V-Flyer

Well am planning a little ex-EU trip and these have some good options fare but need an overnight stay.

So any recommendations for a reasonable hotel in any of these places.

ORK - the only hotels at Cork Airport are the Cork International Airport Hotel and one which I can't remember if it's Radisson Blu or Park Inn as it has been re-branded so many times. The others would be in the city without courtesy shuttles so taxis/bus would be needed.

DUB - the hotels in the airport itself, Radisson Blu and, I think, Maldron (again gets re-branded from time to time) Off-site is the Hilton, Bewleys, Carlton (highly recommend), Premier Inn and a few others all with shuttles.

AMS - Citizen M. A walk from the terminal. Fun and funky!

So why don't you do like the rest of us do, and overnight in London.

For instance, my incoming flight from Dublin is the 19:20, arriving at 20:30. It gives me all day with plenty of connection time to get to Dublin. Being up near Wolverhampton, I can potentially get a train and a ferry across, or get a plane mid afternoon to connect.

Makes the next day easier and more relaxed, just rolling onto the plane like you would do direct, when I've often booked a hotel in Heathrow anyway.

A couple of options don't involve flying via LHR ...

I need the weekend to really hit Expedia

Isn't Amsterdam the one where it has a hotel _after_ departures?

Having lived in Cork for 6 months, it isn't far or expensive or busy to the airport, so anywhere in Cork city centre. A lot of B&B's claiming to be hotels there. The airport hotel is called "Cork airport hotel".

For DUB I usually use one of the Bewleys hotels - either Ballsbridge (airport bus stops outside plus decent bus service in/out of the city when you're sightseeing) or just use the Airport one as they have a free shuttle service (5 minute transfer time).

Ballsbridge Bewleys is my personal favourite as I overdose on their wonderful breakfasts - strictly for research and as part of my calorie (un)controlled diet.

For the smokers they stopped having smoking allowed bedrooms available at Ballsbridge at the start of this year but still had them at the Airport one - but that may also change soon / have changed already.

Smid wrote:Having lived in Cork for 6 months, it isn't far or expensive or busy to the airport, so anywhere in Cork city centre. A lot of B&B's claiming to be hotels there. The airport hotel is called "Cork airport hotel".

Nope. There are two airport hotels. One used to be the Great Southern Hotel and was rebranded as a Radisson Blu and is now (I think) a Park Inn. It's a two storey pale yellow building accessed from the road into the airport at the third roundabout. The other is the Cork International Hotel which you can see across from the long-stay car park and is accessed through the Business Park within the airport at the second roundabout. I've been in both of them for meetings and conferences, so yep, there are two!

I personally would not recommend an hotel in the city centre. OK, it's not that far into the city but they're not on the main drag into the city and depending on the time of day, getting back to the airport from there could be a bit of a nightmare. Have you ever used the Kinsale Road roundabout in the rush hour? It's not pretty!

jlucioli wrote:I have a reasonable amount of experience staying overnight before catching flights in both Dublin and Cork.

As other posters have said there are two airport hotels in Cork both of which have changed hands recently.

I have mainly stayed at the Cork International Hotel which is a 5 minute walk away across one of the airport's car parks. If booked in advance some fantastically good deals can be found (from €60/70 euro per night for a couple or family). If you have an early flight they offer a complimentary snack/buffet breakfast in the lobby area. The rooms are modern and quite large and since the last takeover the bar/restaurant area has become very pleasant.

I was the only one who said two. Smid said there was one! :w

It went into administration but managed to pull itself out and did a refurb and revamped its prices to be more realistic for overnight guests. I don't know if the other hotel does the same but the complimentary snack/buffet breakfast for the early morning flights sounds a godsend and I have always said that I would stay at the airport if I had to do any of the very early morning flights even though I live only 30 miles from there.

If you want to splash out on a nice hotel in Cork, there is a gem near the city centre called Hayfield Manor. It is a very reasonably priced 5 star hotel with a good old styled elegance. Rooms (incl breakfast) start from €190. If we have the cash we always try to begin or end our holidays there. Whilst, as another poster has said, it can be difficult getting to/from the airport via the Kinsale Road roundabout at busy times, taxis to/from hotels situated on the western side of Cork (which include Hayfield Manor) bypass a lot of the traffic using a link road from Togher to the Kinsale road.

Aah, Hayfield Manor. When I first moved to Cork, I lived round the corner from it when it was still a private residence. When it went on the market I fully expected it to be snapped up by UCC since it was on its doorstep and anything in that area was being bought by them to accommodate the ever-increasing courses on offer by the university.

I didn't think it would make it as an hotel given its location. I was wrong. My last experience of it was when my fellow colleagues in Cork (and we were an exclusive bunch of 35 in the whole country!) brought me there to celebrate my retirement. After a token meeting, we had an exquisite lunch (and there was a very small wedding party in the other corner of the dining room) before we retired to a lounge to relax. I fully expected that we should disband shortly after but, no, afternoon tea was arranged and it was perfect. Hayfield Manor has a mega soft spot in my heart but you have to admit it is a tad off the beaten path even though it is just outside the city centre.

I have to say that in my experience Dublin airport hotels are not that great. I agree with another poster that the Carlton appears to be the best, but, and it's a big but, they all seem to have large functions at the weekends (and sometimes during the week) which can be intrusive and noisy. At our last stay at the Carlton, there was an event with a large number of rather noisy and intrusive guests which was really not very pleasant. The restaurant (Thai themed if I recall correctly) is very nice and the waiter, who was excellent, remembered us from the previous year which was really nice.

I haven't been that impressed with the hotels in the airport complex, I have stayed in both but really, if I were staying overnight at the airport I wouldn't choose either of them. In the past I have stayed at the Hilton Dublin Airport which is a fair bit from the airport but (from my perspective) has underground parking at a great rate. It is in the middle of a Celtic Tiger development area so there are shops etc., nearby. Its downside is that it doesn't have an executive lounge - and that the last time I stayed there I requested a 4.45am call to take the 5.30am shuttle to the airport. The call never came and they insisted I had requested I had requested a 5.45am call. Yeah, right!

The Carlton was chosen by me because of the price but also because it offered free parking (which proved to be unnecessary as Aer John requisitioned my car for the length of the trip). I really was impressed by it and the staff who seemed to take a personal interest in you. Oh, and the noisy group could well have been Aer Lingus staff as they often use it for staff occasions :w Mind you, the best place near to DUB to stay is unavailable to all but me - Aer John's joint (so long as it's not midweek and thus not a school night as I won't kick out his flatmate when they have work the next morning) )

honey lamb wrote:Nope. There are two airport hotels. One used to be the Great Southern Hotel and was rebranded as a Radisson Blu and is now (I think) a Park Inn. It's a two storey pale yellow building accessed from the road into the airport at the third roundabout. The other is the Cork International Hotel which you can see across from the long-stay car park and is accessed through the Business Park within the airport at the second roundabout. I've been in both of them for meetings and conferences, so yep, there are two!

Someone needs to tell hotels.com then, and the hotels website

http://www.corkairporthotel.com/?gclid=CNSsgebp48UCFYrJtAodrnYARQ