Location is the best, with friendly service

This was one of the Hilton family group of hotels in Dublin which became available with some reasonable rate during my first 3 nights of my trip to the city.  There was only 1 room type category available. 

The hotel is centrally located in the city centre of Dublin.  It was just right across the River Lyftt from the Temple Bar area.  On this side of the river, it is much quieter, however there are still a few places for food and some bar area for those not looking for too much crowd.  Outside of that, about 2 blocks away from the river, there’s also a shopping area/street.  Walking from the hotel to most major attractions in the city centre was doable (despite some requiring some hiking up some steep roads/hill). 

For those with a car, the hotel itself has no car parking facilities, however about a few mins walk away, there’s a parking complex, Jarvis, which has some reasonable overnight parking rate (which starts from 18u to 10u the next day), available to also walk-in customers.

I arrived very late, in fact just after midnight.  To access the lobby/hotel, after 10pm, you will need either a card or use the doorbell.  I was let into the hotel quite fast and later an associate was at the front desk to check me in.  Since the hotel (at the time of my stay – if I remember correctly) did not offer digital keys, I did not bother to do a digital check-in.   The check-in process was fast and efficient and welcoming.  I was given a quick rundown of some of the facilities especially as an elite member.   Since the hotel was fluctuating in being fully booked and some rooms getting released, I noticed later when I was in my originally booked room category that there was a room category 1 category higher which the hotel did not upgrade me to.  Anyways I did not bother to pursue further on this since I was expecting to not be in the room most of the time.   As it was late, I was informed that there were no cookies left and I could collect them the next day if I had wanted any.

The room was situated on the 3rd floor of the hotel and luckily (as it was assigned by the hotel) it faced the interior courtyard of the hotel.  I believe rooms facing the road might have disturbance from the traffic?  The room was a refurbished room – in preparation as noted on a letter in the room, converting from a Doubletree branded hotel to a Curio Collection hotel.   The room size was ok for a hotel in Dublin and also as a entry level room.   The decoration can be a discussion point, to me – it seem like combination of artistic/modern meet Scandinavian style.   For me, it was not really something that I liked as it seemed quite random yet at the same time, much too white and somewhat cheap in some ways.

Courtyard view

The layout of the room was ok, with the wardrobe and mini bar/tea-coffee making facilities here ara at the entry way.  This was modernized with the purple mood lighting with the switch for this at the side of the bed (it was specifically indicated).   The bathroom was situated to the right of the entry hallway. 

There the usual long desk along the wall – which acted as a TV stand, working/multi functional desk.  At the corner of the room was a small sitting area and a table.  On this table was 2 boxed water – with a note requesting guest to re-use them with the water cooler located in the lobby area.  This is by far the best environment friendly option provided at any hotels I’ve seen.  (Yes, some do provide guests with those reusable plastic water bottles for them to take with them, but how many does one need and how often do they get used just once or twice and forgotten/thrown).  The bottle/box was actually quite sturdy as I used it so often that I lost count. 

Sleep quality was good – since the room was facing the courtyard, external noise was close to zero (I do wonder how those facing the main road will be as it does get busy late into the night).  Noise from the internal was also minimal, with the occasional chatters from the hallway and in the morning at times hearing the housekeeping cart being pushed.  The bed was ok – being not too firm nor soft.  Temperature control in the room was ok – only small complain was the fan noise, even at low speed it was on the higher side, more like in US hotels. 

Internet speed was decent and the TV options were quite limited to UK and Irish channels with a handful of international options.  As for electrical outlets, it was all Irish/British type – again rather disappointing that they did not include some EU/US one especially recently refurbished and as an international hotel chain.  There were a couple of USB type charges around the room.

As for the bathroom – it was of a decent size with a walk in shower area.  The same themed continued from the room into the bathroom.  The shower area was a bit narrow – depends on the direction you shower, but at least from the logical direction one would stand, it was narrow.  Pressure and temperature control of the shower was ok.  They did provide sufficient toiletries – the usual Crabtree and Evelyn. 

Breakfast is served in an area next to the main restaurant – seems like this area is used only during breakfast hours as in the evenings, I did not really see it being used.  It could be that it’s used as a spill over area during peak hours from the main restaurant.  The space was a 2 floor space – with actually quite limited seating area.  I think if it was busy, they would use the main restaurant area as the spill over.  The decoration was actually nice in the breakfast room with some modern eccentric pieces of art.

Below are some photos from the main restaurant/bar.

Breakfast concept was a mix of buffet and made to order items from a limited menu.  With the hot dishes, one could create your own Irish breakfast.  Hot drinks were made to order – from the different servers in the area.  It was more of a restaurant serving concept in general.  The quality and variation of items was good during my 4 days stay.    All in all a top breakfast service for a Doubletree, but maybe on par when it changes to a Curio Collection property.

In general I thought that the service level at this property to be good especially for Irish hotels (especially now comparing with my post experience at the Hilton Dublin – which was horrible).  I found the breakfast staff to be friendly and accommodating to requests.  Housekeeping was also very good – with some small details like placing a towel over the washbasin surface and your toiletries on it – when they know you’re staying long.  I have only expected this when staying in Asia, so this is a level up – and something which one would expect when it’s a Curio property.

In general recognition level is ok – slightly better with the small local gift provided.  I was also provided with a drink voucher valid for a house wine/beer or hot/cold drink at the bar.  I am only curious how upgrading elite members will work here if it had the rooms available and if there would be some additional happy hour provided when it becomes a Curio property.

All in all, I would certainly recommend this property if the price is right – it can get quite pricy when occupancy is high.  I believe the location is one of the best among the international chain hotels which I noticed.