Derry Forum: Where to stay with 11 yo daughter

Hi Lynne

I would agree with you that B&B accom. would offer a more intimate, homely experience.

I'm also a light sleeper and, considering this, you may be better considering a location just outside the city centre.

Arkle House is located on a quiet road within nice gardens.

Caw Cottage is located on the Waterside part of the city.

Both are located iin residential areas close to bus stops which will let you travel to and from the city centre in about 5-10 mins. But you would need taxis if you're travelling after 9pm (taxi fare from either B&B to the city centre and back again would be approx £8-10).

Both B&Bs seem to get good reviews - have a look at these if you haven't already done so. Some reveiwers have mentioned that the owners have been very accomodating by providing lifts (rides) for guests on some occasions.

Also you will find the Waterfoot Hotel is very close to Caw Cottage (5 mins walk) and this may be an option for dinner and/or drinks with no need for taxis/bus.

Similarly, Rafters restaurant is close to Arkle House, again 5 mins walk.

The only thing I'm not sure about is room layout or sound-proofing. Perhaps if you can narrow your choice down to a couple of accoms. and then check with the owners about these issues?

I hope this is of some help - feel free to post any other Qs!

Also check out

www.derryvisitor.com

for more tourist info.

Thank you bgekk and Shells99. I think I looked at almost everything I could find. Every well reviewed B&B and hotel in Derry - including the City Hotel. I have spents hours and hours looking - so I don't recall all the specifics - but the main hotels I looked at were City Hotel, Tower Hotel, Everglades, and Ramada DaVinci (I guess Beech Hill is a hotel, too and not a B&B). They all look good and generally get positive reviews. I read every single review for all those hotels - and I don't remember which criticisms applied to which hotels, but I remember the gist of some being too loud (either near a noisy pub/restaurant on the premises or nearby - or noisy neighboring guests carousing down the hallways in the wee hours. One of those hotels had a bad smell near the bar - reported by a few reviewers. Again - while I don't remember the specifics, the overall impression that some suffered from noise, dirt or smoke, made me lean away from these hotels. It seemed that overall these were very nice hotels, but individual experiences could be less pleasant.

I also looked derryvisitor - I found that recommendation here on the Derry Forums. I appreciate the advice that perhaps just out of the city would be better. Shells99 - you mention that Arkle House and Caw Cottage are near bus stops. We will be renting a car (to explore further areas like Giants Causeway - the nearer beaches and a friend who just moved to Ireland this year and lives 10 minutes from Derry). Are you recommending that it would be better to go into the city via bus or taxi - rather than drive? How is driving there - and parking if we are inclined to more frequent, shorter trips into the city. I could envision going for a couple of hours near lunch - back for a rest - and possibly back into town 2 more times in a single day. If driving and parking are easy, than staying just outside the city centre could be great. If you think we should avoid driving into the city centre, than our desire for the freedom to wander more often for shorter durations might suggest being in actual walking distance.

I'm so excited about this trip.

Thank you.

Lynn.

Hi Lynne

The streets in and around the historic city centre (old town) are quite narrow and steep. On-street parking is not too plentiful and also subject to tight restructions eg. parking limited to 1 hour only in most areas. Of course there are off-street car-parks and multi-storey options in the main shopping centres (Foyleside and Quayside). Some streets are one-way only so it really depends on how confident you are as a driver in a new area. Perhaps you're used to driving on freeways mainly?

There is also plenty of free parking available at Sainsbury's on Strand Road. This is on one of the main routes in to the city and is impossible to miss. From here it is a pleasant walk along the riverside walkway to the centre of town (approx 10-15 mins max.) A bus stops just outside the car park and will take you to the town centre if you prefer or perhaps if the weather isn't behaving!

