Originally Posted by
flwrlover1
Thank you guys so much! This is all very helpful advice. The reason I mentioned a hotel is basically just because we are traveling with three older children. We are so used to being able to get a room here in the states with two queen beds and a cot, but over there it's been very difficult to find any within our budget. We didn't realize that when we booked our $300 airline tickets for 3 weeks. We've got a couple of lightweight air matresses that we plan to bring just in case, but that was the main reason we thought a hotel would be a better choice.
We have 8 days where we will be visiting Dublin and Northern Ireland, but only 3 -4 days after that to go west or south of Dublin. After that we fly to Scotland and to London for the rest of our vacation before heading home.
European hotel rooms tend to be very small. During my recent visit to Scotland, I stayed at Greywalls in Gullane. My room, designated as the "Caddie's Closet," was much bigger than a closet, but certainly could not have handled more than two people at the max unless you were willing to drop inflatable mattresses in the bathroom. And I doubt that Greywalls or many other European hotels would allow that.
Based on the additional information in your last post, I'm with
Clint Bint's recommendation that you seek an apartment or holiday home and base your travels from there. Although many rentals are only available during the summer tourist season for a full week's rental, you may be able to find a rental for three or four nights in December/January in many small towns in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Much more budget friendly than trying to find a hotel.