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ACADEMY PLAZA HOTEL is a family run business located in the heart of Dublin. It is well connected to all means of transportation and a walking distance from Temple Bar, Croke Park, business district as well as Dublin business convention centre. Our hotel has 304 newly refurbished bedrooms and suites, with modern facilities in all rooms as well as some accessible rooms. Hotel amenities include a stunning marble lobby, Plaza Bar & Grill, five meeting rooms, a fitness room and complimentary WiFi access throughout the entire hotel. Our friendly staff provides excellent guest service with genuine friendliness and integrity, so whether you are visiting for leisure or business, it is the perfect place to stay.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Family
Green
Languages Spoken
English, French, Spanish, German and 2 more
Location
10-14 Findlater Place Off O'Connell St, Dublin D01 X2X0 Ireland
Academy Plaza Hotel
5,951 reviews
Getting there
Great for walkers
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The Academy Plaza Hotel is celebrated for its prime central location, making it an excellent base for exploring Dublin. Guests have called out the hotel's clean, well-equipped rooms and the friendly, professional service, though some have experienced inconsistencies.
While the hotel's atmosphere is deemed comfortable, a number of travelers have noted disturbances from noise and a somewhat lackluster ambiance. The hotel's value is acknowledged through its competitive pricing and included amenities, despite some concerns over room size and occasional cleanliness oversights.
Location
Central
Atmosphere
Inviting
Rooms
Comfortable
Value
Excellent
Cleanliness
Meticulous
Noise level
Noisy
Service
Inconsistent
Amenities
Satisfactory
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We stayed here since we were in town for a gig at the 3arena (like a 25 min walk away), I spent ages looking for somewhere nice but reasonably priced and found here. I also seen if you book direct you could get a discount for booking in advance as well as free breakfast (usually €9,90 - €12,50 pp) so for one night I think I paid like €78. Really good for Dublin!!
The room itself was spacious, they ran out of double rooms so we actually got 'upgraded' to a triple room - not that we needed the extra bed but I assume it's bigger room space. The bed was comfy and the pillows were pretty solid (a good thing, I hate soft pillows and hotels are cursed with them). There is tea and coffee making facilities in the room too. Shower is dated but warm, shampoo etc is just from a dispenser and is pretty grim - bring your own... room was very clean though!!
There is car parking across the road in qpark spire car park, the car park charges €32 per 24 hours but if you stay at the hotel this is discounted to €15 per 24 hours which is great, it's literally two steps away.
Breakfast was included and better than expected, a hot and cold buffet with sausages, bacon, fried eggs, scrambled eggs, beans, croissants, cereal, yoghurt, juice, cold meats etc. and mostly importantly... nespresso pod coffee!! It was pretty tasty, I wouldn't pay €9,90 for it when Póg is a few minutes walk away but to be included for free it is good.
I'd recommend staying here, it's a short walk to anywhere and really nice.. it is a lot bigger than expected too. Staff are all super friendly. The vending machine isn't a ripoff either, water was only €1,50! For the price, I'm surprised at how pleasant our stay was 😁 We will be back here for the next gig we go to!
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Date of stay: January 2020Trip type: Travelled as a couple
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This hotel is located in a perfect location for my most recent stay in Dublin: very close to my daughter's student residence and just off busy O'Connell Street, Dublin's main thoroughfare. I was pleasantly surprised with Academy Plaza Hotel! Yes, the rooms are a bit dated but mine was very clean and quiet, the bed was super comfortable, and the bathroom had a shower/bathtub! I stayed in 7 different hotels over my European trip and this one was the only one that had a bathtub! Also, I noted another reviewer complained about the fact that you need to put a room key card in a slot near the entrance in order to activate the power in the room and that it turned off when you removed it (so they could not power their devices while they left for the day). This is how it is done in every one of the 7 hotels I stayed in during my recent trip- from Ireland to the UK to Spain. While it may be annoying to American travelers, it is a brilliant way to conserve energy. You get used to it.
We also took advantage of the hotel's bar and grill. It was nice to have a place to go off the lobby when we checked in so late. I was surprised at how tasty the pizza was (especially since I am originally from Chicago)! Of course, we had cold glasses of Guinness to go along with the pizza!
Since we made our reservation directly from their website, breakfast was included for free! It wasn't my favorite hotel breakfast but I was surprised at how much they offered. A hot, traditional Irish breakfast! The potatoes are hard and not good but most of everything else was fine, including some yummy pastries. And they have an espresso/cappuccino machine - which kind of makes up for everything.
It is super hard to complain about anything considering how much we ended up paying. They had a winter deal when we went and I paid less than 1/2 of what I paid at a different hotel around the corner when we first arrived in Ireland at the start of our trip. Plus the staff is super friendly and accommodating and a 747 Airlink Express bus stop is located directly in front of the hotel! If I am lucky to get back to Ireland while my daughter is a student there, I would not hesitate to stay here again!
