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Post Info TOPIC: Sleeping in DUBLIN...Share your most wonderful (or terrible) experience?


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Sleeping in DUBLIN...Share your most wonderful (or terrible) experience?


I would love to hear where you all have loved  (or hated  ) to stay in Dublin?  I need to choose a hotel for our last 2 (maybe 3) nights in Dublin, at the end of our first trip to Ireland for next summer 2006.  Any details you can share would be much appreciated.


So far I am intrigued by Molesworth Court Suites, Trinity College campus (student dorms available for tourists in summer); Kilronan House; Number 31; and Harrington House.  Hoping to pay betwen $80 and $200 USA per room per night.


We would prefer to be within walking distance of St. Stephen's Green, Trinity College, and good restaurants.  We are non-smokers, and I need someplace QUIET at night for sleeping.  We dislike big generic hotels and would prefer someplace with a wee bit of Irish, and a good breakfast is a big plus!


Thanks, Michele and everybody, for any suggestions.


 


 


 



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Melissa,


That is a tall order in a busy city. Hopefully someone will give you some feedback on the places mentioned. I tend to sleep in the suburbs and DART into the city. Since I'm a light sleeper that assures me a good night's sleep. I would suggest ear plugs. The only downside is you might sleep through your alarm clock! Another suggestion would be to stay in a hotel with a/c so you can have the windows closed.


Michele



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Sleeping in DUBLIN suburbs?


Michele, thanks for your reply.  I'm a light sleeper too.  I just remembering how much we loved staying in the city in Rome, in a wonderfully central hotel where we could walk to everything and enjoy an eveing stroll or a morning walk in Rome just by stepping out of our hotel.  And, I managed to find a hotel in Rome which was on a quiet square, so I cold sleep!  (It took a lot of research to find one.)  Same problem for florence.


So now I'm hoping to find one for Dublin.


But I am still open to sleeping in the suburbs, if transportation is very convenient for the 4 of us into the city.  Even better if the convenient transportation is somehow part of the fun.  Do you have a suggestion for a Dublin hotel in the suburbs which meets all my critria?  (You are really the guru for Ireland.)  Oh yeah, to remind you, after Dubin we'll be flying home.


Sometimes while the rest of us are still getting ready in the hotel, hubby gets restless and goes for an early walk by himself.  It puts him in good spirits if there is somewhere to walk to.  In Costa Rica, I found a hotel near the airport with a terrific big garden.  Hubby was so happy he got up 5:30 am the next morning just to take an extra stroll through the garden which had the most giant bromeliads he had ever seen!  It doesn't have to be a garden, just somewhere interesting to walk.


It seems like if I were to pick a hotel in the suburbs, it should be north so it's not too far from airport.  But I have also been attracted to Dun Laoghaire, where Rick Steves describes there being some traditional Irish dance shows to watch.  Do you like Dun Laoghaire?  Is it far from airport?  Inconvenient for Darting into Dublin?


Just think of the countless people you've helped to enjoy Ireland.  That's a lot of good vibrations, and I hope they all come back to you. 


 


 


 


 


 


 



-- Edited by Melissa5 at 14:19, 2005-09-23

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Anonymous

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RE: Sleeping in DUBLIN...Share your most wonderful (or terrible) experience?


Hi Melissa, We've stayed at The Merrion a few times -- great location near Trinity, Stephen's Green, and Pearse St. rail station. We've walked to Grafton Street, too. Price is a bit above what you wish to pay, but they do offer The James Joyce special on the web for 260 Euro per room bed and breakfast (we had breakfast delivered to the room each day and had just about anything and as much of it as we wanted and didn't feel hungry til dinnertime -- just fill in the card and put it on your door knob the night before). The rooms are very quiet and there is a very traditional Irish feel to the property. Your hubby can walk to many places while you're still getting ready in the morning. The exterior of The Merrion looks more like a Georgian townhouse than a hotel, so you may just pass by it the first time around. There are several public rooms in which to just sit, have tea, or a drink. (Another plus to the James Joyce package is that includes a free, guided walking tour.)



