Attractive Hotel Atrium
by SabrinaSummervilleThe Hotel is lovely - a renovation of a beautiful old Bank building. Cleverly the public rooms have been given money related names - The Exchange Restaurant and The Mint Bar.
Public areas are old fasioned and decorated in a Georgian theme which is very effective. There are two very real looking gas fires burning in the reception and we welcomed the opportunity to sit in front of one of them in very comfortable wing chairs.
I adore the atrium on the mezzanine floor, which is bright and peaceful and serves a gorgeous cream tea. However, at a whopping nine euro for just one scone (and extra for your cup of tea) it would want to be good!
The rooms are comfortably furnished, again in Georgian style, with the divine Westin heavenly bed. However, there's a vast difference in the size of the rooms. The standard queen bedded room that my sister shared with her two little kids had barely room for the queen bed, with a desk in a sort of hallway by the bathroom.
I had a deluxe room and it was at least twice the size. There is no way I would have been satisfied with the size of the standard room - I'd feel entirely claustrophobic.
Overall I was happy, until I went to pay the bill. We had booked a special package and as we had difficulty with the online reservation the hotel confirmed the booking by phone. This morning they denied a special package and sought to charge extra for everything - the dinner, even the breakfast! When I pointed out their error the staff member I dealt with was quite unpleasant. Ironically, the guest standing beside me had a similar issue with HIS reservation. Luckily he had an email confirmation - I didn't (note, my sis made the booking....I always insist on email confirmation).
Mistakes in bookings do occour, but what makes or breaks the stay is how the hotel then handles it. The Westin didn't handle it well. Oh yes, they eventually gave me the package rate, but allowed me to leave feeling as if I were looking for a cheapo!
The staff here in general (except as set out above) are incredible. They are so very obliging and make every effort to make you welcome.
The location is almost impossible to beat - the hotel is right in the city centre, across the street from Trinity College. Look out for the gorgeous views of the old Bank of Ireland College Green floodlit at night (great view from hotel rooms overlooking Westmoreland Street).
The main restaurant is also great.....I'll write a seperate tip on that (Exchange Restaurant).
