Early morning flight from DUB -- Should we stay at the airport or the city?

One thing, you clear US customs and immigration at Dublin airport, and that will take a little more time at check in. Works like flying from a Canadian airport to the US.

The Maldron Hotel at the airport has family rooms, unless they are already booked. Scroll down on this page to see the offer.
https://www.maldronhoteldublinairport.com/rooms/

Thanks for your advice!

We looked into rooms at the Maldron and they only have queen beds in their family room. My kids are 17 & 15 (boy/girl) so we need twin beds for them. It definitely makes it harder to find rooms! If we rented two separate rooms there it would have been 366 euros. Not a reasonable choice for us, unfortunately.

Thanks for your help!
Suzanne

We dropped off our car at the airport and stayed at the Holiday inn right by the airport. We had 2 doubles and a cot in our room. They had a shuttle that took us to the airport in the am that was included in the price of the room

Faced with the same choice, we chose a B&B near the airport but not right on the airport property for our last night. There were several choices on booking.com, I picked this one. Our trip is in July, so I can’t tell you how it went, but it’s 5 minutes from the airport and we are keeping our car till morning.

I have missed a flight home from Europe once by staying too far away and not being able to find the car return in the early morning darkness. Never again.

I'll second Nelly's advice to turn in the car ahead of time. I was once stuck outside a major airport for almost an hour because the car rental company's computers were down. It caused a huge backup of early morning travelers; very frustrating since the airport terminal was just a stone's throw away. The stress of knowing that kind of thing may happen is not worth it, IMO.

Thanks for the help!

We definitely will drop off the car the night before. I’m now looking into a few b&bs near the airport.

One got back to me called the Evergreen B&B but it will cost us 15 euro to get to the airport (and for my husband to get back to the inn after dropping it off). Maybe it’s worth it? Will need to see from the other b&b owners if they are closer and less expensive to get to/from the airport.

We called the Holiday Inn Express and they have nothing available for our dates. 🙁

Thanks again!
Suzanne

We stayed at the Clayton Hotel on our last trip and liked it. The restaurant there is good and the shuttle service is free and hotel is a five minute ride to Dublin airport. After turning in the car we had a free shuttle ride to the hotel. Would stay there again.

We stayed at the Clayton Hotel, also, several years ago when it was a Bewleys Hotel. My husband dropped the car off in the evening and got the shuttle back, then we all took the shuttle to the airport in the morning.

We are traveling in September and staying in Howth two nights before. Dropping off the car the morning of

We picked a B&B in Malahide called Evergreen B&B. It's much cheaper than a hotel at the airport -- it's about a 10 minute drive.

The hostess named Olive was very helpful.

We will drop off our car the night before.

To elaborate on Sam's advice based on a return out of Dublin Airport a few days ago: checking in (United) was quick and painless, but the security process is time-consuming. You'll go through two separate security checks (carry-ons; lap-tops out; shoes off; etc.) in addition to passport and customs. Allow plenty of time (we didn't have Global Entry credentials; and US Pre-Check meant nothing, even in the US pre-clearance section.) The pay-off, of course, is no hassle upon arrival back in the US.

Hi Suzanne,

Clayton Hotel Dublin Airport is a 4 star family friendly hotel with family rooms available and a free shuttle to the airport. They often have offers on as well. Maybe interesting to check? Here's the link to their page on Family Rooms Near Dublin Airport

Hope that's helpful!