This was our third stay. When we arrived at the hotel we were greeted by the door man. As always the hotel was busy. We knew our way, so we passed the Lord Mayor Lounge to our right, turned right and in front of the Horse Shoe Bar turned left, where the reception and concierge are located. We were friendly greeted and the check in was quickly done. We didn't receive any lemonade as is normally customary.
We had booked a deluxe room with a dining package included. I had called earlier to reserve a table at the Saddle Room.
Unfortunately I can't recommend the entrance room, because it is small, dark and doesn't offer the views one would expect. I guess staying at the Shelbourne everyone wants a view over St. Stephens Green.
Our room was located on the higher floors and had the desired views. Due to the age and layout of the building (over 180 years old), some of the rooms can be difficult to find.
The hotel has an interesting history and most of it can be read in a book about the hotel on sale at reception.
The Shelbourne was always associated with horses and horse racing. The artwork is related to this as well as the names of the Saddle Room and the Horse Shoe Bar. There had been a real saddle at the entrance to the restaurant, but when US President Ronald Reagan visited Ireland and stayed at the hotel, he was enchanted with the saddle, and it was given to him as a present. It has never been replaced. The name remains.
Our room was medium in size with a closet - the small safe is integrated there, a hallway, two cupboards, a large and comfortable king sized bed, a writing desk, two chairs - one with ottoman, a coffee table with magazines, including the Renaissance magazine and a flat screen TV with BBC World, Sky Sports, CNBC and Bloomberg. Of course there were other channels, too, but they weren't international. There is also a mini bar.
The bathroom was large with a sink, toilet, separate bath tub and shower. The toiletries were from Picksniff, an English company. We like them. The water pressure was good.
In room dining is 24 hours a day available, and most dishes are Irish.
When we went downstairs for our dinner, the hotel was buzzing. The hotel seems to be never quiet. Sometimes it's difficult to move around, because the guests are overflowing from the second bar and the Horse Shoe Bar into the lobby.
At the restaurant, located beside the magnificent staircase, we were greeted by the hostess and accompanied to our table. The Saddle Room was full. Reservations are essential.
We received the wine and dining menu. Our waiter promised to be back soon. Unfortunately it seemed guests, who hadn't booked the dining package, were treated preferential and received faster and more attentive service than we did, for example we were ready to order, and we had given numerous signs, but were promised we would be taken care of soon. After some more waiting, we ordered our drinks and dinner. We could choose from three starters, three main courses and dessert. The waiter gave his own wine recommendation, but we had already decided on two glasses of red wine.
With the wine and water came a loaf of bread and butter.
Our starters were the same. We had hot smoked salmon with sea grass. It was delicious. My main course was fish again, while he had a steak. The Sirloin steak was good, but he prefers fillet. It's higher quality.
As dessert we had The Shelbourne Trifle and the bread and butter pudding. Both were delectable.
EW used the free overnight shoe shine service. He had requested a return at 07.30 hours am. When I checked the next morning no shoes were there, and I was a little bit concerned. Calling the reception I inquired about the delivery. The person claimed we had left the "Do not disturb" sign on our door knob, so the shoes couldn't be left. This was either a lie or a misunderstanding, because we didn't have any sign hanging outside... My suspicion is a lot of other guests used the service too and the staff was running behind. They simply looked for an excuse. Maybe I'm wrong. To my relieve the shoes arrived within five minutes after my call. The result was satisfactory, so we could go to breakfast at the Saddle Room. We arrived at around 10.00 am, and the restaurant was buzzing. We were seated in the bar, which was connected with the restaurant. We ordered from the a la carte menu, but weren't sure, if this was included in our rate or not. It didn't matter, because we wanted our French Toast and the Shelbourne Eggs Benedict in any case. The smoothie he had was one of the best in town. In the end we weren't charged extra.
An update to the dining package: Our reservation stated a 3-coursed-dinner and breakfast was included. When checking the same package for a different date, the language had changed to buffet breakfast, so that means in future we have to pay for the a la carte option.
Having finished our breakfast we left and were surprised how many people were queuing in front of the hostess’s desk to receive a table. We hate waiting and think it’s not a sign of luxury. Unfortunately hotel dining is down in Europe, so a lot of hotels have downsized their food outlets (For example instead of two restaurants, there is only one left, or formerly it could seat more guests, but the tables have decreased since the last renovation.) This indicates to us in future queuing for breakfast is going to occur more often.
We had tickets for a rugby game, so we checked out after breakfast and stored our luggage to retrieve it after the game.
We spent an enjoyable afternoon at the RDS (Leinster won against the Glasgow Warriors) and went back to the hotel, where we had to wait only a short time to get our luggage.
A small problem developed after we checked out. We are members at the Marriott Rewards program and should have received points for the complete spend; instead we received only points for the overnight rate. I contacted Marriott and was requested to email/fax or send the invoice to them. After a few days the points were corrected.
What have we learned from this stay? We are staying again, but won't take a package, because we like freedom, choice and flexibility.
©2012
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