Description: Since we booked the tour through a tour company (
Sceptre tours) they arranged for us to have one night in a castle, and one night in a hotel in Dublin. After staying in the Castle the first night of our trip(see my entry for
Drumoland), I guess I expected the hotel in Dublin to be a big deal. That's what happens when you assume, I guess.
Jury's Custom House is pretty centrally located in the new financial district near O'Connell Street It's listed as a three-star hotel. Each room had a television, hair dryer and a coffee tray , and our room had two double beds with a private bath. The hotel boasted that both Trinity College and Temple Bar were a 10 minute walk away. Um, unless you're a speed walker, don't count on it. I'd say more like 15-20 minutes away. I didn't think it was near much of anything as far as tourist sites go.
It was warm and clean, which is about as much as I can say good about the place. The light fixtures were cracked and had holes in them, the room was right over the street so it was pretty noisy at night. And I expected the B&Bs not to offer washclothes to the visitors, but I certainly thought the hotel would spare the expense. Not so with this hotel. (See my overall Ireland travel tips journal for B&B tips.)
The front desk staff was nice enough, but really the customer service wasn't the best. They were slow to do everything, and not really interested in going out of their way to make you more comfortable. They also acted like they didn't even live in Dublin. They weren't really good at helping you pick -- for example -- a good pub for the night.
There's a parking garage that you need to park in behind the hotel - but not for free. If you can remember to get your ticket validated, it'll cost you 8.30 euros per 24 hours to park there.
Even the hotel restaurant was below par. The food wasn't very tasty, and even the Irish breakfast -- which consists of eggs and bacon mostly -- wasn't even good. How can you mess up eggs and bacon?
Overall, it was below par by my standards, and my standards aren't usually that high when it comes to hotels. On a scale of 1-10, I'd say it was about a 4.
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