Leeson Bridge Guest House

...A 4 star guesthouse the Leeson Bridge Guesthouse is located on Upper Leeson Street and was €99.00 for 1 night and promised a comfortable clean room in a great location and what was more it had a sauna and Jacuzzi bath exactly what we needed to de-stress so my partner made the reservation with Laterooms.com and we waited for our trip to arrive.

*~*Getting to the Hotel*~*
Dependent on how you will be arriving into Dublin there ...
...will be stopping at Upper Leeson Street, I would always recommend the aircoach as it is extremely comfortable and only €14 for a return ticket so there are no extra charges for being stuck in rush hour traffic as we were.

*~*Location of the Leeson Bridge Guesthouse*~*
As previously mentioned Leeson Bridge Guesthouse is located at 1 Leeson Street Upper which is a 10 minute walk away from St Stephen’s Green and Grafton Street ... more

With my bargain Ryanair flights for just 2p per person I set about the task of looking for a luxurious hotel at a bargain price, having been to Dublin a good few times before I had stayed in a few different areas previously and was very keen on staying in the Temple Bar area again, I had misunderstood my other half when he said he had been to Dublin before as he had stayed in Dublin but he had only been for the day so when he said he had found a fantastic hotel in a great location for a great price I let him go ahead and book it as Dublin is easy enough to get around and nowhere is really ever to far to get to.
A 4 star guesthouse the Leeson Bridge Guesthouse is located on Upper Leeson Street and was €99.00 for 1 night and promised a comfortable clean room in a great location and what was more it had a sauna and Jacuzzi bath exactly what we needed to de-stress so my partner made the reservation with Laterooms.com and we waited for our trip to arrive.

• ~*Getting to the Hotel*~*
  Dependent on how you will be arriving into Dublin there are many transport options available, I opted for the Aircoach which I had used on my last visit which stopped directly outside our hotel ideal.
  If you have ever travelled to Dublin before you will know that the traffic is renowned for being a nightmare so car hire was never an option for us.
• ******************************TOP TIP********************************
  If you will be getting the aircoach to this hotel you can purchase tickets from the driver and you will need to board the coach at stop 5 located directly outside the terminal building and inform the driver that you will be stopping at Upper Leeson Street, I would always recommend the aircoach as it is extremely comfortable and only €14 for a return ticket so there are no extra charges for being stuck in rush hour traffic as we were.

*~*Location of the Leeson Bridge Guesthouse*~*
As previously mentioned Leeson Bridge Guesthouse is located at 1 Leeson Street Upper which is a 10 minute walk away from St Stephen’s Green and Grafton Street and there are many bus stops located all over the city so it is easy to get from one place to another. The guest house is located on a busy junction just before the bridge so it can be difficult to stop outside the hotel to unload baggage if you want to make use of the car parking facility.*~*Arriving at the hotel*~*
We arrived at the hotel really early and were planning on leaving our bags at the hotel as we had checked out the hotels facilities before we made the reservation to ensure that had we been travelling with more luggage than planned then we could ensure that we could leave our baggage behind.
We eventually arrived at the hotel just after 9am, the reception is located immediately on the right hand side and is manned from 7am until 11pm, so we checked with the receptionist whether we could check-in early but we were advised that the room was not ready and that we would need to return after 2pm to check-in, however we were able to leave our bags and jackets at the guesthouse in a locked room until we returned.
We decided to do most of our sightseeing and then spend the afternoon in the room having fortywinks before going back out later on.
When we returned to the guesthouse it was just after 3pm and we were able to check-in, the check-in process was simple and a print-out was provided showing the cost of the room and confirming the room type that we had booked and also our contact details should we leave anything behind and we were informed that our room was located on the 3rd floor and we could use the stairs or the lift and provided with 2 keycards.
We collected our bags from the room they were being stored and made our way up to the room.

