Ellis Quay Apartments by the Key Collection

The apartments are nice enough, but wildly overpriced for what you get. Staff weren’t especially friendly or helpful, and there’s no decent, safe parking nearby. We paid €200 for one night out of season, and one couple in our group had to sleep on the couch. There was constant strange noise from the huge boiler room. For all its size, the place only had enough hot water for one person. Even after waiting two hours, there still wasn’t enough, so we had cold showers before our noon checkout. Dreadful. It was an embarrassing way to introduce my foreign friends to my city. When I complained, the staff member only offered a poor 10% discount on a future booking. That doesn’t make up for not getting a decent night’s sleep or a hot shower in the middle of winter, which is why you stay somewhere in the first place.

The apartment was spacious, and the bedrooms were comfortable. It had what we needed for a short stay in Dublin, including a lounge and kitchen. The location is ideal, just outside the main city centre, with lots of restaurants and bars a few streets away. All the tourist spots are within walking distance. It was well priced too, and I’d recommend staying here.

We stayed here a couple of years ago, and I was pleasantly surprised by the location. The apartment is right beside the river, diagonally across from Temple Bar, and you could see a Guinness factory. There’s a little shop below the apartment. Finding the check-in office was tricky, though. It’s across the street, and we had to ask around quite a bit before we found it. The city centre, where many locals shop and sightsee, is a short walk away. It’s easy to cross the river on the bridges, and there are lots of shops, restaurants, and pubs nearby. My husband and I booked a double room because European beds are so small that we wanted a full bed to ourselves. We didn’t mind, and were so tired we slept comfortably. The rooms were clean and the staff friendly. It was a little hard to fall asleep with the noise. That area seems to stay active all night, so I’d recommend earplugs, like I used. Highly recommend, and affordable too. We booked through a hotel app, used a free night, and only paid the room taxes.

The setup makes the weekend price of €200 a night a little easier to understand: there are two bedrooms, a kitchenette, a living room and a balcony. It was comfortable, though very expensive. Check-in isn't until 4, which feels much too late, but they did let me in at 2. The connections to the city and Connolly Station were good, and Heuston was an easy walk.