Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport review
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at 12:40 by uggboylovestravel.
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PatJordanParticipantThe Crowne Plaza, Northwood is located in a parkland setting, close to Dublin Airport. Alongside is a Holiday Inn Express (run by the same company). Both hotels share a multi storey car park (6 euro per day) and a shuttle coach to the airport.
Mrs J and I have enjoyed many stays in this hotel, however, during our last stay, we had a few issues with the Royal Suite, and as a goodwill gesture from hotel management, we were invited to return for a complimentary stay (in the suite). This is an example of management responding to the concerns of guests, and going the extra mile to restore satisfaction.
I had not requested an early check and when we arrived just after 12 noon, we were informed that the room was not yet ready (due to the hotel being fully booked the previous night). However we were given room keys and invited to use the Club Lounge until then. This was a very nice gesture, and we enjoyed a relaxing hour with coffee, soft drinks and took advantage of the hotel’s complimentary internet access. Incidentally, the Crowne Plaza is the only hotel near Dublin Airport to have such a lounge.
The Royal Suite is huge: almost three times the size of the hotel’s normal rooms. Carpets, curtains and soft furnishings are dark red, with beige walls. Both rooms have televisions, and the bathroom a separate shower & Jacuzzi bath and TV. Very plush and inviting indeed.
A few minutes after we were in the room, a large platter of sliced fruit was delivered. Another lovely touch.
We ordered lunch from the room service menu:
• Rib Eye Steak: with sautee onions, pepper sauce, rocket & parmesan salad, served with fries.
• Classic Club Sandwich: triple decker toasted sandwich with chicken, egg mayonnaise, tomato, bacon and lettuce, served with fries.Portions were generous, well presented, and perfectly cooked. Very good value too, at under 40Euro (including tray charge). Over the several years we have stayed here, the food is always excellent.
Later that evening, we sampled the Cinnabar Bar. The bar menu offers a soup & sandwich combination special. A large bowl of leek & potato soup with brown bread, and a made to order sandwich, garished with salad and crisps was very well presented and tasty. Amazingly, this cost less than 10euro each. This would be good value in any setting, but in an airport hotel of this calibre, it is excellent value.
The Club floor includes continental breakfast in the lounge and at weekends is served in the Touzai restaurant. For a mere 5euro extra, a cooked buffet is available, and is a veritable bargain.
Business needs are catered for with meeting facilities, business centre, and the Club Lounge would be ideal for informal meetings.
As well as the Royal Suite, there are a number of smaller suites. Rooms on the Club floor are well appointed, and very pleasant.
Overall, we find the Crowne Plaza, Northwood a nice place to stay, and recommend it highly.
6 Feb 2015
at 22:13
uggboylovestravelParticipantNovember 2014, 1 night stay
We have stayed before at the Crowne Plaza Northwood, but preferred the neighboring Holiday Inn Express, because the property offered 1000 Bonus Points per stay. Now the bonus points were not available at our favorite property, but at the Crowne Plaza. We were collecting points at IHG’s loyalty program, so we booked a night at the property during a weekend in November 2014.
We took the Airlink bus 747 from the city center to Dublin Airport and changed to the Crowne Plaza/Holiday Inn Express free shuttle bus. We had heard there was a new bus, but unfortunately we had on each occasion the older one, which wasn’t that comfortable.
Check in was pleasant and we were recognized by a member of staff from previous stays at the Holiday Inn Express. She was delighted to see us and it made us happy too. Since we had achieved gold status within the IHG Rewards Club we were upgraded to an Executive Room with club lounge access, which we appreciated. The lounge has a Happy Hour during the week, but serves only non-alcoholic drinks and hot beverages during the weekend. Unfortunately it wasn’t regularly re-stocked, so when we wanted still water it was already gone on Sunday morning.
Our room was on the 4th floor.
It was large and held mostly in red, brown, white and black with some Asian touches. There was a chair and ottoman. It was comfortable, but didn’t face the TV, a slight inconvenience. Even though the room was large, it felt a bit cramped.
The bed allowed for a great night’s sleep.
The bathroom was inspired by the Burren.
The amenities were from Temple Spa London, Gilchrist & Soames, a first for us. We liked these upscale products.
The bath tub and shower were separate. The water pressure was very good.
During our stay we also went to Touzai on the ground floor for dinner. There was a special offer available, which we used. We had one two course meal and one three course and a bottle of water for 50.15 Euro (ca. 62.65 USD). The cuisine is Asian (For example fish mouoli and chicken assado were our main courses.) and was good quality and delicious, but the portions were way too large.
The staff was attentive.
Afterwards we went to the bar for hot chocolate, because we received a voucher, which could be only used at the Cinnabar, for a free drink. The bar was extremely busy and under staffed. Our waitress was stressed out and for some reason thought we believed we were entitled to two free drinks. Having cleared we were aware of the voucher was only valid for one drink, she took our order. The hot chocolate was slightly too sweet for our flavor, but otherwise good.
Breakfast was the worst we had in a longer time. There was somebody at the front, but the person only asked for the room number and left us to our own devices. The restaurant was full; there were some uncleared tables and it wasn’t obvious which ones were in use and which ones weren’t.
The restaurant manager advised us a table would be available soon, so we had to wait, disturbing other guests on the way to and from the buffet.
Finally we received our table and from there it went okay. Again the quality of the breakfast buffet and how it had been treated by other diners, was a letdown.
After breakfast we went for a walk in the park opposite the hotel, it’s called Santry Demesne. We do that always, when staying either at the Crowne Plaza or Holiday Inn Express, weather and time permitting.
Check out was done quickly and efficient.
Would we stay here again? Maybe if we need points or have a purpose driven stay before or after a flight.
Would we recommend this hotel to a friend? Maybe, only before or after a flight.
Would we stay again here in the future? Maybe, again, only before or after a flight.2 Mar 2015
at 12:40 -
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