Andi M.
Yelp
I've stayed at many hotels, and the Fitzwilliam stands out as one of the best. Luckily, I was able to stay here for almost a week when visiting Dublin for business.
The hotel is in an ideal location in downtown Dublin, close to restaurants and shopping, as well as the LUAS stop directly across the street. All of their staff are friendly and welcoming, including the front desk, concierge, housekeepers, and restaurant. The services truly are what you'd expect of a five-star hotel.
Their rooms are similar to a high-end American hotel. I had a king bed, with very comfortable feather pillows and a comforter. (They don't have separate sheets or blankets here, so I'd suggest turning down the a/c at night if you are a hot sleeper, like me.) And most importantly, the rooms are very clean!
Their rooms have the typical amenities you'd expect in a luxury hotel, like toiletries, hair dryer, laptop-sized safe, and mini bar. The only thing you won't have is a clock radio, although they will offer a daily wake-up call, if you prefer not to use your phone. I purchased a small travel alarm as a backup.
Wifi is free, and worked very well for being able to check emails and keep in touch with family from home on my iPhone. I didn't try logging on with my work laptop to be able to determine the speed, however.
One interesting thing to mention is that there is only one plug in the bathroom for shavers. You will have to use the blow dryer in the bedroom, as they don't allow larger outlets in bathrooms for safety reasons.
Don't forget to bring an adapter for your electronics, if you are traveling from another country. I kept my iPhone and Kindle charged each night using a handy three-input device I purchased from Amazon.
When cleaning your room, they will leave you with two absolutely delicious chocolates (including one truffle and one dark chocolate). It's worth letting them come into your room for cleaning each day!
Their breakfasts are really delicious. For €22, you can choose from either their menu or their continental bar. But this is not the typical "continental" you'd get in America. They actually have plenty of hot items to choose from, such as scrambled eggs, sausages (similar to U.S. sausage links, but larger and more delicious), black and white pudding (like sausage patties, but with oats, and ahem, blood in the black version), and tomatoes/potatoes. And their cold selections are also quite good, such as their fresh fruit (watermelon!), cereal, honeycomb (!), and pastries.
Their full menu has options such as the full Irish breakfast, omelets, and benedicts. I've had the full Irish breakfast before in the U.S., and knew what to expect, so I only had this once. I ended up repeating the tomato/ham/cheese omelet a couple of times - it was that good! Their omelets are not like typical American omelets - they are cooked flat in a skillet, and every bite is a good one!
Checkout is a breeze, even if they don't offer a quick phone checkout option available at most American hotels. Do ask the concierge to reserve a cab to return to the airport. We got our own cab from the airport to the hotel when we first arrived, and he charged more than €10 more than we got when reserving through the hotel.
Even through the Fitzwilliam is a bit pricy, I'll definitely return! And hopefully next time, it'll be with my husband!