gustav316

Anyone have recommendations for Carlson branded hotels in Ireland for an upcoming trip in July? All we know is that we are arriving in DUB at 8 am and departing the following week Sunday. We'd like to take advantage of the extra night benefit before it goes away with the Club Carlson Visa and are open to suggestions of places to visit or avoid. Thanks in advance.

84fiero

Not sure how far afield from Dublin you're planning to go, but I had a nice stay at the Radisson Blu Limerick last year.

rbwpi

This past July enjoyed my stays at the Radisson Blus in Dublin and Galway. Excellent breakfasts in both locations.

gustav316

Thanks for the info, we are contemplating Dublin and Galway for sure, possibly limerick too.

Ocn Vw 1K

For more discussion, we'll move to the U.K./Ireland forum. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.

BearX220

Both those Blus are pretty well located, though I would say the Galway one looks sprawling and charmless, like it belongs in an industrial park. If you arrive in town via train or coach, however, it's only a five-minute walk from the station.

UAPremExecflyer

I'm confused. You're basing your decision(s) on where to go in Ireland purely on the basis of where there's a Carlson Hotel?

lwildernorva

I would hope the OP understands that there is a wider world in Ireland to see, but this can be an unfortunate side effect of credit cards, churning, and manufactured spending. Although Ireland's population is concentrated in and around Dublin, we know there are plenty of places to see where there aren't any Carlsons or IHGs or Hiltons.

I'm heading to Ireland in about a week and will stay in Carlsons in Belfast and Sligo but only after deciding that those two towns were on the itinerary. And during a two-day stop along the Causeway in Northern Ireland, I'm avoiding hotels and taking a two-day rental in a self-catering apartment. I've done tons of B&Bs throughout Ireland and Northern Ireland and would certainly encourage first-time visitors to consider those kinds of accommodations because of the contact you'll have with people who are probably long-time residents of the area and who are more likely to help you find local points of interest to see or pubs or restaurants off the beaten path.

OP, if doing the CC thing is the only way to get to and appreciate Ireland or any other place you want to visit, then do it. But please be aware that there's a whole big world out there that's worth seeing that has nothing to do with business-class seats and chain hotels.

gustav316

Thanks for the lecture and for making a bunch of assumptions about me and my world views on travel, all of which are off base. The fact of the matter is this, yes I want to stay at Carlson branded hotels because there are plenty of them in Ireland and due to the relatively small size of the island, I am sure they are within reasonable range of most of the sights worth seeing. Between paying something and nothing for accommodations, i'd rather pay nothing given the option. That is not to suggest I stick to major metropolitan areas and do not venture off the beaten path when abroad, because I do. You can look to my FT profile pic, taken at the North Pole in 2006 as one example of my extensive travels.

Frankly, I am looking for recommendations here, not pretentious wagging of fingers and judgement about how I want to travel the world.

lwildernorva

Doth protest too much? Tons of the major fun in Ireland is spent far away from Dublin and the smaller cities. And although the message in this thread is posted specifically in response to your request, many may stumble across it in looking for answers to their future questions.

And the point stands that travel need not be circumscribed by what you can get through a credit card. Nor is it universally true that what you get for free exceeds the value of or is preferable to what you pay for.

Having said that, the Radisson Blu in Dublin is a nice property, the Radisson Blu in Sligo is excellent but if you're not a surfer, a golfer, or a Yeats fan like me, there's no special reason to stay in or around Sligo, and the Dublin Airport Radisson is substandard and not worth doing 38K on even with the second night free benefit on the card. I'd rather stay in Malahide or Portmarnock where there are no CC properties and pay cash.

DesertRat

Agreed. We had four of us go through Ireland for 10 days and stayed all but one night in chains for free. Not a chance we could have paid for multiple B&B rooms every night. ... I'd go for Radisson Galway for sure. Sligo is nice hotel but as mentioned the area may not be worth your time depending on what you are looking for.

stut

As it's had a good run here, I'll move this thread over to the Carlson Hotels forum, to see if we can get a different perspective from the folks over there.

Please continue to follow this discussion in the Carlson Hotels forum.

stut
Moderator
UK & Ireland

rbwpi

During my visit to Ireland I spent all 9 nights at Sheraton, Radisson, Clarion and Holiday Inn hotels on points, in Dublin, Athlone, Galway, Limerick and Killarney. All were pleasant, enjoyable stays.

EricTheNerd

I'd like to go a bit OT here and posit that Sligo has more to offer than those three pursuits. While I particularly enjoyed Carrowmore and Parke's Castle, I feel the best parts of the Sligo area are things one may not typically associate with a tourist attraction: watching sheep negotiate the steep terrain beneath Benbulben, heading out to "Eagles Flying" and interacting with birds of prey, and attending a Euro U21 qualifier (or any other event) at Sligo Rovers stadium. When I visited in 2011, the city seemed to have more of a positive outlook than other areas, as it was one of the places with the lowest unemployment in Ireland (I'm not sure if that's still the case), and that positive attitude seemed to permeate all of my interactions. /end rambling anecdote

As for the larger question: given Carlson's coverage in Ireland and the near necessity of renting a car, I think you could experience almost any small town in the country as a day trip from a nearby Radisson. While it won't necessarily provide the same feeling as staying in a small town, putting one's limited resources towards another vacation expense (equipment rental, entrance fee, food budget, etc.) instead of a B&B may open up opportunities that would otherwise be out of budget.

dc2447

It really doesn't matter where you stay in Ireland as everywhere is relatively close.

FWIW I would not rush back to St Helen's DUB, it's not a great hotel for 50k