Because I had to go to Dublin last week I figured that it would be a good idea to check out the site of P-Con, which I will be attending next month. Like any good con-runner, I was worried about how to get there, was there wi-fi, what the local environment was like and so on. Here’s the skinny.
Getting to the Central Hotel from Dublin Airport is pretty simple. The cheapest method is probably the 16a bus, but that stops everywhere and takes an hour. I’d recommend the AirLink bus which is only €10.00 for a return ticket and takes half an hour [Er, no – see below]. It can drop you at the Tourist Information Center (a big old CofI church, re-purposed) and from there it is a very short walk to the Central. Here is a map. A cab takes about the same time but is door to door. I got one on the way in because I was worried about time and it cost me €20.
Update: There has been a bit of discussion in the comments and it turns out that the service I caught was not Airlink but Aircoach. It is €7 single and €12 return, but it goes more precisely to where you need to be (i.e. the Tourist Informaton Office). Profuse apologies for the confusion, and many thanks to Mr. Lally for correcting me.
The hotel is slap in the middle of the city so there are plenty of places to eat nearby, including a restaurant across the road that has a passion for science fiction B-movies judging from their decor. There is a Starbucks not far away, and a small grocery store even closer. There are also pubs. This is Ireland, remember. The main drawback of the location is that there are some nearby clubs that play loud dance music late into the night, so I guess we’ll just have to stay up drinking.
As to the hotel itself, my room was very comfortable. It had tea and coffee making facilities but not a lot else. There is free wi-fi but the signal is quite weak where I was on the 2nd floor (3rd floor for Americans), and I suspect it may be unusable higher up. I did not try the hotel food.
Finally, to give you a feel for the place, I shot a short piece of video. I’m a little horrified at how out of breath I sound, but I had spent all morning rushing around Dublin. Here’s hoping that you find this useful.
You gave me a shock there! It’s next month, not next week.
Aagh, sorry, have fixed it. I need a good night’s sleep.
Eating out will probably be done in groups where people find themselves half hijacked and eating before they realised they had made a decision about it and staying up partying is usually not a problem, but I find wax ear plugs the best for comfort and the yellow/orange synthetic ones good for one night of real sound proofing.
Don’t expect to spend too much time in your room as between the people you want to meet and those who want to meet you there will probably not be that much time to spare
Thanks, Cheryl. The video is great. It will give people a good introduction to the atmosphere of the hotel.
The Central Hotel is right next to the Abbey Street stop on the Dublin light rail system. (LUAS). The LUAS connects the two main rail termini, though not the airport.
http://www.luas.ie/
Thanks Julian. I am reminded that I need to get photos of that for Kevin.
Hi C -good to know youll be attending the (guaranteed Lally-free) P-con (the v 1st irish Con Ive missed – I’ve to chair Eurocon that seam weekend in Fiuggi, Italy).
A couple of points on the blurb. The Airlink (747/748-state owned Dublin Bus) only goes to Busarus (main bus stn -on Liffey-north-side -a bit of a way from P-con hotel site). T
The Aircoach (private operator-also at Dublin airport) goes to Tourist Centre (old church -Suffolk St-v close indeed to the Central Hotel for P-Con, which is on LIffey-south-side).That is the best route from airport.
Someone also made reference to the Dublin Tram (LUAS) and the Abbey tram stop being v close also. Not so. That tram stop is for Wynns Hotel (which was used a few yrs ago for P-Con). The Luas is all Liffey-north-side & doesn really go v near to P-con hotel site. beste wishes
Dave L
Dave:
Thank you very much. It does sound all too easy to get confused between AirLink and AirCoach. I will do more research and update the post accordingly.
BTW, I am looking forward to the Lally-Link for Fiuggi. With any luck I’ll be online and we can webcast ESFS news to the world.
One of the Dublin Bus buses only goes to the Busaras, but the other (the 748, I think) goes to Heuston Station, along whatever the road that follows the Liffey is called. Here’s the Dublin Bus web page on airport services.