InterContinental Dublin by IHG — Hotel in Dublin

I am a huge fan of IHG hence you are my first choice for all stays. I wanted to treat my husband to the intercontinental at Ballsbridge in Dublin for our first romantic night away in years with no kids and we were going to see Ireland play Australia. We arrived and checked in - the guy checking us in was nice seemed new - no problem. We wanted quick sandwich in the restaurant/ bar and the employee who greeted us (around 1.45pm) was extremely stressed, explained no availability and we would have to wait 45 minutes. I asked was there no way a bowl of soup and sandwich could be turned around as we wouldn’t be keeping a table for long (there were lots of tables free and the explanation was afternoon teas at 3) we needed to be at the stadium for 2.45 so we weren’t hanging around - but no we were offered to try going to our room and making an order and sit in our room. This was so unsatisfactory for this type of hotel. I asked then could we even go into the bar and eat and he said if were standing to eat then that would be ok. Standing to eat a bowl of soup!

The time now wasted talking about it all we could have had had the lunch and away.

Got to the bar and we stood where two girls were making cocktails and were completely stressed. They didn’t look up - no one acknowledged us whatsoever for a good 10 minutes. Everyone was so stressed and it was conveyed to the customers. Eventually we were spotted by the same gentleman who greeted us a the restaurant who said look sit down out here now and we got the soup and sandwich.

We just about made it for the anthems at the stadium. It’s match day - these match dates are out way in advance. Surely you would know that this was going to be busy - the place was clearly so understaffed and the air was thick with tension and stress. The bar was littered with dirty glasses everywhere and when we came back from the game the same glasses outside were still sitting. That night cost an exorbitant amount of money of which I had no problem paying as I say I love your hotels but the service was stressful not warm or caring - just task and pressurised.

The following morning we needed to get back up the road we had read numerous A4 messages stuck around the hotel saying get up early for breakfast as it will be very busy. So we complied with that and checked out quickly but our car took 40 mins to be returned to us. To the point where my husband asked for the keys himself as we could see the car from the front door! Again total stress.

The room was delightful but in all honesty when we came back from our night out, there were dirty dishes lying on trollies in the corridor and our room cups were chipped and the kettle didn’t work.

I rarely write reviews, as I work with the public and know how hard hospitality can be but a week has passed since my stay and I just needed to note these issues. Not what I expected from this calibre of hotel and I was SO disappointed!

I am still a very committed IHG member but it would take a lot for me to return to this particular hotel.

Thank you for reading this and hope that it may help...

We wanted a stay at a finer hotel for the last days of our Ireland vacation. We chose the Intercontinental Dublin because it offered a spa and b/c we are IHG members. After checking in, I kept attempting to call the spa to schedule treatments. No one answered so as directed, I left a message on voicemail. The next morning the spa still had not returned my call to schedule. I tried again to call the spa, still no one answered. I waited all morning for a response thinking surely they would call to schedule me. I called the hotel front desk;; they also attempted to call the spa to no avail. I was told the spa was under construction/remodeling so parts were not open. (This should have been made clear on the website prior to booking.)

Finally by lunchtime/early afternoon, I reached a hotel manager who said she would call the spa herself. She also could not get through. She ended up going to the spa and having them call me. By this time ,there were only two appointments left for the following day: noon and 3:00 and we were to check out the following day. In effective, we had chosen a hotel for a specific amenity that the hotel had not provided and we had paid a large amount per night in doing so. The only compensation we were offered was to check out at 2:00 the following day so I could have a noon spa treatment and to take 10% off the treatment, amounting to about $24.

Later we spoke with guest services to see about staying one more night at a discounted rate (online they advertised 15% off for three night stay) and they were not interested at all in working with us further for the inconveniences. They finally offered $13 off the $500 per night rate. (Which is not the posted 15% off)

We then opted to go to another hotel. Upon checkout we did, very civilly, express our concerns when asked how our stay was. And again, there was no care for us as guests or IHG members at all. It rather ruined the end of our holiday in Ireland and left us feeling, yes, disappointed in what should have been first class treatment. I will add we spent a great deal of money while there: room service twice, breakfast buffet, spa treatment, etc...

On the positive, the bathroom is fabulous and the rooms were exceptionally clean, so a shout out to housekeeping. Natalia in guest relations/management was the outstanding staff member who was helpful in getting through to the spa. And finally, upon leaving and discovering I had left my cell phone in the room, it was housekeeping and Natalia who tracked it down for me. For that I am forever grateful. I did leave a monetary gift for housekeeping for that at the front desk which I hope they received.

Bottom line: as a 4-5 star hotel, when you are unable to offer your advertised amenities in full, you should compensate your guests appropriately and respect them because they could have chosen a different hotel. Treat them right. Make their stay and vacation wonderful, not a...

I'm going to be super critical, because this is one of a handful of 5-star hotels in Dublin and if you're looking at it, you're probably trying to decide between them.

Op front: this is a nice hotel at this price point. I like the appointments in the rooms. The couch was genuinely comfortable to sit on, which is nice because some other places at this point and higher have a sofa and it's just... meh. The staff is very good.

I wish I could give 4.5 stars, as it doesn't deserve a knock down to 4, but in this hotel category, I had some gripes:

Finish and repair in the room could use some attention. Examples: the wood on the top edge of the door into the fridge/minibar was very worn in an obvious way; other wooden things needed some love too; one of the chairs had left prominent scuff marks on the walls; shower drain needed to have engineering come up to clear it.

Someone else mentioned that TVs are wildly outdated, and this is true. No one wants to watch local TV at the end of the day, but people might want log into YouTube or something. Please update.

The one night we decided to check out the whiskey bar, there was something going on in the adjoining dining room. I think they had a family member from the event at the piano. That person was enthusiastic, to be sure, but not really what I would call 5-star hotel ambiance. Placement of chairs/tables in the whiskey bar was strange and meant that staff had to awkwardly squeeze past people to service the outdoor space. Also, @Intercontinental please have that piano tuned and maintained. It's in need, poor thing.

If you're here to be in the center of Dublin, it's going to be a hop (taxi, bus, etc. are all easily done) vs staying at the other 5-stars that are right near the action. Kind of a pain to do that at the end of the day when you could just turn a corner and roll into your hotel elsewhere, but at the same time was very peaceful at the more distant Intercontinental location.

Conclusion: very nice hotel, very nice stay. Staff is uniformly great. This is a little lower price point than the 5-stars in city center (probably due to the distance) in that you can get a larger room here for the same money it costs you to get the base rate room at the others. Finishing details in the rooms could use a little more attention.

Would recommend if: you want a sprawling hotel complex that is in a quieter place, and you maybe want a little more space for your 5-star dollar.

Would not recommend if: you need to be able to roll out of your bed right into the action...