Been in Dublin for the last 3 days and have learned very quickly that most taxi drivers here don't know where smaller hotels and restaurants are (we're staying at the Conrad Hilton in the center of Dublin, nobody knows where it is). Apparently there is not taxi company that cordinates drivers, therefore anybody can put a taxi light on there car and call it a cab. My advice is to always carry the address of where you want to go and a map.

I always give an address, written on a piece of paper or the hotel business card, when using taxis. I thought that was the normal method.

In most places the average taxi driver won;t know many hotels and restaurants. How can they possible keep track of all that. Naturally they can find airports, train stations and major sights - but expecting them to know of every cafe in a city just isn't reasonable.

(I've had drivers in NYC - probably using someone else's hack license granted - who didn't know Penn Station from Grand Central.)

The hotel business card is a must, not just in Dublin but everywhere. This is even more important in countries where they don't use our alphabet. Most cabbies can locate any place if they have an address.

I've never had a problem with taxi drivers in Dublin, but I agree. It helps if you have the address.

And many are equipped with Sat Nav to key in address and get location and route.

The Conrad Hilton is a bloody 5 star hotel about 50 meters from St. Stephens Green.

This was just shoddy service by an unqualified driver/company.