Joeyboy

The Shelbourne hotel is probably the second best hotel in Dublin after the Four Seasons and quite possibly even on a par with FS due to its central location. FS is a little bit outside of central Dublin. I dont know why they didnt brand the Shelbourne as a Ritz following the renovations. There was some Marriott emails a while back offering two nights for one which i thought was odd at the time. There has been some issues in the past month, see link below. I did read a fuller report on the issues in a newspaper but i can't find much on the web. Notwithstanding this, there is no better hotel in terms of location, service and renovated rooms.


http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...88.html?via=mr

"Problems between hotel owners and branded management companies have surfaced in the media. The owners of the Shelbourne and management company Marriott appeared in the Commercial Court over disagreements on how the business is run."

HankAAFlyer

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to post a quick trip report to keep everyone updated on the state of the Shelbourne. Stayed there this past weekend (January 23-January 25, 2009) for a quick weekend trip. Currently Marriott Platinum member, stayed there using a European Hopper certificate.

Arrived on Friday morning at approximately 10:00 AM. The room was ready, which was a nice surprise. Front desk agent was very nice and invited me to some banana nut bread and a cup of lemonade. The bread was tasty, but not really in the mood for lemonade due to the cold weather outside.

Front desk agent handed me a leaflet describing the Heritage Lounge. Alas, it is no longer the same lounge that has been described by previous posts in this thread. As of January 1, 2009, the lounge is only open Monday through Friday, from 5:30 PM to 10:00 PM. Breakfast is no longer served in the Lounge. Hors d'ouvres are served between 5:30 PM and 7:30 PM, and sweets/desserts are served from 7:30 to 9:30 PM.

Inquired about breakfast, if breakfast coupons would be provided for Platinum members on the weekend. The response was since it was a weekend stay, no coupons would be provided. No mention was made of whether or not coupons would be provided if the arrival was during the week (Monday-Friday), in that particular scenario since the Lounge no longer serves breakfast. While disappointed, I understood the rationale, with the terms and conditions explicitly stating that only breakfast is provided for stays during the week. I have been "spoiled" by other international Marriotts providing complimentary breakfast during the weekend - so this was a change from past experiences elsewhere.

Upgraded to a room on the sixth floor, with view of St. Stephen's Green. The room was very nice, nice toiletries, nice marble tile in the bathroom - it was a pleasant room to enjoy my Dublin stay. Evening turnover service was prompt - housekeeper left 2 bottles of still water each night along with 2 chocolates, as well as refreshed towels and emptied trash.

The fitness area setup includes 3 converted rooms on the 2nd floor with 3 different setups. One room had free weights with a decline bench, and a bench that could incline as well as a wide ranging set of dumbbells. The other two rooms have cardio equipment, mostly treadmills. The rooms 261, 263 and 265 serve as the fitness facility.

For the lounge in the evening, the hors d'ouvres included a small salad bar with seasonal greens, cherry tomatoes and vinagrette dressing (really small is a good description - one small plate of greens with tongs, and small bowel of cherry tomatoes and small bowel of dressing). The two hot items were chicken wings and spring rolls. Both hot items were in a chrome dome serving dishes, one half of the chafing dish was for chicken wings, other half for the spring rolls. Food was not replaced and was definitely scant by 6 o'clock. Non-alcoholic beverages were complimentary and self serve. The non-alcoholic beverages included still water, mineral water, orange soda, Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and 7-Up.

The dessert spread included a mousse cake, and shot glasses with custard type filling - 1 was lemon custard, the other was passion fruit/chocolate custard.

All in all, it was a pleasant stay, but not up to par with reviews posted in 2007. It certainly appears that cost-cutting is taking place with the lounge open only in evenings. In addition, the previous posts mentioning the discord between the hotel owners with Marriott could certainly contributed to the situation.

The staff was very polite and dedicated to service - they greet you in the hallways and greet you at every opportunity. I did enjoy the stay, but was slightly disappointed with the downgrade in Lounge service and no breakfast coupons for the weekend.

