Dublin hotel, May 2019

Try contacting the RS hotel directly to see if they can help you or have suggestions on where to stay.

It also might be too early for these dates to show up on the booking engines.

We stay at B&BS outside of Dublin in the village of Dun Laoghaire. This town is connected by a direct bus to the airport, and by the DART commuter train to downtown Dublin. It cost about half of what you would pay to stay in the center of Dublin. We have enjoyed staying at the Ophira and the Windsor Lodge.

If the cancellation policy on the tour hotel is good, I'd go ahead and grab rooms now. Then you can continue to look if you decide they are out of budget. I would probably not book if they have the deal where you pre-pay nights with no cancellation.

How many nights are you looking at? I guess I am lazy but I just prefer to settle in to one place and not have to move if it's not more than a night or two.

Thanks to all who answered my question, I agree that some of the “lack” of availability might be related to the fact that I am looking so far out. I decided to go with the offer from the hotel. I can cancel up to 2 days prior, so if something better comes up, I can always cancel. I’d rather be safe with a reservation and all in all I think I will be happy to not have to move hotels before our tour starts. Happy travels to all!

What hotel are you staying 0h the 14-day tour? I took that tour in 2014 and our hotel was the Buswells. I thoroughly enjoyed the hotel, rooms, food and LOCATION! It was worth it for us.

Kim

Thanks , Kim, for that info , yes it is Buswells, good to hear the positive report !

Jurys Inn, Hilton Garden Inn Customs House are options if you just can't deal with the price.

Bkmat, I think that is a good strategy. That cancellation policy is very good so you've got plenty of time to think. I am sure as the year progresses that hotel will fill for your tour date. When I did the Best of Ireland (Harding Hotel) there were several people on our tour who had to stay elsewhere, then move over on the tour start day. It's just slightly disruptive for your day.

How much is the hotel stay per night? I stayed at Buswells Hotel when I went on the 14 day Ireland tour and it was a very lovely hotel with an excellent breakfast. Near Trinty college. You must remember that Dublin is a major city in Ireland so it is not inexpensive.

A couple of comments as I just took the 14 day tour of Ireland less than 2 months ago. First of all, it was my favorite of all the RS tours I have taken and you are in for a treat. However, my experience with Buswells was not as positive as some have stated here. First of all when I emailed them and inquired if there was a special RS pretour rate, my response was just book online, that is the best rate. IE, they do nothing to encourage tour members to extend their visit with them which is not the experience I have had with other RS tour hotels. 2ndly, their rooms are small, but adequate. Certainly not worth the rate they charge. And be aware that even if you take a lift to your floor, there will probably be many stairs still to navigate. What bothered me most was mid afternoon when my room was finally ready, the halls were literally filled with dirty laundry bags and the hallway carpets were not particularly clean. We were there during the heat wave and the fan they brought on my request was filthy: covered in dark finger prints and the cord was dangerously frayed. To summarize, I didn't feel it was good value for the cost of their rooms.

I am scheduled on the RS14 day tour of Ireland beginning on June 15. I have been in contact with the hotel via email to reserve extra days and they have replied very quickly. I don’t think their rates are unreasonable for where they are located. I was in New York this summer and my hotel was $450 per night. I also emailed Buswells requesting one of their recently renovated rooms and they replied they would try to accommodate my request. I hope this helps

I just stayed at Buswells last week. Too many problems.

Room one--musty smell, heat kept going on and off, flies in room. Stayed one night and requested a new room. (The head of housekeeping came to my room when I reported flies saying they never had a fly problem. When I couldn't show her the dead flies since after I killed them I flushed them, she looked at me as if I was making it up.)

Second room was much nicer. Heat stayed on except at night when they turn it off. The first morning, at 8 AM I heard someone using a key to unlock the door (They use real keys not electronic cards.) It was the housekeeper entering unannounced and with the do not disturb sign on the door. A little later, after taking a shower, I grabbed a folded towel to dry myself. Inside was a small brown stain with some brown material. I don't think it was chocolate. The other towel seemed clean. Apparently the same housekeeper the day before was too lazy to change linens and just folded up. I demanded all my linens and towels be changed and not by that housekeeper. When I returned there was a bottle of wine and a box of chocolates waiting for me as a gift. The linens were new.

Breakfast was a small continental buffet with hot items ordered individually.

If you do stay here, the Aircoach #700 stops across the street from the hotel (Kildare Street). The Airline 757 is about a 10 minute walk.

The location is excellent and most of the staff were nice. I probably won't stay there the next time I go to Dublin.

I can recommend the O'Callaghan Davenport just a few minutes walk away.