Westin hotels are part of the larger Starwood hotel family, including brands such as Sheraton, Four Points, W Hotels, St Regis, and the recent acquisition of Le Meridien.
The Westin brand is always a blend of the modern, whilst allowing a certain amount of tradition, as is evident at The Westin in Dublin.
I have, for many years, been meaning to stay here on a jaunt to Dublin and finally did it in September 2005, which is when and where I experienced my first "black velvet" - Guinness and Champagne ... lovely jubbly as Derek Trotter would say!
Ideally located next to Trinity College in the centre of Dublin, the famous Grafton Street is a very short walk, as is the infamous Temple Bar. The former famous for it's shopping and the residence of department store Brown Thomas, along with Lillie Bordellos, the most fashionable nightclub in Ireland, and the latter famous for all the pubs and drink fuelled shenanigans.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The History of the Building ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Millions and millions of pounds, and in this case Euros, go into the refurbishment and restoration of individual hotels. You really would be baffled by the figures your hear reported for the refurbishment of hotels all around the globe, with Investment Banks and Venture Capitalists investing heavily for a long-term gain. One hotel in England,
I can think of immediately, is currently under-going a £30-£32 Million refurbishment.
The Westin Dublin is one of the most exclusive properties in the city - and indeed Ireland - boasting luxury and opulence, as well as individual grandeur, formerly home to the Allied Irish Bank, originally built in 1863.
The Banking Hall has been restored to it's former glory and the tapestry of the ceiling is very interesting and worthy almost of a place in the Sistine Chapel … Well, maybe I am getting a little carried away, because I was quite drunkard when I saw it, which is why I can't remember all the fabulous facts that I went "oooouuuu and arrrrrrrr" about at the time of the hotel show round, but ... I liked it!
~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hotel Facilities ~~~~~~~~~~~~
The hotel has 8 meeting rooms, with the largest being the Banking Hall, catering for a maximum of 250 delegates / guests.
The meeting rooms are fully equipped with all the latest modern technology, and wireless connectivity cards can be purchased from the business centre or reception for usage with laptops.
The majority of meeting rooms are situated on the first floor and have natural daylight, but the Banking Hall, is as you may expect, located on the ground floor and - from recollection - has it's very own private entrance and foyer.
The meeting rooms are very comfortable, and the leather chairs are very conducive to falling asleep, as I found to my detriment when I had an all day board meeting on a Saturday, following quite a heavy and late Friday night in the downstairs bar! Ooops !! tehehe … Well done Scouse, very professional!
164 bedrooms are housed within the building and very luxurious they are too! I didn't really want to leave my bed on either of the two mornings I woke up here, especially as they are the "Heavenly Beds" that are a trademark of Westin Hotels.
The "Heavenly Bed" is a concept bed designed for providing the perfect nights sleep. A lot of attention and detail has gone into the design of the bed to ensure it provides the perfect balance of hard and soft mattress, with smooth, comfortable pillows and duvets that just send you to sleep in no time at all. Seriously, these are damn good beds for sleeping! Lucky I didn't have a girl with me; she'd have got no action I'm telling you! … As soon as that head hits the pillow, you're gone.
The bedrooms décor is much the same as the remainder of the hotel, which features traditional mahogany furnishings, rich, warm colours and golden mirrors. The bathrooms are very spacious and completely decked out in marble, complete with shower and bath, Westin toiletries (shampoo, moisturiser, body wash), set of scales, bathrobes, and all associated towelling.
A number of the bedrooms boast terrific views of the magnificent surrounding Georgian and Victorian architectural landmarks, such as Trinity College and the Bank of Ireland, while others overlook the hotel atrium, which rises up five floors of the hotel ~ picture of this is attached.
All bedrooms and Junior, Deluxe, Library and Presidential suites offer a variety of amenities, including; satellite television, minibar, telephone, iron and board, ample space for storage and hanging clothing, coffee and tea making facilities, private balcony, supermodel (not really, just checking you will still concentrating!), refreshment centre, safe, hairdryer, and come with services such as, 24-hour room service, maid service (think I missed out there!), and in-room massage treatments (definitely missed out there!!). ALL services are at an additional charge.
facilities are also highly recommended; The Exchange Restaurant, The Mint, and The Atrium.I will cover the f&b outlets in the sequence that we visited them on the Friday evening;
Beginning with The Atrium, this is a fabulous construction on the first floor, which occupies a place in the centre of the hotel, with the corridors of the bedrooms overlooking the central feature. The Atrium is open from 9am until 11pm and is ideal for light snacks throughout the day, and also for pre-dinner drinks.