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Date of stay: January 2020
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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Friendly staff. Great location near O'Connell Street. Get the local 747 bus instead of the Blue Bus and it stops right outside(Carl Brewer stop) Rooms have all facilities including safe,tea/coffee/hairdryer and lots of coat hangers( unusual for a hotel!) Room was not huge but perfectly fine and beds were very comfortable. Good buffet breakfast Overall great value for our 2 night stay and would certainly stay here again on another visit
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Date of stay: March 2020
Value
Location
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from , Owner at Academy Plaza Hotel
Responded 4 Aug 2020
Dear sagittarius7Middx I'm delighted that you had a good experience with us and that you found our location to be a perfect backdrop for your visit to Dublin. We hope to see you again soon! Warm Regards Sean Comer Sales & Marketing Manager
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My family and I stayed here on short notice and were very pleased. Our room was small, but clean and comfortable. The shower was good, had good water pressure and hot water when needed. The room had one full sized bed and one twin. It was my husband, our 13 year old and myself in the room, so we were all together. Check in time was 2 pm, we arrived from the US at 10 am and were pleased that we were given a room right away. The hotel is around the corner from O’Connell St and the 747 Airlink bus from the airport stops right in front of the hotel.
If you book on the Hotel web site, you can get a complimentary breakfast at no charge.
The breakfast buffet had hot and cold items and was very nice, and better than some of the ones in the US hotels like a Comfort Inn or La Quinta.
If you book a Do Dublin bus tour through the Hotel Website, you get 15 percent off.
The free wifi worked reasonably well a f we were happy with our stay.
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Date of stay: December 2019Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from sinead byrne, Marketing at Academy Plaza Hotel
Responded 13 Aug 2020
Dear Loves2fly18, Thank you for your five-star review. All our guest rooms are well appointed and thank you for mentioning the cleanliness of our rooms. Our team here work very hard in maintaining our guest rooms and we are delighted with your feedback. Having Dublin City Centre on our doorstep make us a great choice of anyone looking to base themselves in the city centre and see what Dublin has to offer. Breakfast can be added for guests upon arrival at a discounted rate of €9.90 per person per morning, with a vase amount to choose from you are guaranteed to be fed for the day ahead, remember when you book directly with us you get free breakfast and free cancellation. We hope to have the opportunity to welcome you back to the Academy Plaza Hotel again in the future. Kind Regards Sinéad Byrne Sales & Marketing
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I had to cancel my stay due to the current pandemic. The Academy Plaza refunded my money within 24 hours. I will not hesitate to rebook with the Academy Plaza when travel restrictions are lifted. During prior visits to Dublin I stayed at other higher priced hotels and in 2019 I visited the Academy Plaza and saw that it offered the same amenities at a much lower price than I was paying elsewhere.
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Date of stay: April 2020Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from , Owner at Academy Plaza Hotel
Responded 4 Aug 2020
Dear Daniel S Thank you for your feedback, its super to hear that your booking experience was a positive one, especially as it was under such unusual circumstances. We hope to welcome you back soon. Don't forget we currently offer complimentary breakfast and 24 hr cancellation across all rates when booking direct. Keep safe! Warm Regards, Sean Comer Sales & Marketing Manager scomer@academyplazahotel.ie
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We were greeted with a warm welcome and sunny smiles. The staff have proved to be very helpful. The hotel itself is a little tired but they're doing decorating works. The rooms are quite a reasonable size, with a large bathroom which appears quite newly decorated. The bedroom itself needs doing but is not untidy. Breakfast was plentiful with tea and coffee refillable. The hotel is very centrally placed near o'Connell Street. We would definitely stay here again.
