For the long weekend in the end of May I’m paying a short visit to Ireland. I redeemed some Choice points on the first night at Belfast, got an upgrade and almost 30,000 points in return. The next two nights at Dublin isn’t as easy unfortunately, as hotels in its centre are bafflingly expensive.
And this is when I spotted the InterContinental Dublin hotel, and remembered I still had an Ambassador weekend voucher to use. As a result, I booked two nights for €360 only which was quite a deal.
The downside is the InterContinental isn’t the best in terms of location. It sits in the embassy area which requires a train or bus ride to reach the town centre. It’s not bad at all though – the bus stop and DART station are only two / five minutes away, and the journey takes around 20 minutes door-to-door.
The InterContinental was formally a Four Seasons, which says something although I’ve never stayed at one myself. Interestingly they also proudly mention this history in their profile on Booking.com.
Obviously they’ve got a five-star rating with AA, the Automobile Association. I had a look at the hotel list though and wasn’t very impressed. I’ve visited some of them and the Kimpton in London and Glasgow are hardly anything to get excided about for instance.
The hotel may strike you as an old manor, but it was actually built relatively recently in 2001. No wonder I could hardly see any wear and tear onsite.
I booked a standard room with two twin beds, and got a upgrade to… a standard room with two queen beds. The only difference between the two rooms, as you have guessed, is larger beds. As a luxury hotel they should have appointed queen beds by default in my view, rather than creating these two different room types.
The room is neat and plush with a good size of 42 sqm.
The bathroom has got a tub.
Ambassador welcome amenity: fruits and a bottle of water.
Spa is at the -1 floor. Although it’s in the basement, it’s connected to an outdoor terrace so lighting is ok.
The gym:
Sauna and steam rooms are in the changing rooms, so separate for men and women.
Breakfast is served at their main restaurant – Seasons, which is probably a legacy from its previous branding.
As English breakfast’s close cousin, the Irish breakfast here has more or less of what you would expect.
There are some egg dishes cooked to order as well.
The lobby bar gets really busy in the evening, with a pianist performing. I spent my €15 Ambassador credit on a couple of glasses of Guinness of course.
Someone was celebrating their 60-year birthday that weekend, and this hotel might be one of the best venues you can find in Dublin for such an occasion. In summary, although its location isn’t ideal, InterContinental Dublin is a solid hotel and one of the most satisfying I’ve stayed at in Europe in the IC brand.
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