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Anonymous

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The suggestion to make sure your hotel has air conditioning is right on!  My sister and I went on a guided tour this past June and only 1 hotel we stayed in the entire week had air conditioning.  We needed it for cool air as well as for drowning out unpleasant noises.  One night a burglar alarm about a block away blared away most of the night.  Obviously the Guarda had no control over the situation.  We stayed at the Burlington in Dublin.  I felt like it was too far away from the activities & sights in Dublin w/o taking a taxi.  Hope this helps.

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Melissa,


For the suburbs I really like Malahide. It is a charming village just north of Dublin City near the ocean and the airport! Your husband could take a stroll by the sea in the early morning. Take a look at my Lodgings page for Beechwood Country House. It is a real gem.


You can take DART into Dublin from Malahide as well as Dun Laoghaire. I may have a recommendation for you there in a few weeks so stay tuned. But it is much farther to the airport since it is south and you have to fight the traffic to the airport on the M50 which is usuallly very slow going.


Michele



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Anonymous

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Hi Melissa:

Try the Pembroke townhouse (but you already new I'd mention that didn't you . We walked to the city from there though there are buses also. You walk right by St. Stephens Green on the way in. Rooms were reasonable, about E100 per night. This is in a quiet area and your husband could certainly enjoy a walk around in the early morning. http://www.pembroketownhouse.ie/

Bill

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so many Dublin B&Bs, no time to sleep


The James Joyce package at the Merrion sounds intriguing.  So many choices.  Of course we need 2 rooms so that's $260 times 2.  Then one must ask oneself, do I want to spend $520 per night to sleep at the Merrion?  Hmmm... With so many choices of Ireland accomodations, I did the only sensible thing today.  I spent more money on 2 more guidebooks with Irish B&Bs, to create even more choices, and I'm going to Big Bear Lake with hubby this weekend to have some romance, and celebrate all these wonderful choices!


I like to have one splurge hotel per trip, but for Ireland I think I'll have the splurge hotel somewhere outside of the big cities.  Because Dublin is so packed with sites, we probably won't spend hardly any time in the hotel.


A burglar alarm blaring half the night?  Oh, no!!! What a way to ruin a night plus make you cranky the next day...Even worse if you paid a bundle to not sleep all night!  I was thinking A/C wasn't necessary for Ireland, but I didn't consider the fact that A/C blocks some of the sounds at night...a fan can do the same thing.  Here's something else that works:  if you have a radio, turn it to static all night...creates white-noise and helps you sleep.


Well thank you for letting me blab on and on, you are such wonderful listeners.  Here's me.   My daughters have both gone of to college and the house is suddenly quiet.  Not used to it yet!


The Pembroke...thanks, Bill.  I have studied hundreds of accomodations, pretty sure most of them, but don't remember if I looked that one up yet!  so I will.


Michele, your Edenvale house (Edendale? don't have book handy right now) in northern Dublin suburbs near airport sounds like a real find.  YOu really have some unique treasures on your list, and often they aren't always in a lot of other sources yet.  Plus they are for a good price.  And the rooms are often larger than the smaller rooms you would get at a more expensive place...  That one is really tempting too, I just gotta decide if I want to stay in noisy Dublin as someone else mentioned to have that handy bed for an afternoon nap before dinner...very refreshing.  Sometimes it's fun to stay right in the midst of things...but NOT if burglar alarms are blaring and drunken parties are happenin' in the streets.  Sorry folks I must be getting old as that is not how I am imaging my Dublin in my fantasies!  Oh, Michele, I gotta get your book, I might have your nice hotel outside of Belfast (Newtownards) mixed up with your nice hotel on the northern suburbs of Dublin!  Oopsie!  Not my day.  Today I lost my car and walked all over La Jolla searching for it...Ever have one of those days?       


 


 


 


 


   



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Anonymous

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RE: Sleeping in DUBLIN...Share your most wonderful (or terrible) experience?


Melissa,


It's Beechwood Country House in Malahide. It is also on my Lodgings page. They also have self catering units available there that are very nice but not quite as elegant as the main B&B house. That gives you other options since they will rent them for a couple of days at a time.


