With excellent prices for tickets from Dublin with OneWorld carriers I have been visiting the airport at the Irish capital quite a lot in recent months. There are few choices of hotels on the airport, and the only one that gives miles or points is the Radisson. It used to be a great hotel but has gone downhill in recent years. So, what to note about my recent 4 stays there?

The shuttle bus is pretty prompt if you call the hotel and ask them to send it. Their number is helpfully on the bus shelter you need to use to wait if its raining. My experience is that if you call the maximum wait is 10 minutes. The shuttle only seats about 7 people so if there are a lot of people waiting it may be easier to walk if you don’t have luggage and are confident of the directions. (Basically follow signs to Terminal 2, and the look for the Radisson further away from T2 in the direction you’ve come).

The property is famously stingy with upgrades during the week. In correspondence with the hotel manager this is because they often get a lot of last minute bookings – I suppose from cancelled flights. However, it doesn’t explain why my last stay didn’t even secure the room type booked or why they were still selling upgraded rooms after I had checked-in. (I did ask but have had no reply.)

However, two stays ago, on a Thursday before Easter I secured the elusive upgrade for the first time in 2015. (This makes my upgrade rate at this property 25% for a Club Carlson Gold).

So, what is the upgrade?

This is the highest room category that is sold at this property and is where a Club Carlson Gold should be able to get when checking-in. The hotel seems to stick to the rule that upgrades are allocated at check-in rather than pre-allocated to make their best customers happy as many other properties seem to favour.

So, what’s the big deal?

Well not a lot in truth – a nicer range of furnishings, a bathrobe, a desk and that’s about it except for the Nespresso coffee machine which is provided in addition to the kettle which features in other rooms.

 

The small box of chocolates on the bed are the Club Carlson welcome amenity.

The bathrooms are all pretty standard in the rooms at this property.

 

Next morning I left at around 5am and the bus dropped me back at the same bus stop as I was collected from. The entrance to check-in is on the other side of the covered walk way from the terminal and features a fun travelator which takes you up as well as along. (Yes it is as steep as it looks!)

After four stays and one upgrade I did email the GM at the property about the position and she explained it as I mentioned above. None in the week, but usually at weekends. She did note my stay due in July which is mid-week but where she is prepared to upgrade me despite it being mid-week.

My other go-to hotel at Dublin is the Hilton but it’s a good 15 minute coach ride away and they only operate every 30 minutes. This can mean it takes an hour from landing to get there, so I may just have to put up with the Radisson for now. (Most of my trips over the summer start in Copenhagen, where the Hilton is even closer to the airport than the Radisson is at Dublin.)