Snapshot Review: Premier Inn, Dublin Airport
Between my flight from London to Dublin and then Dublin to San Francisco via Paris, I needed somewhere to rest my head for the night. In this review, I’ll be covering the Premier Inn hotel which branded as being at Dublin Airport but is actually a ten-minute taxi drive to a nearby out-of-town shopping park. A Premier Inn is never going to be an exciting affair, but the hotels are in good shape and this one looked far better than the other budget option of the Travelodge which had some awful reviews.
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This Premier Inn is in the standard mould you would expect - covered in a generic design along with splashes of the signature purple branding. The building consists of the hotel itself, Thyme restaurant and bar as well as an adjoining Esquires Coffee Shop.
The reception looked a little dated in places while some signs of refurbishment were in sight. The only frustration came down to the check in process itself whereby I had to return twice with 50kg of luggage as the first room had not been cleaned and the second time the key did not work.
Hallways are in the usual Premier Inn style - pale wooden features and a continuation of the purple theming. Everything appeared clean though which can’t be said for all hotels in this price range.
At the centre of the room is a King Sized ‘Hypnos’ bed flanked on both sides by tables and warm lights. The bed itself is the standard offering at Premier Inn hotels across the UK and Ireland with it being one of the better options amongst the ‘cookie cutter’ style chains in the region. I managed to get a solid eight hour rest in this bed. Plug sockets can be found in convenient locations throughout the room, although no USB ports.
A chaise lounge can be found next to the window. While I don’t think the room would fit three adults, along with the extra pillows provided a child could sleep on this.
Alongside the television, a large desk can be found with a chair that supports your back as well as a kettle to make tea and coffee. Also note the bottle opener attached to the left side of the desk - which may be of use to some. A handy HDMI port is found just above the telephone which is a nice addition if you want to watch streaming services on the big screen.
The wardrobe is semi enclosed and integrated quite well with two mirrors, one of which can be illuminated. The space is adequate for a few nights at the hotel, which is all most people will spend here. It would be a bit nicer if the iron and ironing board could be placed in the wardrobe itself, but that is a minor complaint.
My room was located on the Second Floor of the property overlooking the carpark which did mean that there is little noise pollution from this side of the building.
The room is completed by a serviceable shower and bathtub with bulk combi shower gel and shampoo as well as clean towels. The water was hot and had plenty of pressure, filling up the bath in around ten minutes.
Although I took a taxi to get to the hotel, they do operate a shuttle bus service which from the hotel can be quite convenient. It costs a bargain EUR 2.50 with departures every 30 minutes between 04h15 to 22h45 and you’ll be transported in the same time it took in the taxi as there are no additional stops from the hotel to the airport. I did chuckle at having just travelled from London to end up in a former Transport for London bus.
Conclusion
As I mentioned in my introduction, the Premier Inn is never going to be a memorable or amazing experience - but it will deliver you a similar experience regardless of where you are staying. While not next to the airport, it is convenient enough of a location that I can recommend this as a simple way to get to and from Dublin Airport if you live further away in Ireland or have an overnight connection as I did. It is worth noting that there are few dining locations in the general area besides a barbeque place, McDonald’s, and the on-site restaurant. I did attempt to try the latter however it was quite busy, and I would not have been able to get a table until 21h00 so I would recommend booking upon arrival if you are anticipating hunger and do not want to travel. In all, for a price of EUR 70 this was a decent short stay with all the essentials you need for a short trip like this.
Other options in the area include: