Sandycove Vacations from $1,046

Avoca house is beautifully decorated and in a lovely part of Dublin. Jack went out of the way to make sure we had what we needed and we had a great stay!

Handy to Dublin City centre, this hotel is clean but dated in places. Very helpful desk staff and comfortable bed. Close to bus route to Aviva Stadium which was the reason for booking. We were on the top floor, stairs not suitable for anyone with mobility issues and there is no lift. No air con which made the converted attic small double bedroom very hot during a warm summer day and stifling overnight. Decided not to get breakfast but plenty of options nearby. Got to park in small hotel car park for three days, which was great. We would stay again but request a room on a lower floor.

Designed as a home from home experience, but basic and the room looked tired with damaged edging on things like the table and the grouting needed to be redone in the bathroom. We also had to ask for more shower gel as they hadn’t left us enough for three days. We would have expected things like shampoo and moisturiser rather than one all in one. It would be nice to see more decoration in the room to make it more the home from home they advertise it as. The room had an iron, but no ironing board. It took three attempts of asking for an ironing board where we had to repeatedly explain there wasn’t one in the room. When they did put one in the room, it was lacking a cover and the suggestion was to ‘use a towel’. They finally got us a cover. We were classed as a late check-in as our flight didn’t arrive until after 5pm. Prior to arriving, I had to chase the check-in details. Despite paying and filling out the details before, I was asked to complete all this again - I had to explain we had already paid. It was Dublin over a bank holiday weekend, so we knew it would be expensive, but for nearly €700 for three nights, we would have expected more from the suite - especially billed as the pent house. Fine for getting your head down (soft bed though), but you won’t get any luxury. You have to pay a €200 damage deposit on site too, so hopefully that gets refunded quickly as it’s a lot to be pending on my credit card.

The hotel is nice. We were in a classic double room, downstairs in room 240. The room was small but quiet which was nice. The bed was firm. The bathroom had been redecorated and had a lovely shower with rain shower and regular shower heads with good water pressure and lots of hot water. The included breakfast made to order was wonderful. There was a large menu to choose from, all cooked to order and delivered fresh to your table. Be aware though of limited fruit options on the included buffet. The DART station is within a 5 mins walk and you can be in the city center in about 20 mins. The train does not run really often though so be aware of the schedule. Overall we enjoyed our stay.