The Carlton Hotel

I recently had a 10 hour overnight layover in Dublin on a Saturday night on my way back to the US. Instead of camping out on an uncomfortable chair in the terminal, I decided to book a room at The Carlton Dublin Airport Hotel. I found a rate on
for $ 128 which at the time was the most reasonable hotel airport rate featuring a free shuttle to and from the airport.
When I landed I proceeded to the far end of the parking lot and waited for the shuttle. I had missed the shuttle by a few minutes and had to wait almost 30 minutes for the next one to stop by. When finally on the shuttle it took about 5 minutes to get to the hotel.
The check-​in process was pretty smooth for being at 11pm at night and also because I had paid up front for the hotel on
. I was given a room on the first floor and scheduled a wake up call at 5:30am and reserved a spot on the 6am shuttle back to the airport.
When I got to the room I was surprised how big it was. The room contained a queen bed, plenty of closets, two arm chairs, a coffee table, desk, dresser with a flat screen TV, and a pretty modern bathroom. At first I couldn’t figure out how to work the lights in the room because I wasn’t aware that I had to insert the key card into the slot by the door. Apparently this was some sort of energy saving initiative. The room was clean, quiet, and I was able to get a solid 5 hours of sleep before heading back to the airport.
As for a rating, I’m going with 4 stars. The hotel was just what I was looking for late at night as a weary traveler and I’d stay here again if necessary.

I guess it was as expected being an airport hotel but it did fall short on a few things…
1. We had a balcony room and the wind came straight through the patio door seals (doors were shut tight), we could feel the breeze whilst in bed.
2. The room was on the second floor and above the drive, you could even hear people wheeling bags or women’s clopping around in heels with the windows shut.
3. The restaurant was more like a motorway café, food was average at best and décor was a major throwback.
So we got hardly any sleep and made a bee-​line to the airport for breakfast !

Busy place that is frequented by air travelers. Lean staff but they manage to take the orders and deliver them timely. My flight was delayed and they comped my hotel and meals while waiting for my next day’s flight. There is only one voucher for both hotel and restaurant and restaurant was asking for my voucher for food which reception kept already. Reception did not relay the guests with vouchers to the restaurant for some reason. Soup was pea and leek and it was flavorful and tasty plus generous. Apple crumble was good and it tastes fresh and not over sweet. Staff were amiable. Main course… tortellini failed as it had heavy tasteless cream which was not enough. It was a dry dish. There were 4 red brown dots and 4 brown dits next to the pasta. Not sure what the dots for as they were tiny and did not help the dish at all. Dots are so yesterday and so user/​eater unfriendly anyway As they do not add value to the food; wasted space. Service was great; starter and dessert very good; main course failed in execution.

Sitting in my non-​smoking room right now, sniffing smoke seeping in from the very smoky hallways, trying to sleep but hearing very loud music vibrating throughout. WTF?

I had to write a review for this hotel. I missed my connecting flight to San Francisco and was so frustrated and exhausted from traveling. I had to stay overnight in Dublin and was put up in this hotel. It was so comfortable and the staff was so accommodating. I really enjoyed my meals in the restaurant Kittyhawk and the service was wonderful. Jimmy from the dining staff made my day because he was so friendly and efficient with a full dining room. This hotel really saved the end of my holiday and I was very grateful for the excellent accommodations.

This hotel was very nice, clean, and only a few minutes from the airport. The shuttle to/​from the airport was convenient, on time, and free of charge as a guest of the hotel. We stayed for one night after a 14 day trip, so we were exhausted and happy to stay in a clean, comfortable room for the night. Room was nice and a good size, bed was a king size and comfortable. We had lunch at the hotel restaurant which was average, but ordered a pizza for dinner from a local chain that evening. Only complaint was the service… we asked for an extra bottle of water and had to call back a few times to finally receive it. Later that evening, we asked for more (dehydrated from long trips for two weeks!), and they transferred us to room service. 10 euros later, we had two more bottles of water in our room, which was ridiculous. Overall service was poor, not very friendly, and not the best we’ve had on our trip to Ireland.