Michele


P.S. Losing your car is one way to get your excercise in!



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RE: Sleeping in Beechwood Country House, Malahide


Michele, thanks for the reminder about Beechwood Country House in Malahide. Since I am planning to end our trip with 3 nights in/near Dublin at the end of our trip, Malahide is looking like a good location. I think there's also Swords or Skerries...with Malahide being closer to the airport, if I remember the map correctly. From Malahide I'd like to be able to take the DART (or very convenient transportation) into Dublin for the day, and then use the hop-on, hop-off bus. Then we'll need to get back to Malahide.

We won't turn in our car until we've used it to visit Newgrange and/or Trim Castle, as you suggested.

I've been trying to pin down my wriggling itinerary, so that I can pick the B&Bs and book them.

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RE: Sleeping in DUBLIN...Share your most wonderful (or terrible) experience?


Melissa,


Swords is also nearby the airport but transportation is better from Malahide. You can park across the street from the train station and DART into Dublin. From Swords you take a bus or drive to Malahide for DART. Skerries is farther out and takes longer to get to.


As for Beechwood, you can't go wrong there. It is really luxurious with great rooms and excellent breakfast. Very quiet too. It will be in my 2006 book with a full description but take a look at their website.


Michele



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Beechwood looks good


Thanks, Michele. I looked at Beechwood again (I had looked months ago) and it does look great. I didn't see prices, maybe I missed them. Thanks to your informative and reassuring replies, I have narrowed the choices down between Malahide and Dublin, and will probably go with Beechwood. Hubby says if I don't decide soon he will have to stay in crummy places because the good ones will be all full! I think he is trying to help.

If I wanted to recommend your web-site to a new-comer, do I direct them to "IrelandYes.com"? I always arrive here a different way now, by clicking on the links my computer offers me which have big long titles but it works.

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RE: Sleeping in DUBLIN...Share your most wonderful (or terrible) experience?


Melissa,


Prices for Beechwood in 2005 are 45 to 50 euro per night per person. If staying for 2 nights or more ask about a bit of a discount. It is a beautiful, clean, comfortable and very elegant B&B and well worth the price. Joe used to be a taxi driver in Dublin and is very talkative and informative. He has lots of good info on the area. Feel free to tell them that I recommended Beechwood to you. No I don't get a kickback or anything like that. (More's the pity. ) B&B owners just like to know how you found out about them.  


IrelandYes.com is correct or www.IrelandYes.com Either one works. You should see my bookmarks! My husband complains that he unleashed a monster  when he showed me how to organize everything into folders, sub folders and sub, sub folders. But at least I'm organized.


Michele


 



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Anonymous

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RE: Sleeping in Dublin...not enough of a good thing


Michele, if I stay at Beechwood you bet I will tell them Michele sent me! Thanks for the prices, that is very reasonable for such a nice B&B. Somebody said it is about a mile from the Malahide DART station, does that sound about right?

I am realizing that, realistically, consider our family tendency to dawdle (my husband calls it "frittering" but he does it too when he spies an interesting plant or bug!), anyway, considering our tendency to do a lot of dawdling and frittering, 3 nights in Malahide or Dublin is actually not enough time to properly see Dublin, Newgrange, and Trim Castle, let alone enjoying Malahide as well! We aren't speedy tourists...we tend to zero in on something deliciously fascinating, and spend a lot of time there.

Considering that, I have to sacrifice something. That will probably mean either giving up Trim Castle, or giving up Newgrange, or seeing only 1 museum in Dublin plus maybe a little shopping and pubbing. OR ELSE I would have to steal a day from somewhere else in our itinerary and add 1 more night to Malahide or Dublin. OR ELSE I could skip Dublin entirely (NO!) Or else I could skip Newgrange and Trim entirely and spend all 3 nights exploring Dublin. I am also thinking that if we only have 1 day-trip into dublin we might even waste some time feeling lost and disoriented.

