TPAYT

I've been looking at Trip Advisor but just can't come up with a good choice. It would be for 2 nights in May. We would like:
easy to get to from the airport
good location to walk to sights
Price up to 150 Euros
Prefer smaller properties
easy to pick up rental car to head south on 3rd day

Last time we flew into Shannon and it was so easy to pick up a car and drive 20 min. to Ennis for our first night. I'm usually so good at the planning, but this is a puzzle to me.

The other alternative would be to pick up a car at Dublin airport, skip Dublin, and drive up to 1/2 hr. south to a B & B for the night.

Any suggestions?

allisonm

I am thinking about this myself. We usually go into Shannon and pick up our car, but this time I am starting in Dublin to visit a friend. What we might do is pick up the car at the airport and just drive a few minutes to Malahide, where we would stay in a B&B. The first day we would spend in Malahide/Howth/Portmarnock areas, then the next day hop on the DART or a bus into Dublin. (I am too beat the first day to deal with the city.)

mnapoli

My husband and I enjoyed staying at Cassidy's Hotel on O'Connell Street. The bus from the airport goes right be the hotel. It was clean, in a convenient location for sightseeing, and had a great full buffet breadfast every morning. We would definitely stay there again.

davispeets

Brooks?

I was torn between the Fitzwilliam (where we stayed for 169 euro with a special AMEX rate) and Brooks (which was cheaper) for a 2009 stay. The Tripadvisor reviews are very good for Brooks and it was very near St. Stephens Green which was a great location. I walked by Brooks to check it out while I was there. We took the special airport bus to and from the airport to return and get the car (a taxi offered to take us to the airport for the same price as the bus while we were waiting for the special bus).

TPAYT

Thanks for the response. I'm checking out all of these places.

From reading the guides, it seems that we would like staying around St. Stephen's Green. Anyone heard of "Staunton's on the Green" or "Trinity Lodge"?

That area north of Dublin sounds interesting to visit New Grange.

maytraveller

Hi TPAYT:

I enjoyed reading your recent Ireland trip report and pictures.

You might consider Waterloo House:

http://www.waterloohouse.ie/

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...ty_Dublin.html

http://www.sawdays.co.uk/search/disp...laceID=PL71340

Happy planning!

maytraveller

TPAYT

Hi maytraveller----I also enjoyed your trip report to the Dordogne. We loved our travels in France and the Dordogne is on our future list, maybe in Sept.

Waterloo House looks like our kind of place. Did you stay there? We had been looking closer to St. Stephen's Green, but the walk looks doable.

davispeets----the Fitzwilliam and Brooks look good for hotels and the location is great. We usually like smaller properties, but just for 2 nights the hotels may be a good introduction to Dublin.

Cassidy's Hotel seems a bit out of the way, but it does look very nice.

maytraveller

Hi TPAYT:

I gathered from your trip report that we may share roughly similar tastes in accomodations. No, unfortunately, we have not yet stayed at the Waterloo House, in fact, I happened to book a room for 2 nights in May just this morning to complete hotel arrangements for our upcoming trip. I spent a lot of time on Trip Advisor too and for us it appears to be the best combination of a quiet, upscale inn reasonably close to the center. For sure we'll post back on this and our other lodging choices.

Cheers!

maytraveller

longhorn55

We rented a car at the airport and drove the short distance to Malahide and stayed at a B&B there. (There are a number of B&B's there and ours cost 50 euros pp/n with free parking). We enjoyed exploring Malahide and nearby Howth and then took the DART into Dublin for our visit there (about 30 minutes, as I recall). Malahide was a great "jumping off" place for our day trips to Newgrange, Trim and Glendalough.

TPAYT

longhorn55---I just read your in depth trip report on the Malahide area and it looks like a good alternative if we don't decide to stay in Dublin proper. Newgrange was highly reccommended to us also.

Normaloney

I always like to stay near Grafton Street. I have stayed at Brooks and it's very nice. I usually stay at Drury Court, because it's a little less expensive. Great location, though.

