Trip to Ireland - Dooley Car Rental
 

My husband and I will be flying into Shannon on August 23 and returning September 4. We are planning of renting a car with full coverage, automatic. Dooley gave us an acceptable price. Has anybody ever dealt with Dooley? Also, any tips and recommendations are appreciated regarding lodging, sightseeing, restaurants, etc.. We will be driving down south and up north the West side of Ireland. Do the Dooley, Ring of Kerry, Donegal, etc. Our first night will probably be in Adare. Any recommendations for Bed and Breakfast place. Thanks in advance for your help.

Erika

Erika,
There is lots of info here on car rentals, etc. Suggest you do a word search on this site. We used DD in May and had no problems whatsoever. Our Ford Focus had 1500 K on it. Practically brand new.

We've rented from Dooley with no problems, but recently with autoeurope.com -- they were less expensive. Use your Plat M/C for CDW insurance coverage. Call M/C and have them fax you a letter of coverage.

If you're going to be near Dingle, I would recommend the Shores B&B ((b))

I did reserve a car with DD. Thanks for your help. If anything comes to your mind for recommendation, I am here.
Erika

"Do the Dooley" :-D

We have used Budget and Hertz-O'Scannlain, can't help you with Dooley.

If you make it to Sligo and are looking for a place, we liked Carbury House. In Killybegs/Donegal we liked Credo House, Frank and Annie McLean.

Sorry to have to be the bearer of bad news but Ann died and Credo House is closed as a B&B.

OMG that is horrible news, Irisheyes. She was very lovely, with small kids. Do you know what happened? What a loss...

allisonm, I know it's a shock. That is how I felt when I found out. It truly is a great loss as Ann was a wonderful host and ran a great B&B. She died of pancreatic cancer shortly after being diagnosed. Her daughter is grown, but both her daughter and Frankie were devastated, as were their friends. I'm glad that I knew Ann for the time that I did and got to stay at her B&B a couple of times.

Erika,
as carolsc says, you may want to do a seach on past posts for a ton of info.

I am planning my trip for this October and after reading a few reports checked all the car rental sites and called a few as well (hoping for a better rate). I will tell you, if you are getting an automatic (me too!) The best I have found so far seems to be Dan Dooley. They have a great special going on now if you can get by with a stick.
Check out Pat Preston's website www.irelandexpert.com
and her budget page for Dooley Deals

http://www.irelandexpert.com/pats_bargain_page.html

anyway, for an automatic, they came out at the cheapest for my dates.

Oct 17-27, Nissan Micra $448.10 USD w/ all fees,tax 2nd driver, using my Mastercard Platinum for CDW) only add'l cost is gas fill up which will be credited back when returned full. I called and spoke with Doreen, she is VERY up front about the breakdown of costs.

Autoeurope also seemed to be the next with best rates, but when I called for an explaination of everything some of the additional fees were not listed in the internet price like 2nd driver, pick up fees etc. which added on to the price.

Hope this helped, have a great trip and be sure to let us know how it went!

IrishEyes, after I posted I talked to my husband and he reminded me of the daughter being older. Ann had been rushing off to a meeting and for some reason I remembered it being for school, maybe she was involved in the school board?? Anyway, a huge loss...

Erika, as has been said above, there are many posts here about car rentals. We liked O'Scannlain/Hertz for our last trip because the price was best for an automatic. (We ended up with a standard, not their fault, hubby's choice!) We prepaid and saved quite a bit and had no trouble with them at all! (That was October 04.) Have a great trip!

Erika,

Dooley cars are fine. I had to laugh I was just on the phone to them renting a car for a friend when I saw your post! most places here are pretty much the same and tyou should bargain eith them if you get a better price elsewhere as they will usually match it.

Thanks to everyone. After I booked with DD and gave them my credit card I read some more about DD and quite a few posters suggested to mention Pat Preston. I e-mailed DD back and asked if it is possible to get discount and believe it, they credited my cc for close to 10%. Thanks also for suggestion on Carbury House, Allisonm. We plan to be in the area and will check it out. If you see my second post about B&Bs in Adare and Buntratty, it's not that I don't value your help, I just thought I could broaden my search. Have a nice weekend.

Erika