Kate

We're are going to Ireland for 6 days then onto London & Paris at the end of August and we're flying into Dublin. We plan to spend the first night there and would love to stay in a quaint (ie typical Irish) B&B or guest house to start off our trip. I have done searches on the forum, went to ireland.travel.ie, expedia and about 4 other websites that I found when doing a search on Yahoo so please do not give me these suggestions. I would like someone to give me a personal recommendation. I have called / e mailed Kilronan House & Number 31 both are booked. I would like the B&B / guesthouse not to have more than 40 rooms, not be part of a chain (rules out Jury's) and be close to city centre (rules out St Andrews). Thanks for your help! It will be a great start to our two week trip!

sally

Kate: have never been so cannot give personal reccommendation. Go to www.karenbrown.com and check under Ireland. We have stayed in several of her listed B&Bs in Italy and they were all nice to very nice. Good luck

Don Williams

Well I usually stay at Kilronan House when I want to be in the city centre and at St. Andrews when I have an early flight, but I guess those are out. Both are great BTW! You say you have searched, but if you have'nt been to www.beourguest.ie and www.commerce.ie/towns_and_country then you need to give them a look. The problem is that Dublin REALLY fills up in the summer(weekends year round)and all the best places book up early. You may need to be more flexable, maybe send your last day in Dublin rather than first day. <BR>Good luck, <BR>Don

Cathy

Kate, <BR>Alternatively try the universities for a bed - as previous postings mentioned Dublin and Ireland really fills up in the summer months. Check out www.ireland.travel.ie for listings and further assistance from the tourist board. One of the universities that has beds is Maynooth and they are at www.maynooth.ie about 30 minutes bus ride from city centre. Hope this helps, Have a good time, <BR> <BR>Cathy

Gail

Hi Kate. I just got back from Dublin. we stayed at Kilronen House our last night and were in a room the size of a small closet. It was terrible. If you get stuck I suggest Clontarf Castle. It was the same price for 2 as Kilronen house and was just beautiful, a 4 star hotel. It cost L110 pp including breakfast and is a short bus ride to downtown.

harzer

Do a search for 'Lansdowne Lodge' and you will get information on this B&B in Ballsbridge, Dublin. It is in walking distance of the city south of the Liffey or you can use the nearby "Dart' station. <BR> <BR>This is a small establishment with only a dozen rooms, but very nice. My wife and I stayed there in 1998 and were most impressed. <BR> <BR>Their site has an email form for further enquiries about price and availability. <BR> <BR>Otherwise, just use the keyword 'Dublin' for your search and you will be directed to 'Accommodations' and then to specific hotels and guesthouses. <BR> <BR>Another alternative search is under Fodor's Hotels Guide. For Dublin they list about 20 places with several starred names to show they are recommended.

Ed

The Kilrrrronan house was eferingtheir overflow guests to the Albany House when we were there in 97. The Albany had much larger rooms and was closer to St. Stephen's Green, at about the same price, you might want to check it out. The real Irish family BB's are out more from Dublin. Being close is best for anovernight.

steve

in nearby Swords, i recommend Holly Tree B&B. In Slane, about 30 minutes away, I can recommend Boyne View B&B. <BR> <BR>Both these have a lot fewer than 40 rooms. Most B&B's we stayed at had less than 10.