“Oh I do Like To Be Beside the Quayside.”

It drew my attention because it is on the River Liffey. Staying near to water with a view is soothing to me, and I thought I would not mind it being a little out of the way for us (generally preferred).

Harbourmaster Bar and Restaurant was my favorite discovery in the vicinity.

There was a Christmas market just a few steps away that appeared to be just getting started.

It is a couple of miles away from most of the touristy things we did. Not bad if you don’t want to be right in the center of it all. Summertime must attract loads of visitors to that area. It was a bit too cold to cycle around the river as I had hoped to, or linger near the water. A cold wind pushed us back.

The Ha’penny Bridge is one option for hopping over the water to The Temple Bar.

Love locks on the The Ha’penny Bridge.

The first words from reception when we arrived around 8am was that we were early.

That was not what I wanted to hear after booking online and making a point that we would like an early check-in…Also rang to confirm our booking – again requested early check-in and in total I had 3 encounters with the hotel before we arrived and during each I mentioned the request.

Fair enough, if they do not have rooms available but our faces sank being jet-lagged and needing sleep. I was surprised to hear her say they had a room available and she would put us on the first floor to avoid some of the construction noise. Was a bit confused as to the reason for pointing out that we were early. Since I booked in August for a December stay and selected the options for a high floor with river view and early check-in – I was not thrilled with the lower tier offer but managed to get the keys to the fourth floor.

Transportation (The Airlink) from the airport is convenient and stops close to the hotel, but we weren’t aware that it did not start until 7am on Sundays. We had already purchased Hop on Hop Off tickets* that included Airlink travel. Our plane arrived early (5:00am). After lingering at the airport to wait for the transport to wake up and collect us- we were losing the battle to try to stay awake and really needed a quiet space.

*Btw…the Hop on Hop Off did not have 3 routes as listed. The driver was enjoyable but not sure I would recommend it. Our understanding was they cut 2 of the routes (ones we wanted to take) – we did not finish the whole tour so perhaps we missed out on the best parts.

The hotel construction was not taking place on Sunday, our first day there, but did wake us up Monday and was loud enough to motivate us to get out. That wasn’t a bad thing for us as we were only visiting for 2 days and did not intend to spend it at the hotel. Renovation noise was coming from the lower and ground floor leaving us confused about the recommendation to sleep on the first level.

The room had an adequate view and is a fair enough size for us. Bed was comfortable and we would have loved to have spent many hours in it to have caught up. Construction did not bother us for the amount of time we were visiting, but would imagine it is not ideal for someone that needed quiet time there while they’re building.

I could not get enough hot water for a decent bath or shower. The bath had some dark spots in it that may have been from a drip or some kind of cleaning fluid left behind. It occurred to me that may have been why reception tried to steer us to a room already updated. There was no air conditioning. Although it was December it gets stuffy. Changing out the stale air should be a requirement of all hotels. Hopefully, it is in the finished accommodations. We opened the window and were woken up by a motorbike parade. Had a laugh about it because we did want to get up and out.

Reckon the refurbishing has been a challenge for the associates that are there daily. The Reception crew were attentive, gave us helpful information, and were very likeable.

Our breakfast was good and we enjoyed drinks in the pub. Servers were nice enough but not as amiable as front desk.

The rate was better than the Hilton down the way, but I think it should include breakfast and an evening cocktail or starter. In my opinion all hotels (especially one booking during restoration) should do that…offer better price points. We would spend more at their location if they included enticements.

Would book here again during a different season. It would be interesting to see the completion of the renovation… Provided they installed a/c.;-) Reckon the rooms are muggy in summer without airflow. If we stay in December again for only a couple of nights, I will book a different location because of it being too cold near the river and our being fatigued.