I recently wrote of my thoughts on the Carlton Hotel Dublin Airport on TripAdvisor and thought best to follow up here. Even though I live the other side of the motorway to Dublin Airport, early morning starts are a pain nonetheless and having been disappointed once or twice with the Aircoach, driving out there remains the best way where possible.

Now, I want to know before I get started, how busy can an airport hotel be in Dublin? Do a search for an airport hotel, and you will literally find a wealth of choice. How busy can it be? I had actually meant to book the shoddy-looking old premises on the way into the airport, but the name was so similar that I ended up in the latter stages of booking the Carlton, as opposed to its rival with a similar name. The answer to my own question though more than likely came in the fact that I got one of Carlton’s Rooftop Suites for around €140 a night. So, is it worth it?

Well yes, strangely. We got there around 6 the previous evening, had a meal in the restaurant (which is eerily understaffed, and I note that was a criticism levelled by a number of other guests) before repairing back to the room. The Rooftop Suite, as the name implies, is right up there at the top, with a swipe of the card needed just to get from the lift onto the corridor.

The bathroom was about the size of my guest bedroom at home, palatial almost. What I’ll always give the Carlton’s (that I’ve stayed in) is that they have a high level of cleanliness that they somehow manage to maintain across all properties. The bathroom was spotless and I felt bad just showering in there, knowing the tiles would be almost certainly violently scrubbed clean again the next morning.

Now, the downsides to this was that the Wi-Fi, although I’m assured it works and exists, didn’t work at all for us. That’d have been a massive let-down if my phone had not been able to pick up the slack for us. Also, there is a gentle hum of aircraft overhead – very gentle. But, if you were standing outside at the same time, you’d be experiencing an earth-shaking thunder so overall it’s nothing to worry about.

The other thing, while it suited us at the time, is that the hotel faces either almost onto the runway, or else this horrendously bland barren tarmac car park for one of myriad car rental agencies serving the airport. We had the view of the car park, which I largely bemoaned at the time, but thinking about it now, it was probably the quieter side of the hotel – so the choice is up to you which you’d rather have, view with noise, or no view and little noise.

All I know is I’ll be there next time I’m flying out long-haul early in the morning.