sfmaine

Thanks so much for the info on the Mt Juliet property and the Abbey glassbowers. Looking forward to our visit.

andrzej

Not that the Dublin Conrad is anything like it's Asian sisters, but I did have a very nice award stay there in late November. I did get upgraded to a mini-suite, and also received a nice bottle of white wine with box of chocolates and a basket of fruits.

The location is great!

The lobby bar service is terrible. It would take the servers a good 15 minutes to acknowledge your presence and then another 10-15 minutes to serve your order. It really didn't bother me that much only becaue I would stop there after touring the city for the day and I just wanted to chill out, but I could see how others and especially businesspeople having a lunch meeting would not appreciate that kind of service.

The downstairs pub service was ok, but maybe because it was empty most of the time I was there.

I will be staying there again next weekend.....

OTOH, The Dublin Hilton? STAY AWAY!

I will get to visit the Dublin Airport Hilton next week as well. Hopefully it's nothing like it's sister property in town.

SST

As promised, here is my take on the Hilton properties in Ireland which I visited:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=517383

Executive Summary:

Picks: Conrad Dublin, Westin Dublin, Mt. Juliet Conrad
Pans: Mt. Wolesley Hilton
Raves and best-of-trip: Mt. Juliet and Westin

andrzej

Back in Dublin for another long weekend. Started with 1 night stay at the new Dublin Hilton Airport, so here is a report.


Dublin Hilton Airport - Room #408


Status Recognition: My diamond status was acknowledged and I did receive an upgrade. Originally booked the only room available: Double, smoking, standard for a pre-paid rate of 87EUR all in. I got: King, non-smoking, deluxe. I was also told about free breakfast at the restaurant, but never made it , so can't tell you what was included. I arrived ~9:45a, and the room was not ready, but the desk clerk got on the phone and instructed housekeeping to do my room first. Sure enough I was given the key at ~10:15a. No lounge = no access. 4* ^

Room: Very nice. As reported here before, the decor is modern and minimalist style, but all the comforts are there. The bathroom is small, but adequate. The hotel is only 7 months old so everything was in great shape. No stains on the carpets, no scratches on the furniture, etc. Internet available, but expensive. I would have given the room solid 4 Hilton stars, but I had a big issue with the automatic mini-bar dude, who insited on restocking it when all I wanted was to catch a quick nap after my long flight. The guy kept on calling my room, tried to enter, but couldn't because of the latch, called again and that's when I thought that maybe something is wrong, and I picked up the phone. I was told by the receptionist that there is a problem with my door, and being half asleep and also remembering a report here on FT about somebody being stuck because the door would not opened, I assumed it was something similar, so I did tell her that I will unlatch the door and allowed the guy(s) to do what they have to do. 10 minutes later, the guy comes in, shows me the coke can that needed to be replaced because I took it out of the fridge earlier, and also brought a plate with 2 bananas as a welcoming gift. A bottle of wine was already in the room when I got there. ... was that all about???
I was not a happy camper. I wrote a note to the manager later, so hopefully this does not happen again. I liked the room, the housekeeper girl was just drop dead gorgeous, but the mini-bar guy??? Also, don't expect any grand views and you won't be disappointed. 3*, still ^

No Executive Lounge: 0*

Location: ok at best. Close to the airport and a very nice and quaint village of Malahide, but you can't really walk anywhere from the hotel. Recently the hotel started a shuttle service to Malahide. It leaves at 7p and picks up at 11:15p. You need to sign up at the bell captain's desk. There is also a scheduled free airport shuttle. I believe it picks up at the airport on the 1/2 hour and leaves the hotel at :15 past the hour. 2.5* -neutral-

Public areas: Very nice lobby bar with attentive service. Did not try the restaurant. 4* ^

Overall score: solid 3* ^ . I would stay there again, but only for 1 night after or before a flight. It's not a place to base yourself out of for a Dublin visit, but it is a very nice and solid hotel, and especially when you can get the rate I got.



This morning I transfered to the Dublin Conrad and once again received an upgrade to the jr suite. Last time it was an award stay and I got #227, this time it's a paid stay and got room #327. I love this place. I also received a breakfast coupon for full Irish breakfast for both mornings. The lobby bar service still SUCKS! I can't believe the servers. They disappear into the little back room by the bar as your already made drink is sitiing at the bar and mixing nicely with the melting ice for about 10 minutes. Checked out the pub in the basement and once again it's dead. It's a huge pub and to waste such an area is a shame. Somebody better start coming up with some ideas for the pub, otherwise, I predict it will be gone soon.

Anyway, time to hit the Temple Bar area. See YA!

