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This InterContinental Dublin Review is from our stay following Ballyfin. InterContinental took over managing the property in 2015, which was previously The Four Seasons Dublin. Located in the leafy residential Dublin neighborhood of Ballsbridge, the hotel is about a 10 minute drive or 45 minute walk from the city center. A nice touch is that there's complimentary house car service (based on availability: first come, first served) to the city center.
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After entering, Reception and the Concierge Desk are on the left.
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Ahead, the Lobby Lounge provides comfortable seating, and serves afternoon tea daily from noon until 4:30pm; breakfast, lunch, and dinner can also be taken here.
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The Lounge enjoys good natural light and views of the Garden Terrace, which provides delightful outdoor space in warmer weather.
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InterContinental Dublin Classic Room and One Bedroom Suite
We'd reserved a Classic Room with two queen beds. These rooms are 474 square feet, and can accommodate up to four guests.
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There's a mini bar for a fee, and above it, complimentary coffee via a Nespresso Vertuo machine, as well as Ronnefeldt tea and Cadbury's hot chocolate mix.
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This was the view from the window:
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The bathroom was dated, with a single sink and regular shower head (no rain shower), but seemed well-maintained.
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Bath products are by Byredo:
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Unfortunately, soon after unpacking, a loud drilling sound commenced, continuing intermittently. I called the Front Desk to ask about it, and was told that they were unaware of any construction, and would call me back. Ten minutes later, the drilling sound continued but no one had called back. This time I asked to speak to the Manager on Duty. He confirmed that there was drilling, but several floors below, and seemed surprised that it was so audible in the room I was in. I requested a move to a quiet accommodation, and to be moved to a suite, given the inconvenience. I told him that in my view, this level of noise is wholly unacceptable for rooms that are being sold, and no one should have been placed in the room we were assigned. He declined to apologize or to move us, so I noted that I'd be reaching out to the General Manager. One minute later he phoned back (still no apology) and said we'd be moved to a suite. The exchange wasn't a great start to the stay, and one that, in my experience, would never have taken place had the hotel remained a Four Seasons property.
After packing everything up, we moved to the One Bedroom Suite, which is considerably more spacious, at ~900 sq. ft., with a large living room, including a sofa bed and work desk.
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The bedroom, with a king bed, is separated from the living area via wooden doors.
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One nice aspect of the suite is that there's a vanity table just outside the bathroom that can serve as a second work desk, and a walk-in closet.
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The suite's bathroom is similar to the Classic Room bathroom, with only one sink and a regular showerhead (no rain shower).
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The main difference was that additional toiletries were provided: a dental kit, shaving kit, and mouthwash.
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Here's our InterContinental Dublin video review:
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Breakfast at Seasons Restaurant
TravelSort Clients enjoy complimentary daily buffet breakfast for two at Seasons Restaurant. Breakfast is served 6:30am-10:30am on weekdays and 7-11am on weekends.
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We enjoyed sitting at one of the banquettes that overlook the garden.
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The buffet was good but not great, by European luxury hotel standards. There were cereals (but no homemade granola), yogurts, pastries, honeycomb, fresh fruit (although no berries), smoked salmon, cheeses and cold cuts, and omelets made to order. There wasn't grapefruit juice on the buffet, but a kind staff member was able to ferret some out for me.
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Virtuoso Benefits
TravelSort Clients enjoy these benefits at the InterContinental Dublin:
- Guaranteed upgrade (up to Luxury Suites) at time of booking, for stays until 12/21/25. Note that Signature Suites are excluded
- Daily Buffet breakfast for up to two per bedroom
- $100 USD equivalent Food & Beverage credit to be utilized during stay (not combinable, no cash value if not redeemed in full)
- Complimentary roundtrip transfers to downtown
- Early Check-In / Late Check-Out, subject to availability
- Complimentary Wi-Fi
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The Verdict
The InterContinental Dublin is in a pleasant residential area, with dated but well-maintained rooms and suites and a good breakfast (although not of the caliber of top-notch European luxury hotels). The problem, at least for our stay: maintenance was being done that should really be done while the hotel is closed, or at the very least, in low season, not during the peak summer season. Management was dismissive and arrogant until I observed that I'd be reaching out to the General Manager, when, miraculously, my service recovery request was honored.
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