Well nobody can make this decision for us but on the other hand I would be curious how people would vote. What would you keep and what would you give up from this list for a first family trip with young adults daughters :

Newgrange, County Meath
Trim Castle
National Museum of Archaeology, Dublin
Killmainham Gaol, Dublin
Book of Kells and Old Library, Trinity College

Thanks for listening!





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RE: Sleeping in DUBLIN...Share your most wonderful (or terrible) experience?


OOps, that was my post, above, I'm not anonymous!

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Melissa,


Sounds like you and your family could easily spend your whole vacation in Dublin (or any other place in Ireland)! As you know planning a trip is all about balancing things out. You can easily see Newgrange and Trim Castle on the same day. Just do Newgrange first.


On the day you drive down from No. Ireland you could do Malahide Castle and get oriented in the village (it is pretty small).


One day for Dublin is probably not enough but I suggest that you make this your one really early day. Get the whole family to agree that to get the most out of your day you will eat the earliest breakfast available, not dilly-dally but get right on DART into the city and proceed with sightseeing. Get yourself a good map of Dublin (Tourism Ireland has walking maps available) and plan everything out ahead of time. For instance you might want to visit the Book of Kells first thing (opening time 9:30) and meet up with your husband later. If you won't be able to communicate while apart, have a place and time set for meeting with the knowledge that one or the other of you might be a bit late depending on wait times at the sightseeing attractions. If you meet at a shopping center, park (weather permitting) or cafe that won't be a problem.


I think that you can see all you have outlined if you make a decision with your family that it is important on these particular days to be focused and get early starts. Save the dilly-dallying for the rest of the trip.


Michele


P.S. Beechwood is perhaps a bit more than a mile from DART.


 



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turning it around


Michele, thanks for your sane advice. You always sound so calm and logical and reassuring. I know I will stop second-guessing myself as soon as I start making those B&B reservations. I keep saying, yes, tomorrow, I'll do that tomorrow! When I've planned other trips, after all my research and juggling, once I make the b&B reservations I know the trip is well-planned. Then I settle down to looking forward to it. Then, instead of studying about every village in Ireland, I can just read about where we are going.

Good to hear that it is possible to see Newgrange and then Trim in one day.

I have also tried to turn the trip around and start out in Dublin. A visit to the National Museum of Archaology might put the rest of the trip into better perspective, especially for my family who aren't doing all the research I'm doing!

The only trouble with turning the trip around is we'd have to see Dublin and then Belfast, 2 cities in a row. We might get "citied" out. But I guess that's what we're doing at the end of the trip anyway!

Let's see:

Fly into Dublin
3 nights: Dublin/Newgrange/Trim
2 nights: Belfast
3 nights: Westport
3 nights: County Clare
3 nights: Dingle Peninsula
1 night: near Shannon airport (Bunratty?)
Fly home from Shannon

I guess that works too, but leaves me with the same problem: I need to decide which is more important, Dublin, Newgrange, or Trim. I asked my older daughter, and she said just create a balanced trip for her, with some city visits, some pubs, some scenic countryside, some old ruins, etc. (See how everyone trusts me?!)

Thanks for listening, Michele and Ireland lovers. I guess this isn't a question, it's more like me wanting someone to listen to me! :

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family votes for Dublin


Michele and friendly travellers, thanks for helping me figure out what to do about Dublin.

Armed with lots of info from you all, I had a family conversation and we have reached a decision! I am excited to have one thing solved. We decided to skip Newgrange and devote our "Dublin" days to Dublin. We will leave Trim Castle as a "maybe".

Although Newgrange is impressive being 5000 years old, we decided that since we saw old ruins in Italy in 2004 (Pompeii etc. and an old Etruscan tomb), our priorities in Ireland are different. Nobody has seeing an ancient burial passage as their #1 priority for this trip. So Dublin is the winner. We are spending 2 full days in Dublin, with the possibility of fitting in Trim Castle as well (but giving Dublin the first priority.)

So we will stay in Dublin near city centre. Trim Castle will be a "maybe". We won't use a car while we are in Dublin, we'll use public transportation. Actually I think we an see Trim Castle while driving between Dublin and Belfast, except for one worry...we'll have the luggage in the car which could get stolen out of our car while we are touring Trim Castle (the Worrier is back).

