Good hotel, very pleased.
by TripAdvisor Member Mclaren697
My partner and I visited Dublin for 2 nights in September and stayed at at the McEniff Grand Canal Hotel. The reception is big and the staff friendly. The rooms are nice and spacious and we were very pleased overall with the hotel. The only things which let it down a little was the overpriced breakfast (25 euros for both of us!) and that it isn't a little more central to Dublin, although the walk along the canal into the centre is quite pleasant. We would definately recommend this hotel, very good for romantic breaks.
We had a fantastic time in Dublin. Everybody we met was really friendly! We asked someone the way to the hotel after the bus dropped us off and he was stopping other people inthe street asking them! Really nice people!
Great Hotel
by A TripAdvisor Member
I recently had the pleasure of staying in the Grand Canal Hotel in Dublin for one night. I am travelling a lot and I would usually request to stay in 4 star hotels. On this occassion, my secretary booked me into the 3 star Grand Canal and I have to admit that I was most impressed with the quality service as well as the super bedrooms (overlooking posh Ballsbridge and the Rugby Stadium). I got one of their new Executive rooms and you wouldn't find a similar standard in most 4 -5 star hotels I have stayed in the past. The girls at reception are extremely pleasant and I even got to meet the General Manager at my arrival (where would you get this these days?).
Overall, very recommendable and I will certainly be back.
Okay; will want to be closer to Center City Dublin next time
by TripAdvisor Member KathleenKateW
The Grand Canal Hotel was okay. If the price is right and you don't mind lots of group tours, the possibility of a bit too much noise from other rooms, and being a little "out of it" for central Dublin, go ahead and stay there.
Rooms were clean and standard. Our "family room" was just 1 queen bed and 1 single bed - no suite-like extra space as we've sometimes experienced. Room was not well lit. In order to get even decent lighting for reading, we had to turn on the obnoxious overhead flourescent light.
The breakfast buffet was okay; nothing special. We did not otherwise eat at the hotel or the pub next door.
The rooms were NOT well sound-proofed. We had some minor problems with noise from other rooms late on Friday evening. And if you were staying at the same time as some noisy group travelers, I imagine this could be a major problem.
Our biggest problem was that the hotel was farther away from the center of Dublin than we'd expected. It was a 20+ minute walk (and we are fast walkers) - through a fairly unattractive and unpleasant part of town. I have no idea if the area we walked through would have been dangerous at night, but I would not have felt comfortable walking through it after dark. (I am not overly sqeamish about such things.) So we took cabs to and from downtown in the evening.
Late in our stay, we learned that the DART rapid transit system has a stop just a minute away from the hotel. This would have been good to know, but the train doesn't run all that regularly on the weekends, especially Sunday. However, the DART system might make the Grand Canal Hotel much more attractive to a weekday visitor.
Finally, the hotel appears to be focused (at least on weekends) on tour groups from around the world. This is fine, although it did seem to us at times that the staff was more focused on tour groups than on individual travelers.
Good value hotel for the money
by TripAdvisor Member CAT
Stayed 4 nights at the McEnniff Grand Canal hotel, which I booked online through Utell and got a rate of 115 euros per night, inclusive of all taxes and service charges. I found this to be very competitive with other hotels I researched in Dubin. Since I had read of a couple problems of overbooking, I made sure to call and reconfirm the day before arrival and we had no problems.
I was pleasantly surprised by the hotel. It is very modern, in a nice quiet area of town, just alongside the canal. The furnishings of the room are quite basic -- think IKEA -- but the room itself is quite large, and bathroom ample sized and good places to put luggage, etc. Despite another comment on this site about noise, we found the hotel to be very quiet, and heard no noise from adjoining rooms or staff in the hall cleaning or anything like that. We did see evidence of groups staying there (a bus or two parked in front at night) but never found the elevator crowded or a jammed up restaurant. Breakfast was not included in our rate, but it seemed very reasonably priced at 8.95 euros for cold buffet (lots of pastries, cereals, yoghurts and fruit and juices) and 11.95 for hot ( all of the above plus eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, mushrooms). There was a coke and ice machine in the hallway, the elevator had a key system for security, and, while it's not smack dab in the middle of town, it was a pleasant 15-20 minute walk, and there were buses and a DART stop nearby if you prefer. The downside is that the front desk staff is young and rather clueless. A couple of examples: I asked one gentleman what the bus fare was into the center of town and he said, "I'm not aware of this information." Likewise any info on the cost for the DART, which is very near the hotel. I asked another about a cab to the airport, and she said she thought it would take about an hour to get there. (It took 25 minutes). So, don't depend on any professional level concierge service and you should be all right!
Cancelled my booking on arrival.
by A TripAdvisor Member
We made our booking at The McEniff Grand Canal Hotel online in May 2005 and paid a deposit and booking fee of 44 Euroes, and had our booking confirmed.
On our arrival at the hotel on Monday 19th September 2005 we were informed by the manager that there had been an error and the hotel was overbooked with the result that we were not able to stay there.
The manager informed us that they had made a booking at another hotel and booked a taxi for us to be taken there.
We pointed out to the manager that we had read reviews on line about this hotel from other customers who were also told that there reservations were overbooked and they had to stay elsewhere.
We stated that we were unhappy with the situation and asked why we were not informed before our arrival of this problem but the manager was unable to give us an answer.
The hotel we were booked into charged a lower room rate and when we requested our deposit back were refused.
We think this is a very poor way to treat customers and would warn others thinking of booking into this hotel to consider our experience, our advice
would be give this hotel a miss and book with another hotel which respects their customers feelings and honour their booking.
Forum Posts
Cafès and restaurants near Grand Canal Hotel
by adri57
Could anyone tell me where the best places to eat are around the Grand Canal Hotel. I really mean the best value-for-money places, including breakfast! I've been doing a bit of homework, and I'm worried that everywhere is much more expensive than I'd imagined. It doesn't seem possible to find anywhere that serves a meal for less than £15 at the least. Help!
Re: Cafès and restaurants near Grand Canal Hotel
by johngayton
Dublin is not cheap! Good value for money for breakfast/lunch is the Subway chain - here's the outlets: http://www.dublinks.com/index.cfm/loc/8/pt/0/spid/920719B8-1CD3-4DC6-9117DA771A13A349.htm
As to evening meals well that depends what you want. There's some good pubs around with reasonable prices - try O'Brien's Ferryman on Sir John Rogerson's Quay which does good grub with huge portions at about 12-15 Euros for a main course. www.ferrymanhotel.com
Or for good fast food (takeaway or eat-in) the Charlies Oriental Food Bars (several locations around the city) are good value at about 10 Euros for a main course. Website is currently down but I think the nearest to your hotel would be over the water.
There's also plenty of places around the city to get sandwiches, pastries etc to eat on the hoof, just not too many close to your hotel as most of the places seem pretty upscale that side of the river :(
Re: Cafès and restaurants near Grand Canal Hotel
by adri57
Thanks a lot for the info, but I was wondering if it's possible for my daughter (aged 13) to eat at a pub like the Ferryman?
Re: Cafès and restaurants near Grand Canal Hotel
by henry14
Although not in the immediate area of your hotel, if you find yourself in the area around Upper Ormond Key (toward Smithfield Chimney) check out a small place called the Soup Dragon for a delicous and cheap lunch. They do wonderful home made soups and prices include fruit and a chunk of bread. Eat in or take away - you can look at menus and location using the link below.
http://www.soupdragon.com/
Re: Cafès and restaurants near Grand Canal Hotel
by paulgh20
there is a good place for breakfast on the junction of Pearse St and grand canal.