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Date of stay: June 2022Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Phelim Connolly, Sales at Academy Plaza Hotel
Responded 13 Jun 2022
Dear Jackey, Thank you for the review of our hotel! We are located very near to the major shopping streets, transportation hubs and an array of Dublin city's best nightlife and culinary destinations. Hope to welcome you back again soon Sincerely, Phelim
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For the most part people at the front desk were polite, some were rude. I called the front desk looking for help with our room and the woman literally screamed at me and told me to “book a bigger room next time” and hung up. True, it is a good location in that it is near attractions but directly across the street, (and I mean literally 10 feet across from the front entrance to Hotel) is an old church filled with cardboard box beds/sleeping bags, homeless people asking for money & doing drugs. I would go outside for a quick smoke and come back and the attendant would stop me every time and verify that I was staying there…. Very annoying but perhaps they have had trouble with the people across the street. We also had trouble with the “free breakfast” listed online. For some reason you have to book the night before with the front desk in order to go to the buffet(which was not even good food) or they charge you $7 to eat. No exceptions no changes- I know that because they literally kicked my girlfriend and I out of breakfast hall. The rooms were EXTREMELY SMALL, it was almost uncomfortably small. As I was leaving I heard a woman at the front desk looking for a new room because hers “was the size of a Shoe Closet” lol I would not recommend this hotel. 2/10. Yes the location allows you to be right in Dublin center in a few minutes but the expensive price compared to the challenges of this hotel does not make it worth it. Find somewhere else to stay, trust me
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Date of stay: July 2022Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Phelim Connolly, Sales at Academy Plaza Hotel
Responded 27 Jul 2022
Dear Guest, Thank you for taking the time to review your recent visit to Academy Plaza Hotel. Rest assured I have passed on your feedback to the relevant departments. We welcome all feedback both positive and constructive, as only through customer comments such as yours can we improve our service offering for our guests. Sincerely, Phelim Sales and Marketing Manager
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Myself and my sisters stayed here sunday night. From the moment we arrived the staff could not do enough for us. Our room was not ready so they kept our luggage for a few hours. When we checked in later they were so helpful and gave us good tips about the luas etc. The staff were so friendly and accommodating and always made conversation especially Filip one of the staff members. Our room was spotlessly clean and comfy. We asked for more towels and they dropped then to our room no problem. Breakfast was very nice also with a variety of cereals,fruits and a typical irish fry. We really enjoyed our stay and we will definitely be back!!
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Date of stay: March 2020Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from , Owner at Academy Plaza Hotel
Responded 4 Aug 2020
Dear Nora L Im delighted that you enjoyed your stay with us. We invest greatly in our staff so its super to see this shine through during your visit. Im glad you also enjoyed your breakfast which is now complimentary across all rates when booking direct. We look forward to welcoming you back soon! Warm Regards, Sean Comer Sales & Marketing Manager scomer@academyplazahotel.ie
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Very close to O'Connell Street. Staff were excellent, service in the bar and the restaurant was very good. We stayed for 3 nights and had dinner in the restaurant every night, the food was great and very well presented, we were amazed at how reasonably priced the main courses were. Breakfast was the usual buffet We had a twin room which was very small as was the bathroom. The hotel is well furnished and very clean, there are also 3 large lifts which meant we were never waiting more than a few seconds for the lift.
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Date of stay: September 2021Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Phelim Connolly, Sales at Academy Plaza Hotel
Responded 20 Sept 2021
Dear Lizzie, Thank you for taking the time to review your recent stay with us at Academy Plaza Hotel and secondly thank you for your very kind comments which I have passed on to whole team. We always welcome feedback, as we endeavor to consistently provide the highest level of customer service in a safe environment. Thank you once again, and hopefully we get an opportunity to welcome you back to Academy Plaza Hotel. Kind regards, Phelim Connolly Sales and Marketing
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It was the frist time for us being in Dublin. If it's your first time as well, then don't forget to get the UK PLUG. The airlink bus from the airport stops in front of the hotel, which makes it a perfect choice. This is a good hotel, average breaktfast, slightly confused ladies at the reception (just got confused with check in and check out because we were a group of 9 people). The city as well as many good pubs and restaurants are very close nearby. It takes you nearly 15 minutes by foot to get to Temple Bar. When we first arrived in the room it was very cold. The heating seemed to be switched off. Near the door there was a device which let you control the air conditioning including the heater. We were on the 3rd floor (room numbers starting with 3) and we had small rooms for two persons. The rooms on the 2nd floor (room numbers starting with 2) seemed to be a little bigger. Maybe you can ask at the reception for a room on the second floor?
All in all: Good hotel like any other can be. Very quiet. Average breakfast, would recommend to test out the bars nearby. Good connection to airport with the bus. City nearby (5 min walk) Would go again eventually.
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Date of stay: December 2019
Rooms
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip:Rooms on the 2nd floor are bigger than on the 3rd floor
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The express, cost 10 euros you take it right outside where the buses park, and can pay with your phone. It will leave you in the second stop. And you just walk 10 minutes from there. You go north straight on Marlborough street . The bus will leave you in the other side of Rosie Hackett Bridge.
At to return to airport same thing just wait the bus in the other end of the bridge where you arrived. People is super helpful, ask they will even walk you to the stop! Hope this helps.
You can buy the roundtrip the bus it is cheaper.
There are more places to choose from in the Dublin area.
PRICE RANGE
€75 - €174 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
best western dublin, dublin best western
FORMERLY KNOWN AS
BEST WESTERN PLUS Academy Plaza Hotel
LOCATION
IrelandProvince of LeinsterCounty DublinDublin
NUMBER OF ROOMS
304
Prices are provided by our partners, and reflect nightly room rates, including all taxes and fees known to our partners. Please see our partners for more details.
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