continentalclub

Radisson BLU is on the airport site and technically walkable though a bit of a trek. There's a shuttle from both terminals. I find it fairly grim (though I'm not a great fan of Radissons in general) but do use it for convenience only.

The Hilton is an infinitely better hotel and is very good with HHonors, but as it's a few miles away it probably has to work harder for its money.

There's a Carlton and a Bewleys, and then Premier Inn, HIX, Travelodge etc but they're all further away.

For your flight times therefore, I'd go with the Radisson.

Edited to add: there's also The Maldron, opposite the Radisson, and similarly walkable/shuttleable.

paul4040

A pretty good summary IMO.

For an early flight I take the Radisson. It's fine, though not great. Perfectly serviceable for an overnight. It's walkable with HBO but if you had a proper case you should think about the shuttle instead.

darthlemsip

This thread is also worth a read:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...b-journey.html

(Sorry Jerry)

Blueboys999

If you have a significant amount of luggage the benefits of the Radisson's location are diminished because you will need the shuttle anyway.

I avoid the Hilton now as I object to paying for their shuttle when it appears most if not all of the others offer it for free. I find the HIE to be the best value if it's just a bed I need although you won't be able to take advantage of the free breakfast with that early a start.

jdw111

Thanks chaps, I appreciate the suggestions!

SCSA

If you're looking for lower prices check out the Metro Hotel in Santry or the Regency in Drumcondra...each about 10 minutes away by hotel shuttle.

Tobias-UK

The shuttle to the Hilton is free, the return is just €2 - if they remember to charge it! €2 (circa £1.50) is not a deal breaker for me.

Foltan

Exactly, no point in being petty about the £1.50 just on principle.

More to the point, it ensures you are booked on to a specific bus that will leave at an exact time regardless if you are the only one on it. As a result you have piece of mind that you'll definitely have a low-stress start to your trip, and more than likely that it won't leave without you if you're a couple of minutes late down.

For OP though, might be worth checking whether the shuttle will start early enough for him, it'd be a different story if he needs a cab.

Blueboys999

It starts at 4.00 am.

DaveNCL

For anything after a 10pm arrival I use the Maldron, as its is easily walkable and generally a good price. Bar area is good and rooms are OK, could do with updating but more than fine for a short nights stay.

I don't bother with the breakfast as I personably find it dire.

T8191

Thanks for the clarification on the Hilton and the Shuttle ... all noted in advance of a Sep transit on an ex-DUB to CLT

Side question, which I may have asked a while ago on a different thread ... on US725, 0930 departure: what time should we get to check-in for a relaxed process?

Gagravarr

AA have a 75 minute cut-off for checkin at Dublin. I've done ~90 minutes before, no lounge visit, stopped briefly to pick up some duty free before the pre-clearance area, and made it to the gate just as they started pre-boarding.

If you want relaxed you'd probably want more like 2.5 hours, but be aware that there isn't a whole lot in the pre-clearance area, and what there is you have to pay for - no lounge for example

T8191

Thanks, Gagravarr ... That sounds like my sort of timescale! So shuttle from Hilton at 0630, bag-drop 0700 [I pad these timings to the nearest 30 minutes!] and hopefully find our Lounge* post-Security by 0730 for a leisurely breakfast of some sort.

* OWE/BA Gold flying UA in Business, yes?

Gagravarr

If you get the 6.30am Hilton bus, you could be at checkin by 6.45, almost certainly 6.50. If travelling business, the fast track security is excellent unless they've just let a load of slow/clueless people over from the normal queues. With a simple set of bag checking requirements (eg no checking across two tickets), you could be airside by 7, certainly 7.15 unless there's a problem.

The staff at checkin will tell you when to go to pre-clearance, and the departure monitors will do so to. There's only one lounge in each terminal, run by the airport itself. As a BA gold flying a oneworld airline you'd get in, fly US in business gets you in too, so no worries on that! Just don't expect a Galleries First style breakfast, think typical European outstation

T8191

Thanks for that detail, Sir. Sounds like a decent plan. Neither of us are big eaters at breakfast time, nor likely to start drinking at that hour - a comfy seat or two will do fine. I suspect US will provide some form of nourishment 'appropriate to the time of day' anyway!