Leonardo Hotel Dublin Christchurch

“A nice hotel, a great location”

My wife and I recently spent one night at the Leonardo Hotel Christchurch in Dublin, Ireland. The hotel was included as part of a Gate1 tour of Ireland, so I can’t comment on the room rate. As the name suggests, the hotel is located south of the River Liffey, directly across the street from the… more

My wife and I recently spent one night at the Leonardo Hotel Christchurch in Dublin, Ireland. The hotel was included as part of a Gate1 tour of Ireland, so I can’t comment on the room rate. As the name suggests, the hotel is located south of the River Liffey, directly across the street from the Christchurch Cathedral. Trinity College and the Temple Bar area are within walking distance. Numerous pubs, shopping and eating places are in the area. The actual lobby is not very big, but there are several booth-like seating arrangements. Check-in was friendly and efficient. Our room (230) was smallish by US standards (we were in Europe after all) and had a contemporary decor. According to a sign in the lobby, the hotel is in the midst of remodeling guest rooms; apparently ours had not yet been done. There was no closet, just an open shelving arrangement. (See pic.) We were surprised to see a standalone space heater, which we didn’t use. We did turn on the wall-mounted radiator, which really didn’t do much. (Luckily, the room became comfortable, temperature-wise.) A long credenza-type piece of furniture had two drawers and doubled as a desk. A small flat-screen TV and coffee/tea fixings were on top. A loveseat sofa, upholstered chair and round table were also in the room. There was no safe. Nor a refrigerator. And during our short stay we never really mastered which switches controlled which lights; there was a lot of random clicking until we succeeded in controlling what we wanted. Our room came with two beds joined together to form a king-size bed with four pillows. It was flanked with night stands and wall-mounted reading lamps. The bed was quite comfortable. TIP: if you are a light sleeper, you may want to request a room facing the back of the hotel, rather than facing Christchurch. The bathroom was also somewhat small with minimal counter space. A hair dryer was in a drawer in the room. Liquid soap was by ZERO/o. There was a tub/shower combination. Water pressure and temperature were fine once I figured out how to use them. Wall-mounted bottles of ZERO/o body wash and shampoo/conditioner were provided. Towels were nice and thick, but my wife was disappointed that there were no washcloths. If staying multiple nights, the hotel offers the option of foregoing the daily change of bath linens; you just have to hang your towels, instead of leaving them in the floor. TIP: As is common in Europe, the bottom of the tub is a few inches above the floor, making exiting the tub awkward. Breakfast was included with our room and was served in the restaurant off the main lobby. A full selection of cold and hot cold selections were offered, including Irish/English breakfast items. I was especially excited to see scones, but disappointed that I didn’t see any clotted cream. A blast from the past: hard copies of the local newspaper were available in the lobby. Overall, we found our room to be adequate and comfortable and would have no qualms staying there again For more specific details and pictures, visit the hotel’s website.

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“Middle of the Road”

The hotel's major selling point is its location; right in the heart of the city centre, looking out towards the beautiful Christchurch Cathedral. I had a beautiful view of part of the cathedral from my bedroom window. The hotel information in the rooms draws attention to the quality of the Dreams… more

The hotel's major selling point is its location; right in the heart of the city centre, looking out towards the beautiful Christchurch Cathedral. I had a beautiful view of part of the cathedral from my bedroom window. The hotel information in the rooms draws attention to the quality of the Dreams mattresses that you are sleeping on, and I have to say my mattress was very comfortable - a nice firmness but somehow soft at the same time. However, the room decor is a little tired and the rooms would clearly benefit from a refurbishment. The TVs are small and old, and the picture quality on my TV was poor due to a frayed aerial wire connecting to the set. I was surprised there were only 4 TV channels. Is this the norm in Ireland? I suspect not. The grouting and sealant in the bathroom had darkened in places due to probably years of wear - again, refurbishment is needed here. More significantly, however, I was very disappointed with the quality of the shower. The pressure of the shower water was very low, and the water was only barely warm enough to shower in. I had to leave the water to run on the 'hottest' setting for several minutes to get the water to a warm temperature, and even then, as said, it was only just about warm enough to bear. Anyone looking for a nice hot shower would have been sorely disappointed. The shower was so unsatisfactory that I did seriously consider complaining to Reception, but as I don't like the hassle of complaining, I decided to just put up with it. I'm sure other guests wouldn't have stood for it. Also to bear in mind if you choose to include the hotel's breakfast as part of your stay, the breakfast restaurant gets extremely busy. It is clear that the restaurant isn't quite big enough for the number of the guests, and the waiting on staff struggled to accommodate everyone, especially lager parties, who were sometimes asked to wait for a table to become available, or were offered to sit in the bar area. I travelled solo so was easier to squeeze in, but beware if you're travelling in a group of three or more. Overall, I enjoyed my stay in Dublin, and this Christchurch hotel could be a great choice for travellers with a healthy dose of investment.

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