This review is not intended to rate the hotel but the main restaurant (Kittyhawks) which was a huge disappointment tonight. We always stay at this airport hotel as the food was historically very good. The sweet chilli chicken noodles were our favourite. Tonight my starter of hot chicken wings was so overly salty it was just unbelievable and I am fond of salt especially with chicken but this was beyond. My main course was a mushroom tagliatelle which apart from the visible evidence of a few slices of old looking fungi floating in a sea of flavourless, odourless heavy cream, you could have been forgiven for thinking was a heavy cream soup with flatulent over cooked noodles. Al dente is not a word the chef here is familiar with. I passed up this main course and changed to a chicken ginger and spicy stir fried noodle dish. The chicken in this like the starter of chicken wings smelled rather funky and tasted even worse. I took all the chicken outside and still couldn’t eat it as the vegetables tasted like they had not been washed — especially the green beans — most foul. I left most of this dish too. The waiter Jimmy was wonderful and dealt with my dissatisfaction really well. He offered a desert and Irish coffee which at the moment of writing I have not tasted yet but hey how bad can a dessert be??? Note to Carlton Hotel. Please get a GOOD chef!

Nice hotel near the airport. Nice staff and well appointed rooms. I’m a fan of the hotel, but not the location. It’s too far from everything, and I wasn’t sure if there’s even anything around the hotel. I’d probably be depressed in here if I had to stay longer than 20 hours. On the plus side, the hotel has free WiFi, and lovely breakfast. I certainly enjoyed the fresh breads with mascarpone frosting. Delish!

Just 5mn from the airport, this hotel is no only convenient but also fairly comfortable. Rooms are clean, modern and on top of that, inexpensive. The big issue with the rooms is the accoustic isolation, very low… I could hear everybody talking in the hallway, doors closing…
The restaurant was very good, and service was excellent. I would rate the restaurant at least 4 stars. The food was also very well presented.
Also worth mentioning, free wifi and free shuttle ride to the airport.
Despite the thinness of their walls it looks like they care about their customers.

All you can expect from a four star hotel.
Good pillows, clean, nice service (got a free taxi as the shuttle bus was already full), single tap for hot and cold water.
On the negative side: I prefer showers with hose, free wifi apparently only for one device, expensive breakfast (which we didn’t have), some TV stations didn’t work.

We stayed here on the last night of our Ireland trip. All the hotels in Dublin were full and it was the only place we could get rooms. That turned out to be great. We were very near to the airport, and there was a complementary shuttle to get there.
Dinner in the hotel bar (Kittyhawks) was surprisingly good. We had the fajitas and risotto which were both served with a smile by Jimmy, who took good care of us.
The staff were particularly great. I want to make a special mention of Brendan Kavanagh, who made a huge effort to ensure that our stay, despite being short, was as good as possible. We had a problem with our TV and Brendan put his excellent customer service and technical skills to work to ensure that it was fixed quickly.
Based on our experience we would definitely stay here again.

We got bused here from the airport when our flight was cancelled.
It was really quite nice and we didnt have to pay so great. The only thing I will say is the waitress in the restaurant was a abrupt with us.
The room was spacious, free wifi, bath and shower. Nice reception and close to the airport. all in all good.

See, this is what happens when you love a place, think to yourself «I GOTTA write that review» and then go back 3 months later and think «Why did I like them so much???»
First time here was really really nice. Awesome staff, fantastic room, good rate, nice dinner in the restaurant. So it would have been 5 stars.
This past weekend stayed there again, and it was almost a different hotel (except the restaurant, that was still fine). Our room was crap, it had A MURPHY BED with bad springs, you could barely see the TV from the bed because the thing was offset on the wall and didn’t swivel, and the paint was peeling off the deep scratches and dings in the cabinetry. It felt like we had been stashed in a room that had been thrown together with all the old stuff from the 90’s that was laying around. There were even indentations on the floor showing where other furniture had been moved.
Y’know, I probably would have even been ok with all that-​we did get a decent rate using Roomex, but when we called to ask for a hair dryer and ironing board (which were supposed to be in ALL the rooms), my wife got attitude from the front desk and when she mentioned that the room was pretty funky, the reply was «Well, that’s the quality of room you get for the rate you paid».
So, four stars for the first visit, two for the second, let’s average it to three. I’d go again, the shuttle service to the airport was great and the driver even went a bit out of his way to drop my wife near her office out there as I was the one travelling.
Bottom Line: I KNOW I’m a steerage passenger, no need to rub it in…

This lovely hotel was a beacon in the storm. Literally. When we dragged ourselves into the lobby, shivering and wet, the staff could not be more welcoming. We stayed for one night. We had an early flight to Spain the next morning. The room was spacious with a feeling of luxury. The flat screen television, posh bed linens and upscale toiletries gave us just the right pampering we needed to prepare for our journey. The complimentary shuttle to the airport was a definite plus. Also, we were able to leave our car in the parking lot for a nominal fee. And lastly, the staff could not have been more professional and personable.