SusieKay

I can also recommend Cassidy's. We spent three nights there following our arrival in Dublin. The location was good for our needs-the airport bus took us practically to the door, and was an easy trip back to the airport to pick up our rental car. The pub located within the hotel served good meals-it was nice not to have to wander the streets on our first night searching for a place to eat. An adequate breakfast is served each morning in a separate dining roon.
Rooms large, clean and comfortable. Would not hesitate to stay there again.

tower

<i>Anyone heard of "Staunton's on the Green"</i>

TPAYT:

We are fans of Staunton's....simply across the street from the Green...easy stroll to Grafton, Trinity College, O'Connell, the Georgian "doors"...on our most recent stay the rates were very attractive. We had a very large room with a fireplace and views of the beautiful Iveagh Gardens in back. Breakfasts were included and "full"...been visting Ireland since 1980 and have driven the entire perimeter a few times. We always rent our car the day we leave town....no need of it in Dublin at all.(By the way, Dan Dooley rentals will pick you up at the hotel)
Stu

http://stauntonsonthegreendublin.h-rez.com

TPAYT

Stu-----what helpful information. We haven't got as far as looking at car rentals yet. We used Dan Dooley on our last trip on the west coast of Ireland with great success, and the fact that they will come to the hotel is a major plus. We were trying to decide if we should stay right in Dublin or on the outskirts and this helps our decision. Staunton's looks like our kind of place so we will check it out further.

We now think that 2 nights in the city center would be good to be able to walk around the sights easily. Then pick up a car on the 3rd day and head south.

tower

TPAYT

Good luck...and have fun...not hard to do in Ireland. We've used Dooley for all of our visits...never a problem. Will you be going west this time also? Have you been to the north? If not, suggest you fit it in....from Derry to Belfast (Giant's Causeway, the Glens, and of course Bushmills for a sip or three!)

stu

TPAYT

We're still in the planning stages of our itinerary for May for 2 weeks so we are very open. Right now we are planning to head south and west Maybe Kilkenny 2 nights, Kinsale 2-3 nights, Bantry Bay area, then North ? We like to do 2-3 nights in a place because we hate changing B & B's so often. Last time we did 1 night,3 nights, 1 night,3 nights, etc.---you get the picture.

We feel that we saw all of the Dingle Peninsula(loved it), Kenmare(loved it and Shelburne Lodge, and are tempted to return for 1 night). On that trip we wanted to see the Beara Peninsula but ran out of time. We also didn't get to the "cliffs", Doolin, or Connemera. Loved Westport but when we were driving south the weather was to foggy to stop at the cliffs.

Stu, I looked on your profile page but didn't see any trip reports. Do you have any?

I don't think we'll go to Northern Ireland on this trip with the time that we have to travel. It's definitely in the future plans.

tower

TPAYT: <i>I looked on your profile page but didn't see any trip reports. Do you have any?</i>

I've been here since 2005..only have written two reports ('06, "Bargeing in Alsace", and '07 not really a TR, but more of a treatise on Japan of 1946). I'm always ready to answer questions or share my myriad photos and contribute to many posts, but TR's, no.(I spend too many of my days combatting editors and working under publishing deadlines...)
stu

tower

p.s. Did you come across the Olde Railway Hotel in Westport? Although it's roundly panned on Trip Advisor, it's a favorite of ours. Just wondered if it's still open. It's famous because Wiliam Makepeace Thackeray had a suite there...stu

tower

TPAYT...almost forgot I did write probably one of the shortest TR's ever...

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...nutes-flat.cfm

TPAYT

We must have walked by The Olde Railway Hotel but I can't say I noticed it. I see on the map that it's near The Boulevard House where we were originally booked. We did go there to see what BH looked like from the outside. A week before we left, the people at BH had a family emergency and had to close. They rebooked us at www.plougastel-house.com It was about 2 blocks away on Distillery Road. We could walk to the Main Street shopping and dinner. Plougastel House had recently closed to update. Everything was new and we would definitely stay there again. It was a great find at a good price.

You're right Stu----one of the shortest TR's ever, but many good photos that tell the story.

As we continue our planning, I'm sure I'll have many more Ireland questions.