2lazytothinkofname

Big thumbs up for Mt Juliet. It is the only Conrad at which I have stayed so I can't give comparisons to others but I enjoyed my stay there last year. I would disagree with the comments about the service. I found all my requests were met promptly and accurately including a maintenance issue in the bathroom which was taken care of in about 15 minutes, last minute tee times on a Saturday morning, making a doctor's appointment in town for me (twisted my ankle, luckily after the golf tee time) and a small error on the final bill which was taken care of immediately. Of course I also tipped the bellman $20 when we arrived for bringing up 2 bags, never hurts.

general45

andrzej quote
"OTOH, The Dublin Hilton? STAY AWAY!"
O.K. Whats the scoop about this hotel. I'm trying for the Conrad using points for St Patricks Day, but only have been able to reserve the Hilton so far. I won't be staying at the hotel during the day except for breakfast perhaps. Is it a good place if all you are looking for is a comfortable bed at night?

andrzej

To be fair, you took that quote of out context. I reviewed these places as to status recognition (DUB Hilton sucked), rooms (Dub Hilton was very clean, acceptable, just on a cheap side as in a cheap motel type furniture), location, (DUB Hilton almost great), Public areas (DUB Hilton lobby was ok at best, and I did not try the restaurant) and finally, overall score (DUB Hilton, IMHO, not a Hilton type property and no status recognition, but I also stated that if you get a good rate, it will be an acceptable place).

The last, STAY AWAY was only true when comparing to all the other Hilton family properties and there are no concerns with costs and/or staying with a Holiday Inn Select type of place, pretending to be a Hilton.

For the full reviews as well as a new one from the Dublin Hilton Airport look here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=494638


EDITED TO ADD THE FOLLOWING:

I forgot that I did post that remark here without a link to my reviews. Sorry.

Read the reviews and you'll get an idea of what I meant.

Have fun in Dublin. It's a fun city!

general45

Thanks for the quick response(23 minutes ^ ) andrzej. I think I can tolerate this if I can't get the Conrad. I have a few things I'm going to try beforehand to see if I can get a reponse from the hotel manager as to how I will be treated as an elite HHonors member. All I'm really looking for is breakfast. If I can persuade someone into an upgrade, all the better, but thats really not too important.

go4miles

Just came back from 3 days in Dublin so here my 2 cents:
-not much to add to andrzej but I thought maybe someone is interested in a second opinion.
(I even did copy and paste from andrzej)

HHonors status: Diamond

Part 1 of 2:

Dublin Conrad -2nights-

Status Recognition: Good. Received an envelope upon check in with a welcome letter, keys and 2 breakfast certs. This was an award stay. A bottle of wine and a nice size box of Irish chocolates waiting in the room when I checked in. 4+*

Room: OK; Clean and everything was working, but nothing spectacular. Nice Amenities (Shampoo, Showergel…)


Location: Great!!! 5*

Executive Lounge: None 0*

Public Areas: Very nice. Did not try any restaurants

Overall Score: 4* . Missing part is the executive lounge. The service, especially at check in when I asked for late check out and at check out when I had to pay 3€ for a 3 minute local call, could have been more friendly.

Overall, I was happy with my stay.


Part 2 of 2:

Dublin Hilton Airport -


Status Recognition: oh well, I got the “we upgraded you to a deluxe room so no breakfast for you” greeting. No welcome gifts or special recognition.
This was another reward stay 2*



Room: solid, nothing special but everything was new and clean 3+*

No Executive Lounge: 0*

Location: nothing to add to andrzej 2.5* -neutral-


Overall score: 3* I did not like that they made me print out the award voucher, which I showed them electronically on my Laptop. I will stay here again only if I have a very early flight.

JT_BOS

I will add a little to the Hilton Dublin Airport.

I had a one-night reservation, with a pre-paid NetDirect rate. Got upgraded to a "deluxe" room, so there were no breakfast coupons offered. It didn't matter since my flight was so early, I couldn't take advantage of the breakfast anyway. Did get two very small bottles of white wine, and a fruit plate with two plums.

One thing they messed up was the missing bonus points for my having paid with the AMEX/Hilton card. Another thing is I could not figure out how they convert the Euro back to US dollars, subtract the built-in taxes, and post my earned base points. I guess what I'm saying is the conversion rate seems to be very poor, even if you consider the AMEX 2% foreign currency conversion charge.

