrison or Shelbourne or other hotel in Dublin?
 

A friend and I will be in Dublin for Thanksgiving, and are looking for a convenient, safe, nice hotel. We've read good things about the Morrison and the Shelbourne-- has anyone stayed in either of these? Is there a better place we should consider? Thanks!

You should really check out the site for Brownes Townhouse Hotel, on St. Stephen's Green (www.brownesdublin.com). We stayed there in 2002 and it was terrific in every way - the best hotel we stayed in during a two-week Ireland/Scotland journey. Rooms are smallish but unique, with modern marble baths; service is crisp and professional; breakfast in the adjoining brasserie is great.

I've stayed at Wynn's Hotel on Abbey Street just a block from the Abbey theatre and about 50m from O'Connell Street. It's clean, safe, quiet and comfortable. I think it has a 3-star rating.

It's convenient to shops, restaurants, and isn't far from Busáras (Dublin's principal bus station).

The AirLink bus stop going toward the airport is just across O'Connell St. and a block up on O'Connell.

I've also stayed at an Hotel on Abbey St., the other side of O'Connell. I can't recommend it.

If you can afford either...go for the Morrison. The Shelbourne is very convenient to St Stephens green but I feel its in need of a good renovation. The Morrison is a funky more minimalist trendy hotel. The bar is a hopping place and fun on the weekends. Good cocktails and bar food in the day (NOT carvery!).

Wynns is in a different league and more budget than the Morrison and Shelbourne. I think it could get noisy as there are a lot of 21st parties held there at the weekends lately. Ned, I know the place futher on Abbey street...was it the Abbey hotel? It looks awful when I walk by.

I recently stayed at The Westin. Very nice and their "Heavenly Beds" ae the best. the hotel is located right next to Trinity College and 3 blocks from Temple Bar. I highly recommend and I am a very picky traveler.

SiobhanP: It wasn't the Abbey Hotel. As I recall, it had a European name like Tivoli or something like that. I had just come back to Dublin on the bus from Ballina (Mayo) and I needed to crash someplace close to where I would catch the first (05:15) Airlink Bus in the AM.

That's when & where I saw all those homeless people sleeping on the median or who had been walking the street all night. A couple of guys tried to get on the bus without paying but the driver told them to get off. He blamed the EU's 'Open borders' Policy for the problem. If someone from Albania or Bulgaria or Romania can get across a single border into an EU Country, they don't have to go thru Passport Control or Immigration anywhere else in the EU. Ireland is the preferred destination for many because they can claim that they are Political Refugees and the Government of the Irish Republic gives them 400 Euros as a Grant. It's bad!

Ned I think we had this chat before :-). I do live here and there is not a huge amount of Bulgarian/Romanians compared with other ethnic groups living here. My work colleague is a Bulgarian Academic but blanket statements like this can cause problems for many legitimate hard working people.

To be honest I am more worried about the 12-18 year olds trwaling the streets and buses. They are intimidating as hell and they are IRISH. You will not encounter this in tourist areas but it exists in certain areas.

I don't think that once they are in they can cross borders freely, they must go through the same channels as any other Non-EU person from country to country. If they are smuggled in then its a differnt story.

Please do not let other peoples predjuices influence you until you live here for a while. There are good and bad people in every race, culture and country.

I am not familiar with the Tivoli but there are a few smaller places in the area that I would not know. The area has picked up considerable since the new Luas tram line has been put in and it started working last week.

Galsal, the 2 hotels you mention are very different in style. As Siobhan says, The Morrison is a large 'hip' hotel, whereas the Shelbourne is very old world. I MUCH preferred the Morrison.

But my favourite of the lot is The Clarence - it manages to mix contemporary style with luxury comfort. It's owned by U2, the rock group, if that means anything to you. Do a search here - I've talked about why I love the Clarence in an old post.

Good suggestion Kate. While I have never stayed in the Clarence its one of my hiding places where we go to have a cocktail and not bump into anyone and chat to the barmen and strangers around us. Last time I was there the barman kept giving me samples (The extra amount he made) of the cocktails so I could taste different ones...I never asked and they just kept arriving in front of me!The restaurant is very nice and very pricey though. I think they are doing bar food now rfom something I read recently.

I have never been in the rooms but I dream of renting out the penthouse for a few nights and sitting in the jaccuzzi overlooking the Liffey when I win the lotto!

We stayed at the Westbury this Summer and loved it. It's a deluxe hotel with Grafton Street right out your door, you can't get anymore convenient than that. Check out the package rates on their website, our deal included a full Irish breakfast each morning in their restaurant that had a beautiful view overlooking Grafton.

We found The Clarence to be nice in many ways, but it is in the heart of Temple Bar area, and thus VERY noisy at night. Didn't sleep much... And inexplicably for a hotel owned by U2, the lounge area played the same Stevie Wonder CD over and over for 3 days. Restaurant is very good, and the people who worked there were very personable and helpful.

The Westbury is very nice, stayed a few months ago. Had a problem with my room and was upgraded by the duty manager to the huge Presidential suite! Britney had checked out of it a few days before (but hadn't left anything behind....)

The Fitzwilliam, on St. Stephen's Green is also a nice place, more of a boutique hotel. Nice restaurant there.