lodging recommendations in Dublin

Regardless of which end of the trip you see Dublin, you won't want or need a car there. Parking is expensive and hard to find, and the traffic is horrible. If you are picking up your car when you get off the plane, I'd suggest heading on out of town and doing Dublin after you've dropped off your car on the way back. Or pick your car up when you get ready to leave Dublin instead of at the airport.

Yes, DON'T take a car in Dublin. More hassle than benefit.

I have not stayed at either of the hotels you listed, but my brother stayed at Jury's Inn Ballsbridge, and he found it very satisfying.

Excellent advice re driving in Dublin. If you haven't organised car hire yet, why do a pick up at the airport. Hertz in Dublin have an outlet on South Circular Road. This would be more convenient if you are heading south to Kilkenny. Also save you the hassle of driving through Dublin from the airport.

Teresa,

I've stayed at the Harding Hotel and would certainly recommend it. It's in a great location for walking to the Temple Bar district and other sights. The Darkey Kelley's Bar can be a bit noisy in the evenings, but I didn't find that to be a problem.

My suggestion would be to take a Taxi to the Hotel and spend your first two days (or whatever length of time you decide) in Dublin touring and more importantly getting over jet lag. You'll need to be WELL rested for driving in Ireland as it can be challenging at times! I'd probably take care of the Dublin part of the trip at the beginning. There's absolutely no point in having a car and paying for two days rental and CDW if you're not going to be using it.

When you're ready to leave Dublin, take a Taxi to either the airport or other outlying area, and rent the Car. Continue on to Kilkenny or wherever. At the end of the trip, spend your last night on the outskirts of Dublin within reasonable distance of the airport. Return the car and catch your flight home.

Driving in Ireland can be "difficult" at times, so you might consider a GPS unit along with a good Map (Michelin?). If you haven't driven on the "correct" side of the road, take it slow to begin with. Be sure to familiarize yourselves with the procedure for roundabouts.

Good luck and happy travels!

I agree with Rick, but you need one FULL day of adjustment to get on Irish time before you drive. It takes a lot of time to get out of Dublin, weekdays are a bugger.

Pick up the car on the way out.

Teresa,

I stayed in Dublin at the start of my trip and then rented a car to drive the country. I don't reallly get Rick's recommendation about driving out of town after landing at Dublin airport. It seems like a waste of time to me, and the last thing you want to do after a long, tiring overnight flight is drive on the left side of narrow Irish roads.

We stayed in Dun Laoghaire, which is nice little town 15 minutes from Dublin by train. Each of the hotels you mention are highly rated, so you probably can't go wrong.

Look at laterooms.com I found some good prices for rooms -We stayed at the Portobello Hotel for around 55E per night, which I thought was a good deal.

I would arrive in Dublin, get car and leave from airport, travel about for your time, then turn car back in in Dublin and see town for 2 days before leaving. That way, you are where you are leaving from and not trying to get there on the last day.

Do not count on Aircoach to get you to the airport. They left us stranded at 4:00 AM in the middle of Dublin. We had to take a cab to the airport 020E, which really was not too bad.

I know nothing about Trinity Lodge but for the money the Harding can't be beat. Good location and reasonable prices. Unless it has been recently refurbished the Jury's Inn Christ Church was starting to look a little worn.
I would recommend seeing Dublin when you first arrive so you have a chance to recover from jet lag and have a chance to get acclimated to being in a different country.
The driving will be easier if you are rested when you first start.