Diffcult for the Taxi driver to find as it had only been open since May '06 The Hotel has level access to reception and the one lift rooms are all with level access to all rooms.

It also offer an free underground secure car-park to residents.

Although it offers both a complimentry pick-up from the airport and a welcome drink on arrival, neither were on offer when I arrived. 'We have not bought the bus yet' was the reponse to my quiery Taxi fare is E25.

The Hotel is situated on the edge of Ballmun, 'it does not pay to walk out at night or to travel on the local buses after dark, this area is the worst in Ireland' quote from the Hotel receptionist.

The room I stayed in would be fine for a 1.7 Metre tall person, the bed is fine (in fact I would rate it as one of the most comfortable I have been in), the problem is the distance between the foot of the bed and the built in desk at the foot of the bed is no more than 0.5 Metre and there is a chair in the space !!

The rooms are fitted with electronic keys and the key must be inserted into a holder for the lights and the T.V. to work. Problem is the key holder is behind the door, so at first it is not obvious, when one leaves the room and removes the key all the electricity goes off - Including the plugs so any charging of phone or computer stops.

The shower is triangular (I kidd you not) and my washbag is 28cm long and it fits inside the shower tray with 5cm to spare. I found it impossible to shower with the door closed and so flooded the bathroom.

The Hotel restaurant (called the Rubens)is a very dark dimmly lit place to which the dark blue upholstered chairs, dark wood look like tables along with the dark carpet adds only a sense of forboding to the whole place; (this also serves as the bar), the menu is written is small wriggly script, on the Saturday night the menu only had 1 veggi meal and it had 'sold out' at 6pm.

Be very careful of the 3 steps which are on the far side of the bar 2 people tripped during breakfast on the Sunday morning.

The food was horrid, eggs swimming in oil, bacon cooked in the oves so it all stuck together and was either very crisp or raw, The hotel boasts of a full Irish breakfast well having stayed at many hotels in Ireland this was the worst breakfast I have ever been offered.

I did notice that there was only 2 waitresses 1 cook and 1 washer-up (open plan kitchen - can be seen through the very long hatch)at breakfast time and the waitresses only clear the tables (its a self service buffet style breakfast). Requesting a pot of tea brough the responce its in the glass tea pot next to the coffee - there (pointing) on the left hand side hot plate.

At 3pm my room had not been 'serviced' I was informed that there was only 1 room service person on duty, On the Monday they did not even bother to 'service' my room.

The front of house staff were very pleasant and seemed concerned about the lack of food/service and facilities (Only Irish Times available to read on Monday -Saturday only).

I booked this Hotel through Hotelpidia and paid E85 per night - what an overcharge!

When I booked to stay at this hotel I was really looking forward to it as it was only a few months old and the pics on their internet site looked really nice.

However when we got into the taxi at Dublin airport one of the first things the taxi driver asked us was "why are you staying over there!!!", after this I was really not looking forward to my stay.

Then came the drive to our hotel and just a couple of miles from the airport made my horrible thoughts a reality! The area is not a very pleasent area at all! The various different taxi drivers from our weekend away gave us lots of advice and information on the area. For example the 1st driver informed us that pilots staying overnight in Dublin were refusing to stay here after a few apparently were "mugged".

Another bringing us back from the City stated that "even if you were my only job on a very quiet Saturday night there is no way I would stop for someone flagging down a taxi in this area!!!" So I started to think while looking out at all the high rised boarded up council flats this wasn't perhaps the best place to bring my girlfriend for a suprise birthday weekend away!!!

Now when we got to the hotel it really did stand out like a sore thumb, a really nice looking hotel in a rally dull looking area. The staff were quite pleasent and helpful in any way needed.

When I booked the room I paid an extra