SkiAdcock

Thanks for the update! Bummer re: the lounge.

Cheers.

ohmark

This lounge was very very special folks. And now it's chicken wings and egg rolls. Very discouraging.

flyinghome

I want to know if anyone can tell me what the current state of this property is today.
I have heard that the owners are trying to move away from Marriott?
Is this true and if so how likely is it to happen.
I booked an award stay there in Dec. 09 with 2 rooms. I am a bit concerned now that it may no longer be a Marriott property by then.

ohmark

You resurrected the wrong thread. Here's one with fairly recent comment on the hotel in general, and the sad state of the formerly great Heritage Lounge in particular.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...helbourne.html

redbaron94

My wife and I stayed at the Shelbourne August 2008. The gym/fitness facility was in three converted hotel rooms.

MemphisQueen

I stayed over New Years and into Jan of 09 and the lounge had just switched over to being closed on weekends. They did however give plats free breakfast in the hotel restaurant Mon AM to make up for it being closed that first weekday morning.

Missed most of the lounge food presentations but after finding it (it IS quite an endeavor!) we stopped by to grab a quick water or tea on our way out and about and enjoyed the brief stops we had. Also had tea in Lord Mayor's Lounge - very lovely and WAY too much food! Between the two of us, we forced ourselves to try one of everything and we were stuffed halfway through! It was great!

hotel is def in a great location, within walking distance to everything, and even has a famous ghost residing it it. The staff is excellent, with one bellman even offering to place a pickup only order at a chinese place several blocks away and going to get it himself since we were already snug up in bed!! 24h room service treated us to "american style" bacon every night around, oh, 3-4am

Oh, another big plus, the new wing of rooms had US plugs in the wall already alongside the universal plugs - no adapter needed. ^

guerro

What hotels in Dublin have a CL? Also, any suggestions on where to stay if I have car?

ohmark

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...helbourne.html

guerro

Wow, that indeed answers my questions. Thanks!

craz

there are 2 MRs 1 in DUB the other in Ashbourne a ways out of DUB . Ashbourne doesnt have a Club, The Shelbourne has 1 but its 5pm-10pm and ababy mouse will just about have enough to eat if they get there early.

I was just there and the Lounge is basically a place to go for a few hours in order to have free WiFi as per the attendant Mon-Fri nights, along with a coffee ot tea. If that is all you want you wont be disappointed. If you expect more you will be

guerro

Thanks, I read a liitle bit more of that thread and see that they changed it a lot.

It still seems like the best place since all the other Marriotts are outside of Dublin.

Anyone tried the Ritz-Carlton in Powerscourt? This was an option when I was broswing through reward properties. But, it did say I had to call.

ohmark

When you're looking for recommendations, it's dangerous to look at the beginning of a thread and ignore the rest.

The Shelbourne is a wonderful property, with a great location. It's a center of Dublin social life. The Heritage Lounge (concierge lounge) is elegant (although somewhat difficult to locate when first at the property). The management decision to gut the numerous food presentations at what had been maybe the finest Marriott lounge anywhere and unique in the system, is both short-sighted and foolish. This property is designed to be an international destination, not an overnight stop in Omaha. (No disrespect to Omaha, a nice city.)

craz

Is it a reg Lounge for Plats and Golds. I got the impression it was a Lounge for those only booked or staying in a Hertiage Room

when I was checking in I was told breakfast would be in the restaurant as there is no lounge. I was told I was upgarded to a king size bed , when I asked about a Hertiage room with a king and mentioned how I saw it was available before checking in on MR.com. He said OK and then handed me a piece of paper and told me about the Hertiage lounge

Of cause the paper had as a Hertiage Room person the lounge ..., so thats like a non-elite who booked an executive room getting Lounge access. But I wasnt sure if I wasnt in the Hertiage Room if I would have gotten access, went 1 time for 15 mins had a tea, nothing else to eat at the time.

I happen to like the location of The Westin much better, closer to places I wanted to be at, @ max a 10 min extra walk and walking along Kildare or Dawson or Grafton or Merrion is nice except when i got caught in the rain