Dei and Liam are great. I slept like a log while at their B&B. They treat you like family! I can…read moretell that no stranger has ever dawned their door step. The care they give before and after arrival unparalleled to any high end hotel stay I have ever experienced. Breakfast is great, service is great, accommodations clean and homey. Definitely would stay here again if I return to Dublin.

The absolute polar opposite to the Castle Hotel, the first hotel I stayed at in Dublin, has to be…read morethe Beacon, which is as swanky and hip as the Castle is stodgy and old. When I walked into the lobby of the Beacon, I thought I was entering a nightclub with all the hipsters lounging with their cocktails and playing billiards on a white Baroque pool table (see photo). The Euro-funk music was loud and thumping ad nauseum, and it made me wonder what I was thinking when I booked a room here for three nights. However, when I got to the room, it was lovely, spacious, quiet and oh-so-modern with a huge king-size bed on an elevated platform with its own mood lighting, an all-white chaise lounge, and a big-screen TV. The bathroom was downright palatial with an Australian flathead rain shower head and heated floor tiles. The entire room was very much in the spirit of the W Hotels back in the states. It was such a joy to stay amid such creature comforts that I was in no hurry to leave it to venture off to the city. Now the obvious downside for any tourist is that the hotel is nowhere near the heart of the city. It's out in a southern suburb called Sandyford, and so you have to take the Green Line of Dublin's Luas light tram system to get to the city center. The staff will insist it takes about eight minutes to walk from the hotel to the Kilmacud station. I'm here to tell you that's a lie. It takes a full twenty minutes on the side of a stark highway to walk to and from the station. Once you catch a train for € 4.50 round trip ticket, it's about ten stops to St Stephen's Green, which takes about a half-hour. So all told, it will take you an hour to get to the city. Luckily the Luas is comfortable, modern and not too crowded, not even at rush hour. So what made me stay at the Beacon? Well, Dublin was pretty well reserved when I went earlier this month, and planning a trip there only two weeks in advance yields few affordable options as I was rummaging through TripAdvisor. For three nights, I ended up paying a lump sum of € 455, which equals close to $200 per night. Not a cheap rate but probably accurate for the amenities the Beacon provides, and that was my main draw since it was purely a vacation for me. I even had a continental breakfast delivered to my room, so I was acting quite bourgeois there (see photo). The staff was a mixed bag. The young woman who helped me when I arrived was charming and proactive. The young bespectacled man who manned the desk afterward was on the terse side and never smiled. I never did explore the Sandyford area, which includes the big Dundrum Shopping Center nearby, probably because it felt too suburban for me to enjoy. I did give the hotel restaurant, My Thai, a try, and the less said, the better. You can read that review under My Thai. I would consider returning to the Beacon if I ended up renting a car and used Sandyford as a departure point for a road trip to the rest of Ireland. Now that would be lovely.

This hotel is across a courtyard from Beacon Hospital which is why I stayed there…read more Hotel was comfortable with good, friendly service and reasonable rates. The room was clean, housekeeping does a nice job. The breakfast is very good and if you don't like what's on the buffet, they'll make whatever you want. I especially like the honeycomb honey they provide. Wait staff are friendly and attentive. The elevators currently don't work so we have to walk up to our rooms, but hopefully that is temporary. Hotel manager is a very nice guy and helpful. As is the front desk staff. It's a good hotel in its own right but if you have to be close to Beacon hospital, it's incredibly convenient and highly recommended.

Loved this unique hotel inside and out. The staff at the front desk were always helpful and…read morewelcoming. Everything was very clean, too. Being able to just walk out to the pier and lighthouse was SO nice! Breakfast was good and the server didn't give me grief when I asked for some ice

We generally liked this hotel. The staff was always very friendly. The location was good and…read morewalking distance to the train station. Things we didn't like: there is a pub down stairs that stays open very late in the evening. You can hear the club music all through the room. One night we were kept awake until 2:00AM because of the noise. It just so happened that on this same night, the boiler went out so we had no heat and no hot water to take a shower. I would possibly consider staying here again in the future if I could get a room away from the pub.

Let me start by saying that the service was excellent. Super friendly and attentive staff. Really…read morehelpful. Comfortable, spacious and clean rooms. Comfy bed. Nice bathroom. However, the walls between the rooms were quite thin and you could easily hear conversations in the other room. Lovely place, wonderful garden. Great breakfast, paleo friendly. Easily reachable by public transportation. Close to the UCD. Walking distance from the DART. Lovely.

This was a grand hotel at one time, but has become a victim of time and deferred maintenance. My…read moreroom was unclean, the mattress was stained with only a thin sheet over it, and there was mold in the shower. The grounds are amazing and that's justification for receiving 2 stars.

No, as I live two minutes up the road I've never stayed here. But I would like to draw your…read moreattention to a controversial urban myth surrounding the Tara Towers Hotel. It is said that, due to the architectural structure of the road facing side, a person can scale the outer walls with relative ease. Reaching the roof in under a half hour having hardly broken a sweat. It seems to me, that everyone knows someone who's mate did it. Like all urban myths. Make up your own minds, I personally know it's possible. I have a mate who knows a guy who did it.

I don't think I have ever given a 1 star before anywhere. Nothing good about this place. I was…read moreprobably nice when it opened - looks to be the 1980's maybe. Who knows. Everything is in disrepair. Everything! The toilet handle, door handle, chain lock missing from door, furniture broken, uncomfortable bed with no bed pad and it does not smell good. Don't stay here. Glad we only had 1 night.

We recently stayed at The Talbot Hotel in Stillorgan on a recent trip to the Dublin area. The hotel…read moreis a bit further from city center Dublin than anticipated, but access to public transportation made it fairly easy to make the trek back and forth. The hotel is a mix of old and new throughout, however I will say that the rooms were more on the modern side, which was nice. We had a king bed room, and while it is small compared to US rooms, there was plenty of space for two folks, including luggage and room to get around. The bed was comfortable, the temperature controls were a nice touch and the bathroom was sleek and functional. The hotel has two outlets, both restaurants/bars. One was better than the other, and we frequented it a bit more during our stay. Parking is plentiful and complimentary as a guest. We parked upon arrival and did not move our car until we checked out. There is a bus stop directly across the street, so we exchanged paper for coins at the front desk, and took the bus to and from city center multiple times. It is about a 20 - 25 minute ride each way. Service at the desk was hit and miss, with some Front Desk Associates being quite a bit more helpful and friendly than others. The hotel is clean and in good shape for the most part. Overall, we enjoyed our stay here.

This is a lovely, modern, and clean hotel. Our room was large with plenty of room for our bags…read more Good temperature control and comfortable beds ensured a restful night's sleep--large bathroom with a nice shower. The staff was pleasant and helpful. If this is your stay for traveling in Dublin, the bus stops less than a block from the hotel, and for only two euros, you can be in downtown Dublin in less than 15 minutes.