For a recent work trip up to Dublin, I found myself booked into the relatively new Travelodge Plus Dublin City Centre, located very centrally, not far from the main tourist areas such as Temple Bar & Grafton Street, and also only a stone’s throw from two of the main city train stations.

 Being unacquainted with Travelodge’s hierarchy of offerings, I wasn’t too sure what exactly the ‘plus’ added to the experience relative to a regular Travelodge stay, but based on their website, the key differences are enhanced ‘chic’-ness of the rooms, and a Bar Café offering.

The property in Dublin is brand new and the building still has a wonderful freshness to it, and throughout the stay, I found it warm, modern, and clean.

First impressions were positive – myself and my colleague were seen to incredibly efficiently, with several angled reception desks available in a row (this however is a little troublesome at busier times, as guests tend to queue up behind the individual desks they think will move the quickest, as opposed to forming one queue in the lobby area), and check-in formalities were handled very promptly.

Unfortunately, the keycard system wasn’t functioning – and so instead guests, including ourselves, had to be escorted to our rooms and then also allowed in. Thankfully this was resolved later in the evening and a quick stop by reception upon my return later in the evening saw the keycard reprogrammed to work once again.

First impressions of the standard room, I have to say – for a city centre short trip – were incredibly positive. The bed, as you would expect, occupied most of the room – though there were still plenty of spaces and nooks to stow other loose belongings or a small case if you had one.

Overall, the room was tastefully furnished, and I found the colour schemes far more sophisticated than I perhaps allowed myself to initially expect from a budget hotel.

Against one wall sat a very good-sized work desk, where you could easily have done a few calls, along with a kettle and tea/coffee and mugs. There was also a safe cleverly built into the desk itself for storing valuables.

The bathroom meanwhile was on the tighter side but still entirely functional. It probably fell a little more aesthetically on the ‘hospital room’ side of interior décor, but beyond that, I couldn’t fault it – it was spotless, there were plenty of towels, and I had no issue with either water pressure or temperature throughout.

If I was to say what stood out for me during the stay most positively, it would be the consistently very friendly, very helpful service from all the staff during the stay. On the other side, the only two things that bothered me during the stay (which I checked were the same for my colleague as well) were the air conditioning being unusable at night – it just kept turning itself back off again – and that, if this bothers you, there’s some very low-level lighting in the room hallway that insisted on staying on all night, despite my very best efforts to locate a switch to turn them off.

Next morning and although breakfast was an optional extra, I had a long day of team-building ahead and a night of pints to recover from, so I decided to give it a try. Breakfast is handled out of the Bar Café, and I really thought for €15 it was actually very good value.

Due to the number of people keen on breakfast, I didn’t take any pictures of the spread (and the picture above of the venue was moments before an absolute stampede arrived!) but there was two areas of full Irish breakfast offerings, along with cold cuts, yoghurt, fruits, juices, and tea/coffee – coffee coming out of two pretty fancy self-serve machines.

In the end, I actually went to town on the breakfast and didn’t want nor need to eat until 8pm again in the evening!

Check-out again was very prompt, friendly and efficient and I was proactively offered to be relieved for the morning of my luggage, which I gladly took up the offer of. I found it quite amazing to be asked several times how my stay had been – the team seemed genuinely interested in what could be improved and if there had been any issues along the way.

This was a brief one-night, work trip stay that didn’t see me needing to spend too much time in the hotel, but for quick city visits, or work trips, I wouldn’t hesitate to consider the Travelodge Plus Dublin City Centre again – it was a surprisingly enjoyable stay with all the amenities one needs in the city centre (and a Tesco Express just round the corner of the building), and all the basics you need from a hotel done well.