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The Wilder Townhouse in Dublin is a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH), a 3.5-4 star hotel located on 22 Adelaide Road in a residential neighborhood, about a 20-30 minute walk from downtown Dublin sights such as Trinity College, Dublin Castle, and the National Gallery of Ireland.
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I arrived in the late afternoon and after being checked in, was invited to enjoy a complimentary gin tonic in the bar or adjacent Garden Room. While I would have preferred something non-alcoholic, for anyone who enjoys gin tonics, it was certainly a lovely presentation, and accompanied by some plump olives and candied nuts.
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Doors from the Garden Room lead to an outdoor terrace that would be beautiful on a sunny day, although it was a bit chilly during my visit.
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Small Double Room
The hotel has 42 rooms, most of them extremely small; the Shoebox Room is only 129 sq. ft. I was alone in a Small Double Room (172 sq. ft.) and consider it too small to comfortably stay in with another person. If you're two people, I recommend reserving either a Townhouse Deluxe Room (269 sq. ft.) or better, a Townhouse Studio Suite (388 sq. ft.).
The Small Double Room doesn't have a closet of any kind; there's one luggage rack, four hangers, and a hairdryer (but no bathrobe or slippers).
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By moving the Nespresso machine, I was just barely able to create a small desk space to work at.
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The bed, as is common for Europe, was very firm–too firm for my taste.
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The window looked out onto the street, but while not perfectly soundproof, it wasn't too noisy.
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As with the room, the bathroom can be charitably characterized as compact.
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I didn't care for the FieldDay bath products, which not only contained Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Benzoate and artificial colorings that I didn't want anywhere near my skin, but also were in awkward to use pouches. I recommend bringing your own bath products.
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The prettiest part of the room was the little closet containing the mini bar and Nespresso pods, given the rather striking aquamarine and black wallpaper.
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The cups and saucers had an Alice in Wonderland theme, a whimsical touch.
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The Irish milk chocolate bar, potato chips, and granola bar are all made in Ireland and complimentary to guests, a nice touch, in addition to the chilled boxes of water in the mini bar.
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Breakfast at The Wilder Townhouse
Breakfast is served in the Garden Room from 7-10am on weekdays and from 8-11am on weekends and public holidays. TravelSort Clients enjoy complimentary daily breakfast (see SLH WithIN benefits below). There's a small but good breakfast buffet, with juices (although none of them fresh squeezed), cereals, breads and pastries, yogurts, and fresh fruit.
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The passion fruit curd yogurt was especially tasty, as was a latte.
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There's also the choice of a cooked to order breakfast option from the menu:
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I chose the Smashed Avocado and Poached Eggs. The eggs were cooked perfectly, but sadly the avocado mixture tasted like it was prepackaged; it definitely wasn't from fresh avocados, which was disappointing. I ate the eggs and left the toast. The tomatoes, however, were excellent.
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SLH WithIN Benefits for TravelSort Clients
Our clients enjoy the following benefits at The Wilder Townhouse on stays of two nights or more:
- Room upgrade, subject to availability at check-in
- Daily breakfast for two
- One $50 hotel credit for use during the stay
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The Verdict
The Wilder Townhouse in Dublin isn't for everyone: there's no full service restaurant, no spa facilities, it's about a 20 minute walk to the city center, and lower category rooms are tiny. But for guests who want something a bit quirky and charming and either don't mind the small rooms or who reserve a suite, for more space, it can be a good fit. We especially liked the light-filled Garden Room where breakfast is served, and the small but good quality breakfast buffet. We'd like to see a few improvements: fresh avocados used for the avocado toast, better quality bath products, and more comfortable mattresses.
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