There is still one decision...We either fly into Dublin, visit Dublin first, and then fly out of shannon at the end. Or else we fly into shannon, and visit dublin at the end, flying out of dublin.

Hubby seems to want to fly into Shannon, probably because he's eager to get to the Burren. I favor seeing Dublin first only because I think seeing the National Museum of Archaeology first will put everything else in perspective.

But with our itinerary, there's a problem with flying into Dublin first. With our schedule, that would mean seeing Dublin followed by Belfast...2 big cities in a row...that might be a let-down. (Everyone's vision of Ireland seems to be those rolling green hillsides...and cute pubs.) Perhaps hubby is right and by starting in Shannon, we'll get our fill of the rolling green Ireland and the cute little village pubs, and will be ready for the experience of big-city Ireland.

Also, Michele, your info on staying in the quieter suburbs near Belfast and Dublin is very helpful. I think we'll stay IN Dublin city centre, but maybe for Belfast we'll choose the quieter suburbs.

Thanks Michele and everyone, I love feeling like I was able to make a well-informed decision with your help. I like to consider all the options.



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RE: Sleeping in DUBLIN...Share your most wonderful (or terrible) experience?


Melissa,


I'm so glad to hear that you and your family have made a decision. I'm glad my forum helped a bit. I think you can fit in Trim Castle on the day you drive down from Northern Ireland. I really don't think you need worry about the luggage. It is a very small town and the castle is in the countryside with it's own parking lot. Had you thought of buying one of those car blankets (they have lovely ones in Ireland) to throw over any valuables?


Flying into either Dublin or Shannon will work. If you don't mind day tripping into Belfast you could stay in the burbs and that would solve the two cities in a row problem. Even though you will visit Belfast City you will be very relaxed in the beautiful countryside otherwise.


Now anothe decision to be made!


Michele



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Anonymous

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Definitely Sleeping in DUBLIN!


Michele, thanks for all your kind advice. I love your forum. Maybe I will post a new question for Belfast, because that would make it easier for others entering your web-site to find discussions helpful to them (otherwise I am talking about Belfast under a Dublin title up in the topic line!

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RE: Sleeping in DUBLIN...Share your most wonderful (or terrible) experience?


Lisa (that is you, isn't it?),


Do start a new post with Belfast as the subject as it will be more helpful to everyone.


Michele



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Michele, it's not Lisa, it's Melissa (close!), and I somehow keep neglecting to sign in. Yes, I will start a separate Belfast topic. Tomorrow! I'm trying to stop these late-night computer sessions, it keeps sucking me in. Talk to you tomorrow!

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Melissa,


I thought it was Lisa because she is going to Northern Ireland. Now I am un-confused...I think!


Michele



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Michele, you are un-confused now, because Lisa is going to Northern Ireland, and Melissa5 is going to Belfast area, Dublin, and WEst and Southwest Ireland with biologist hubby. Also LISA is probably very polite and Melissa5 has been pestering you with questions! Does that help?

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Melissa,


You are not a pest. This forum is designed for people like you. If I didn't like answering questions and helping people plan their trips I could easily get rid of my forum. But I think it is great fun. Besides I meet such interesting people online. And you are always good for a laugh with your imaginative titles and sense of humor.


I just sometimes get confused with similar itineraries when people post anonymously. I know you didn't mean to. But it is an option here on the forum for people who hate registering online.


Keep the fun coming!


Michele



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I'm not a pest!


Michele said I'm not a pest. I'm glad, because you all might have trouble getting rid of me.  I tend to write long trip reports.  They can go on for days weeks months even Michele I think you can spot the welcoming B & Bs because you have a very welcoming way about you. 

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RE: Sleeping in DUBLIN...Share your most wonderful (or terrible) experience?


Melissa,


I'm glad that you and others feel welcome and comfortable here. But thanks very much for mentioning it. You are right that after all these years I can spot good B&Bs. There is a definite atmosphere to each one that I visit, starting with the greeting I get at the door. Hosts can make or break their B&B.


Michele



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