Please feel free to post any other queries. I'm sure you'll have a ball here when you get everything finalised :-)

i am in the same boat,so to speak. myself and hubby, are going to a play on 7th june,so going to stay overnight. was thinking about the ramada, but is this too far out of town? some say 10 min walk,others 20.

dont mind gettin a taxi i suppose,especially at night,dont want to drive in,as i hate looking for parking,gettin lost,etc. the tower hotel,i think was a bit short of parking spaces,as was city hotel. the ramada got great reviews, i dont mind a walk,

but hubby,not too keen. looking forward to shopping.

Hi there

I think Ramada DaVincis might be your best bet.

Yes, the parking's no problem there and the hotel and bar are well regarded here and by locals.

It would definitely be about a 20min walk to the city centre but it's an easy enough walk and impossible to get lost.

You could walk to the play and get a taxi back? Taxi cost would be about £3.50 each way.

During the day you could catch a bus just outside the hotel to visit the shopping centres.

HTH

thanks shell,

booked today, the ramada, got a great room rate of 49euro, plus booked in

pigsback.com and get 2,000 piggy points (20euro), so happy days.

the play is "the shawshank redemption" an adaption of my fave film, and the play got rave reviews,when it played dublin,last year.

all i need now is sunny weather.:-)

Hi there

Glad to hear you're sorted. Can't guarantee the weather but I'm sure you'll enjoy DaVincis and Derry.

I might try to see the play myself as I really like the film too.

The city's buzzing this weekend with the Jazz Festival and the weather's behaving too :-)

We had a nice meal tonight in Halo Pantry & Grill - it's just up the street from the Millennium Forum so it would be handy for you if you want somewhere nice to eat before the play or during the day.

Good luck!

Hi. I'm the original poster and thought I'd just check back in. I emailed the few B&B's we were considering - and asked about noise as well as light-blocking shades (since it's light out in late June from 4am-11pm. We're going to stay at Caw Cottage (which sounds just wonderful, friendly, and has room-darkening shades. One place in town was kind enough to tell me that noise could be an issue and they'd recommend some quieter places (although they never did get back to me about that).

Before narrowing down my selections, I also went to to the reviews and selected the ones that were terrible or fair. Those were quite illuminating. Although a couple of places I considered got overwhelmingly positive reviews, just one or two people stating that their reservation wasn't honored (current renters prolonged their stay) - there were bad smells in the room, or bad treatment. Even if these were the exception to the rule, I don't want to chance that we'll encounter that on our trip (particular discovering that our rooms were not held for us).

Amore was the second choice. They said they had blinds to block light - but - the photos here seem to indicate that there are not room-darkening at all. They were also more likely to be noisy bc. of proximity to City Center. Does anyone know Amore - because it did look wonderful and was a close second (since walking distance would be nice, albeit not necessary).

This may be the wrong forum for this question (I've searched the Dublin forums) - but I"m still having trouble deciding on rental cars. I had thought to rent a car when we leave Dublin on June 25 - and return it when we get back to Dublin on June 28. I thought the 4 hour drive from Dublin would be pretty - and we could stop at Belfast for lunch. But car rentals seem frought with huge expenses (esp. for automatic cars and getting the super collision and damage coverage) - like $500-650 for 4 days. Now I'm wondering if we should fly from Dublin to Derry - and rent a car in Derry for 3 days - perhaps at less cost? more ease? Any thoughts about renting a car in Dublin and driving - vs. flying to Derry and renting a car there?

Let me know if I should repost my question in a separate thread.

Thank you.

Lynn.

hi Lynne

Glad to hear you got booked at Caw Cottage - I'm sure you'll love it there as peace and quiet is important to you. As for distance it's still fairly close to the city centre and if you hire a car you'll be able to get around the surrounding area easily. Unfortunately, I don't know a lot about Amore apart from what's written here but location-wise it's in the centre and fairly close to Abbey B&B so perhaps not as quiet as you'd like?

I do think that the fly to Derry/hire a car option might be best for you. The road from Dublin to Derry isn't particularly scenic compared to others imo and you're bound to be tired. Alternatively, if you need a cheaper option, you can catch a bus at Dublin Airport or the City Centre which will take you to Derry (no changeovers, just a few stops).

HTH