The Exchange Restaurant has a very smart but casual atmosphere and does - on occasion - provide live entertainment. On the Friday evening that I dined here, there was a large Franco-German group in, who provided all the entertainment we required, with a sequence of strange games, but I can't recall too much detail as I had drunk far too much Champagne, Wine and Guinness by this stage. The fare was a mixture of both typical Irish dishes, as well as International offerings on an a la carte menu. And, the Head Chef was a Scouser and an Evertonian to boot! Cracking chap, who had the time to come out from the kitchen and have a quick chat with our group. Not typical of the image most people have of a Head Chef, and to me further demonstrated the ethos of the staff within the hotel to provide that personal touch.Finally, The Mint, which is the hotel bar located down in the basement. On a Friday evening, the bar is famed throughout Dublin for having a Salsa evening, which was actually started by one of the hotels Chefs, who suggested a theme evening on a Friday. We had such a good laugh just watching the dancing and it didn't become apparent until the end of the night that the majority of people dancing with one another did not know one another, despite the immense chemistry that appeared to exists between some of the couples whilst dancing! This was wonderful to watch, and I have always thought I could dance a little, but after this little show, I realised I have a lot more to learn about strutting my funky stuff! Highly recommended for a few lively drinks in Dublin on a Friday evening, as very few of the clientele where actually residents of the hotel.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hotel Services ~~~~~~~~~~~~
Check-in @ 2pm
Check-out @ 12 noon
Both check-in and check-out where very quick, efficient, and most notably friendly and welcoming.* Starwood preferred guest programme operates at this hotel. This is a loyalty scheme that generally operates throughout all Starwood branded hotels throughout the world. For more details on this visit www.starwoodhotels.com
* Concierge service - provides local knowledge, maps, restaurant bookings, taxi bookings, car rental services, and tour / excursion services.
* Laundry / Valet services
* Limited car parking
~~~~ Price ~~~~
The price relates to hotel bedrooms and not conference facilities.
I may just have to copy and paste this into every future hotel review I do, but the price is always a difficult one to quantify, with the rate typically ranging between 220 - 600 Euros per room per night dependent upon the grade of room requested and a whole number of other factors. However, typically, it could be explained as ... well, not cheap !
Allow me to expand...
Hotel prices are rarely published anymore, because "best available rates" are now in operation within most hotels, whereby a rate will fluctuate according to the performance of the market. Therefore, if a hotel has very few bedrooms available to sell for a specific date, then the price of a bedroom is likely to be much higher … supply and demand. The pricing model that hotels no use is very similar to airlines, and this is probably the best way for me to make the analogy.
Rates will also vary dependent upon seasonality and the day of the week, so if you are travelling on leisure, you are likely to pay a cheaper rate than a business traveller, when the hotel may typically be busier.
I can confirm though, that you will definitely be paying for the highest quality in both product and service.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Personal Experience ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One of the major problems with many of the reported and even self-confessed best hotels in the world, is the fact that the people i.e. staff working within them, do not do justice to the product. This is well and truly one of the EXCEPTIONS to that rule. Okay, it's not a hard and fast rule, and I certainly haven't visited and experienced every 5-star hotel in the world, but I have been in enough to know when the service is worth shouting about.
The staff of the Westin Hotel Dublin are a credit to the product, from top to bottom, with the General Manager of the hotel displaying very hands on approach to business and ensuring that his team demonstrate the same personal touch to all guests as he. The attention to detail and service delivery are A-star and I was hugely impressed by the very personal service afforded to the group that I was a part of when I visited and stayed at the hotel. I do find that it is rare to see, and have often experienced a very arrogant manner by staff working in the finest hotels. Maybe it was the typically Irish charm and commitment to hospitality, but to me it was more than that.
Highly recommended for either business or leisure.Thanks for reading :-D
Newty a.k.a Scouse
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