Source: http://www.thewestindublin.com/

TRIP REPORT INDEX

SUMMARY

The Westin Dublin is the place to stay when you're a tourist in Dublin! The location rocks! It's also a great to use your Starwood Points for a free night and get a suite upgrade (if you use an upgrade certificate or cross your fingers with Platinum Status). The hotel is classy inside and out, suites are spacious, the staff is friendly, and has a solid breakfast. I would definitely stay here again! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

LOCATION

One word: AMAZING!

The Westin Dublin is smack in the middle of everything – see the Google Map. It's one block from Temple Bar which was confusing at first because I thought it's just a bar, but it's an entire area with bars and restaurants. It's one block to Trinity College; a few minutes to Dublin Castle, 10 minutes walk to Gaiety Theater with lots of restaurants on the way. If you are a tourist, this is the perfect spot and much better than the Hilton Dublin where I also stayed during the same trip.

The Temple Bar area just 2 blocks from the hotel

THE COST

The Westin Dublin cost us 12,000 SPG points per night for 2 nights. The cash rate was $350 and $400 (tax included), so I got $0.03 to $0.035 value from each Starwood point — I would consider that an excellent value. There was potential to get double elite stay credit, an offer I was targeted for, for any paid stays this summer but the cash price was just too rich for my blood.

BOOK A ROOM or STAY FREE

Want to stay for free?  SPG American Express is offering a 25k point sign up bonus.  Compare hotel cards here for business or personal cards here.  Book this and other hotels at Booking.com (unless you need the elite stay credit or points, then be sure to book directly with SPG.com). Some of these are affiliate links and I may receive a commission if use them — many thanks in advance if you do!!

THE ROOM

We used suite night upgrade certificates and scored this nice corner suite with 2 bathrooms – room 400. I was really hoping for the 2-story Library Suite or College Bedroom Suite but I really can't complain.

Plenty of space to spread out and relax in the living room:

A cool Nespresso machine which makes me want to drink coffee, or at least brew a cup just for fun.

I guess hard liquor is not that popular here:

The master bath was very spacious and had these cool textured marble(?) tiles.

The bath tub that didn't get used much:

2nd bathroom (half bath)

Great views of the city:

LOBBY

Next to the lobby is this sitting area with red theme. The stairs down to the bar/breakfast area are on the left.

There was no lounge but they did have this cafe which is crammed with lots of couches and chairs. You can buy drinks and food here — we were out of the hotel all the time so never stopped by during open hours.

BREAKFAST

The Westin Dublin serves a full Irish breakfast which is very solid: presentation gets an A and the food gets a B/B+. It is, of course, free for Platinum members, otherwise I'd be eating outside of the hotel. A bit more attention to the hot foods would bring the entire experience up to an A.

Breakfast welcome drinks: Superfood Bloody Mary (with and without alcohol) and “Red Snapper”. Nicely done, Westin! Rough night? I love healthy food. More alcohol (with superfood) makes it better right?

Jing “Perfect Tea” presented in single serve: Peppermint, Earl Grey, Green Tea, and English Breakfast.  I'll take the peppermint. Very nice!

These milk bottles were described to me as “Super cute”. Are they? Again — very nice presentation.

Fresh fruits:

Nuts (Pignolis aka Pine Nuts, walnuts, pistachios) and dried fruit. This is not cheap stuff:

Mini yogurt pots with granola and fruits.  Very mini and tasty — I had 3.

A few cereals if you prefer:

A spread of smoked salmon, cold cuts, and cheese. Sorry about the unfocused photo.

Last but not least — the hot foods were presented in these very polished chafing dishes:

Scrambled eggs, mushrooms, sausages, ham (they call it bacon, but…that's not bacon!).  These hot foods were ok… I would have loved an omelet station or something made fresh.

Blood sausage. I have eaten this in the past before I knew what it was.

Potatoes and tomatoes: both were fairly cold and not very good.

The bread section was ok. Enough choices but nothing super fresh or amazing.

GYM

The gym at the Westin Dublin was well equipped for the size and everything was in excellent condition. It's also a bit hidden – I walked past it a few times.

My Cameras: These photos were taken using my Canon S110 Digital Camera (which has been replaced by the S120) as well as my larger Nikon D50.  I love the S110 – it’s tiny, fits in my pocket, and takes amazing pictures/videos.