Amberley House - Dublin, Ireland

Review by Toni, New Zealand

2007-04-16

My boyfriend & I recently stayed at this B&B. We have to say that this was the worst B&B we have ever stayed in, and did not enjoy being here at all. We have traveled extensively in the past and found the information provided to online-booking websites to be false and misleading. Before we initially wanted to book, I attempted to contact the B&B twice via email to ask questions, but was completely ignored both times. This should have alerted us that Amberley House did not have good customer service but we gave it another chance -- very foolish. On several websites it is stated that there is Car Parking and a Full Irish Breakfast provided. Please note -- There is no car parking -- the only parks are on the street (first in, first served), and cost €2.50/hour, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.! The Full Irish Breakfast is not full at all, and consisted of two sausages, a child's portion of beans, and one piece of bacon (no eggs, black pudding, mushrooms, or friend tomatoes). We also received toast and coffee, but when I asked for butter, and also for milk and sugar for our coffee, the attendant girl just said "No" and walked off, so we didn't get to have the coffee and toast either. Very poor quality and service! The quality of the room was the same as our breakfast. We had Room 3, on the first level. It was so small that it was difficult to get around the bed to use the bathroom. It was the smallest guestroom we have ever been in, and it didn't smell the best either -- this was after we had requested a large room because my boyfriend is over two metres tall and has trouble in small spaces. The room and furnishings were old and tatty. The bathroom had been renovated, but was so small that you had to sit diagonally on the toilet to fit in there. The ceiling of the bathroom was covered with mould and the TV did not have any reception. The view from our window out to the rear of the property looked like a fly-tipping area more than anything, and various construction goods, rubbish and vehicles, were strewn around. Our bed was just two singles pushes together, so it was very uncomfortable in the middle. There was a loud buzzing fan-type noise that would come off and on at random times -- we barely slept on the two nights we were there, and my boyfriend usually sleeps like the dead! Plus, the staff were often not around to let guests in at the front door, and people just kept on buzzing the doorbell in the hope that someone would hear them. As we were the closest room to the door, we had to keep getting up to let people in so that they didn't continue buzzing and knocking all night. In the middle of our second night there, the curtain rail fell on us while we were in bed, and we had to spend half an hour at 2 a.m. trying to put it back together -- this completely illustrates the condition of our room. I'm not sure which rooms the pictures show on the internet, because they were not indicative of the room we had at all. Without parking and without a decent breakfast, we could have widened our options and had the choice of many more hostels and B&Bs. If you are reading this -- so could you! We would both have rather stayed in a multi-person dorm room than at the Amberley B&B but we did try and have a laugh about it (especially when the curtain rail fell on us), but generally, it's not that funny when you feel like you have wasted your money. Please don't stay here! It's location to the city is amazing -- it is close to O'Connell Street and there are many stores nearby, but we didn't feel as if this was enough to offset all the negative things about it. Perhaps you might score a nice room (if there are any) but it's possible you may score a real scummy one and it's just not worth it!