Overall, I don't think it was worth the 98 Euro I paid.

go4miles

sorry I forgot about the "fruit plate"

LarryU

I was recently in Dublin to attend the Shamrock Doo and spent the last night at the Hilton Dublin Airport, figuring it would save a little time in the morning. It was also significantly cheaper that the Conrad and Westin, where I had spent the last few nights. In chatting with some of the other attendees, I was asked to post an updated review of this property so here are my impressions:

Arrangements
I initially booked a fully refundable 109€ rate (tax included) via Hilton.com but switched it to the prepaid 98€ rate on line a few days before I flew to DUB. I briefly considered using points but the hotel is listed as a category 4 (30,000 points), which I considered a bit high. My plan was to take the AirCoach bus from the vicinity of the Conrad back to the airport and then take the complimentary shuttle from the airport to the hotel. I contacted the Hilton in advance regarding shuttle pickup times and received a very prompt response from Dan Howard, the reservations manager. The airport pickup times were fairly accurate:

9.00, 10.00, 11.00 12.00, 13.30, 14.00, 15.00, 15.30, 16.30, 17.30, 18.15, 19.30, 20.30, 21.30, 22.15, 23.45

But the hotel pickup times were not.

Transport

I arrived back at the airport from Dublin at approx 14:50 and contacted the hotel by dialing 101 from the courtesy phone located in the arrivals level. You can find the hotel courtesy phones in the back left region of arrivals as you view it from the street. I was told the shuttle was currently at the hotel and would be along in approx 10 minutes and was then given instructions and how to find the shuttle pickup area.

To do so, proceed out of the airport terminal, cross the street and then walk straight through the next building, which is the short term parking garage. Once outside again, veer slightly to the left and look for this sign. The shuttle came along in about 20 minutes and picked up myself and another passenger. It took approximately 15 minutes to reach the hotel via lightly trafficked roads. During the journey, I chatted with the friendly driver, who shared stories about the various teething pains at the eight month old property. For example, the revolving door at the entrance continuously leaked water and required flying in an engineer from London numerous times over several months in an effort to diagnose the problem. They eventually located the source of the leak by pouring in dye on the roof and then tracing its source.

The hotel is quite isolated, with the nearest town being the coastal village of Malahide, approximately a 20 minute ride, according to the driver. The Hilton provides a shuttle service that departs once a day a little after 19:00 and picks up in Malahide just after 23:00. There is quite a bit of construction going on near the hotel and the roads in the immediate vicinity of the hotel were crowded with heavy trucks and cars so this isolation may change in the near future. From discussions with the driver, I was left with the impression that occupancy was not quite what they hoped but business had been picking up of late.

Check In

During check-in, I was told I had been upgraded to a deluxe room and, as has been reported previously in this forum, complimentary breakfast was not offered. Given that I intended to leave the hotel fairly early in the morning, I opted not to press the issue but under other circumstances I would certainly have protested this very poor policy.

I was asked if I wished to make dinner reservations at the hotel restaurant but declined. I had already picked up some munchies at Marks and Spencer prior to leaving the city. In addition, I noticed an enormous Tesco, located diagonally across the street, which had evidently opened quite recently.

I reviewed the room rate with the desk clerk, which still showed the original 109€ rate even though I had changed it to a cheaper prepaid rate on line six days prior. I gave the desk clerk a copy of my confirmation for their records. Given that this was a prepaid rate, I was concerned about being billed twice but was assured that this would not occur. By the way, it is certainly my sense that this seems to be the norm for Hilton properties in the UK and its environs, i.e. rates listed as prepaid on Hilton.com are never, in reality, prepaid at all. At least, that has been my experience at the Hilton Metropole in London and other properties on many occasions.

I also arranged for a wakeup all and an airport shuttle pickup time for the following morning. The shuttle schedule previously emailed by the hotel had indicated 6:45 and 7:15 but the actual time was 7:00AM, not a problem as long as this is known in advance.

The Room

Room 408 directly faced one of the very busy roads but sound proofing was excellent because I could not hear any outside noise at all. As has been reported by other FTers, the room was spacious, attractive and clean. Although the hotel web site had listed only doubles and singles, the bed was clearly much larger. An amenity had been prepared for me, comprised of two small bottles of wine, four bottles of water (two sparkling and two still) and two small boxes of chocolate. The television displayed a greeting message, attended by the face of an odd virtual woman, whose facial expressions boasted semi-lifelike mannerisms. In the corner of the room was a desk, equipped with accoutrements for making tea and instant coffee. Wired high speed internet was available for a fairly hefty charge; in contrast, the Conrad offered it free from their business center.

The morning wakeup call was delivered by the desk attendant (i.e. not a machine) on time. The bathroom was small but clean and boasted excellent water pressure. However, during the sleepy, wee hours of the morning I could not figure out how to redirect the water from the tub to the shower.

Checkout was uneventful, although it seemed a bit odd that my credit card was required again, even through it had purportedly been imprinted when I checked in the prior afternoon. The shuttle departed right on time at 7:00 and we arrived at the airport within 12 minutes via a variety of back roads.