*~*Our Room*~*
Leeson Bridge Guesthouse offers both luxury and executive rooms as well as studio apartments. Luxury rooms contain private Jacuzzi baths and views of the canal banks and the executive rooms were a little larger and also contained a sauna.
All door are opened via a keycard and our room had a superb view looking out at Leeson Bridge and the canal, as we entered the room there was a long narrow passageway that led onto the actual bedroom area and to the right were two large sash windows that looked out onto the busy road next to the canal and made the room light and airy but what I immediately noticed was that the noise from the busy road filtered straight into the bedroom making it less relaxing, I do feel that due to the amount of noise being produced and having read previous reviews on the hotel I certainly would think about offering air conditioning as there was no way we would be able to leave the windows open during the evening as the noise was too much.
On the left hand side of the passage way were two built in wardrobes with internal lights that automatically lit up when the door was opened and there were plenty of hangers offered and in the second wardrobe there was a spare duvet and an extra pillow and blanket which we did not require during our stay.

Our room contained a Kingsize bed which was extremely comfortable and the pillows were heaven and much more comfortable compared to the ones we had at home.
The ensuite bathroom is to the left of the bed and contained a Jacuzzi bath, toilet and sink and a glass door in the bathroom leads onto the private sauna which my other half made full use of. The bathroom appeared to be a little tatty and the pedestal had come away from the sink and either I was to heavy for the toilet but each time I sat on the toilet it moved! The bath was in full working order and came complete with overhead power shower and a shower head attachement on the taps. The bath panel was mahogany and was outdated and also looked worn where the water had spilled over onto the panel and caused it to come away from the side of the bath.
Towels were provided and stored on the heated towel rail, the bathroom was clean and tidy and basic amenities were provided in the form of Dove Moisturising shower crème and Lux shower gel.

The bedroom itself had an LCD flatscreen tv mounted on the wall at the end of the bed and offered a wide range of channels including ITV and BBC. There was a small dressing table in the room containing a travel kettle, tea and coffee making facilities and a large mirror hanging over. On the bed there are two complimentary chocolates from Lily O’Briens and if you see these in Dublin grab a box as these are delicious chocolates.

Next to the bed on the right hand side was an ironing board complete with Iron and to the left side of the bed was a small bedside table with a CD Alarm clock and on each side of the bed was a telephone, even now I have no idea why there were 3 telephones in our room and we didn’t use any of them.
As with most accommodation there was a directory with useful information in but there were no real recommendations for restaurants and bars within a few minutes walking distance of the hotel, they were all located in the Temple Bar area or Grafton Street.
The room is spacious and well decorated and looks as if it has recently been redecorated and if only they had concentrated their efforts on the bathroom as well this would be an ideal 4 star property.

*~*Overall Opinion*~*
I was glad that we stayed at this hotel as it was away from the main tourist areas and offered a relaxing break away. Apart from the traffic outside the guesthouse was peaceful and relaxing and we enjoyed our stay very much.
There is no restaurant in the hotel but breakfast is served each morning in the dining room which is located on the ground floor and serves a continental style breakfast between 7am and 10am.
The dining room contained 4 tables of 2 and 3 table to accommodate up to 4 guests and the self serve area is immediately to the left as you enter the dining room, offering a selection of Kellogs cereals, fruit juices, coffee, croissants, bagels and muffins and also ham, cheese, salami, eggs, tomatoes and peppers and what is more there is plenty to have and you can have as much as you like.
There is a member of staff that comes around to clear the plates and offers you toast and tea which is prepared when ordered so it is always fresh, I have to say that this was one of the best breakfasts I have had in a long time.
Check- out is 10 am from the hotel and I do feel that this could be moved to 11am as the guesthouse only has 30 rooms in total and judging by the number of guests we saw during our stay I highly doubt that all 30 rooms were booked up and given that check-in is 2pm that would mean that there is 4 hours to prepare the rooms for new guests.
When we checked out the same lady was on reception and she asked about our stay and wished us a pleasant journey home.
Overall this hotel was a relaxing break away from home and the staff we encountered were pleasant and helpful at all times even when it came to recommending a local restaurant.
If you want to stay somewhere a little bit different then look up the Leeson Bridge Guesthouse.

This hotel has no facilities for children, a cot can be placed in the room for a further €30 but due to the layout of the room it could be cramped if a cot is put into the room. There is a living room and dining room area on the first floor which is available for all guests to use and contains a comfortable leather sofa and there is also a kitchen within the hotel that may have previously been used by guests but this was locked for the duration of our visit. 

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