GEMMA TIPTONstays at the Best Western Ashling, in Dublin
IN NOVEMBER, following a glamorous revamp, Brian Cowen relaunched the Best Western Ashling Hotel, beside Heuston Station in Dublin. If you were looking for a list of things that would benefit from a total revamp (with or without the glamour), you would probably have to include the Taoiseach, Best Western and the area beside the station, along with the hotel. I have always been a bit sniffy about Best Western, the name conjuring up chains such as Little Chef, Butlins and Woolworths – tired remnants from another era.
This is completely unfair, for, unlike Maldron and Four Seasons, to pick from each end of the scale, Best Western is not a chain of hotels aiming to offer the same experience in different places. Instead, it evolved from a group that got together to recommend each other, simplify booking and generally ensure that standards across the alliance were maintained. And, apart from those standards, there is nothing standard about Best Westerns in Ireland at all – they range from the newly glamorous Ashling, to the lovely Woodenbridge (Ireland’s oldest hotel), in Co Wicklow, to Cork’s Ambassador. So, if Best Western hired me as a consultant, I’d tell them to change their name, but I really wouldn’t advise them to alter much at all about the new Ashling.
The location is fantastic, and often neglected. Perhaps this is to do with our public transport, but Dubliners move about the city far less than those whose cities are connected by underground systems. On the Ashling’s doorstep are the Phoenix Park and Dublin Zoo, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, the National Museum at Collins Barracks, Heuston Station and Ryan’s of Parkgate Street, one of Dublin’s most beautiful Victorian pubs.
The other visitors staying at the Ashling – a mixture of nationalities – had no qualms about exploring the full extent of Dublin’s geography, and were cheerfully chatting in the foyer and bar about hopping on the Luas, which runs past the front door, to go up to Thomas Street and the Guinness brewery, or along to shop in the city centre.
Post-revamp, the hotel is glittering and velvety. Chandeliers hang in the reception area, and three clocks hang behind the desk – they told the right time in New York and Paris, but were 20 minutes slow in Dublin. The bar has low sofas as well as high stools, and in the mid-afternoon it was half-full with a mixture of ladies taking tea and gentlemen drinking harder stuff.
I booked online, and after navigating the array of options, which didn’t seem all that different from one another, I requested a room high up. I always do this. It probably comes from living in a single-storey place, but it’s surprising how rarely hotels take any notice. The Ashling did, and put me on the seventh floor, which is right at the top – and, oh my gosh, the views!
The layout of the place means these are better from the corridors than from the rooms, but they are truly fantastic. Dublin is laid out at your feet: from the train tracks to Heuston, along the river, across to Guinness and over to the millennium spire, with the mountains beyond. The in-between, meanwhile, is dotted with steeples and interspersed with occasional cranes.
My room, a standard one, was smallish, though this is not unusual in a city-centre hotel. The double bed was 4ft 6in wide, so I didn’t get the sense of sprawling luxury that you get from huge hotel beds, but I felt cosy instead. The rooms are tastefully done, plain browns and fawns, but with splashes of pink and green from cushions, and throws. I don’t usually get terribly excited by curtains, but I thought the ones in my room were worth a little thrill – pink rambling flowers embroidered on a plain tan ground. The bathroom was grand, also revamped, with modern fittings, though let down by one of those hair dryers that offers a faint waft of warmish air to meet the challenge of your dripping wet head.
Breakfast the next morning was fine, a hot and cold buffet offering all the normal fare.
I had a welcome double espresso and ate healthy melon slices before succumbing to a full fry.
I liked the new Ashling. It used to feel a little down at heel, but not any more. If you were coming up to Dublin by train from the west, or staying a couple of nights in the city before heading that way, it would make the perfect base from which to explore. The makeover is fun but comfortable, and staff are charming, helpful and friendly. I hope the renovation is a symbol of better things to come for this sometimes neglected end of the Liffey.
WhereBest Western Ashling Hotel, Parkgate Street, Dublin 8, 01-6772324, ashlinghotel.ie.
WhatFour-star hotel, Dublin city.
Rooms225 rooms: standard, superior and suites, plus triple and family rooms.
Best ratesRoom only midweek from €79. Specials include two nights' BB plus one evening meal for €99pps.
AccessAccessible rooms available on request.
Restaurant and barIveagh Bar, serving snacks, and Chesterfields Brasserie, where carvery lunch and evening dinner are available.
Child-friendlinessFamily rooms available. No specific facilities, but the hotel is handy for Dublin Zoo.
AmenitiesGreat location, free overnight parking, free internet access.