Summary

The accommodations were clean and attractive and all interactions with the staff were friendly and cordial. I would stay at this hotel again but only if I had no need to be in the city and the rates continued to be reasonable. Staying there the night before a morning flight is ideal and offers the added benefit of cheaper accommodations compared with more centrally located Hilton and Starwood alternatives.

The only negative aspect is the unfortunate and misguided policy of providing Diamonds either with breakfast or an upgrade. The Conrad is able and willing to provide Diamonds with an upgrade, an amenity and a great buffet breakfast and methinks it wouldn't break the bank at the Hilton Dublin Airport to do likewise. Many guests, myself included, are impressed when a property exceeds expectations. Perhaps business at the hotel would pick up even more if they were to follow the example of the Conrad.

suzieq

Just returned-My two euro worth-
Airport Hilton
Found the pick up point-toward the car park, through the pedestrian tunnel. Driver arrived very promptly.

We had caught earlier flight from ORD, so, being we were five hrs earlier than expected-the room wasn't ready. The staff was very friendly and put us on the list of things to do next. We ventured over to Tesco Mini Mall, found food and returned to hotel for a nap.

Hotel van into the Village of Malathaide; Departed about 1900-pick up about 2300. Bit long for an evening early spring, however enjoyed walking around viewing the village. Would be nice if offered other pick up times, or perhaps on call basis.

Was told we had been upgraded so no free breakfast; however, from my reservation, couldn't see any upgrade; reservation stated would have chocolate, wine fruit and robe-we did, and nothing more. In fact, for two of us there was one 1/4 wine bottle and one robe, one small box of 4pc chocloate . . . anyways, we were ready for a pillow so I didn't bother pulling out the paperwork.

Bus stop across the way and into Dublin. No need to go back to airport. Made it to the Conrad. As we were early (again) the room wasn't ready. Off to the Museum---and returned to find us upgraded to Jr. Suite 227-lovely room-bottle wine, two sml box chocolates- two robes--fine Temple Bar Amenity Supply which was refilled each day-inewspaper every day--breakfast certificates for each day, for two people included in envelope when keys collected.

Rugby play offs Saturday night-bar definitely hopping. Loud fun group; nobody out of hand; plenty of singing and friendly people. I've never seen my husband leave 3 beers when turning in for the night and I left a couple untouched wines--not sure where they all came from. Hotel staff indicates it isn't the usual crowd-happens each 2 yrs and takes Hotel that long to recover. Lobby Bar Staff very personable in keeping up with the confusion.

Bar Downstairs-needs a bit more publicity. Nice set up. Young male employed there who is clueless-needs new employment or definitely traning of some type. Good Food; lousey service. The next night an older man-(Robert?) perhaps mid aged also working. He was a Wonderful bar tender; personable, snacks upon seating etc etc. We asked and the tips aren't put in a collection pot-great, at least others weren't supporting Cluelesses Habit of walking about.


Food in Restaurant Bar very good-more than enough Service "so so", but acceptable.

Breakfasts were lovely too. Full Buffet.

Front Desk Staff and Bell Staff friendly and helpful.

delpreston

In the Conrad Dublin now. For a quick visit for St. Patrick's Day.

Getting There
Took at taxi from the airport to the Conrad, 25 Euros, and the driver was probably the best tour guide you'll find in the city. He knew it all and was thrilled to give a history and informational on the city he truly loves.

Reception
Checked in at 9am, come 10am they secured a room. No breakfast coupon, no upgrade (but I was happy to have a bed at 10am after red-eye flight), no chocolates, no wine. On day 2 after reading Flyer Talk I called the Reception desk at midnight and they quickly ran four breakfast coupons up to the room for the last two days of the stay.

The Room
Room was on the medium to small side, but very clean and very comfortable. Bathroom all marble with very nice shower experience. Shower also has a detachable head in bathtub. Excellent water pressure all around in everything from toilet to sink to tub. Very comfy down comforter, plenty of decorative pillows, but not enough sleepy-do pillows. Decent view of the city.

Dining
The breakfast food at Alex's Restaurant was nice. Food service wasn't intially slow as reported by many other posters, but had to ask for extra glasses of water and the bill. I later found that slow service plagued the whole city, not sure if it's a Dublin thing or not. I found also everywhere you go that you have to ask specifically for the bill.

The Staff
Staff was friendly and the umbrella in the closet came in very handy in the Dublin rain.

BAGoldBoy

We had a similar experience at the DUB airport Hilton. They claimed that we had been upgraded to a Deluxe room on the 4th floor but wasn't anything special. Apparently the 4th floor is the floor that Gold's and Diamond's should be upgraded to. However, looking at the VIP benefits it would appear that if not upgraded to a Executive room you should still be offered a breakfast coupon.