We spent one night at the Radisson Hotel Galway in Galway City in August 2004. The hotel itself is very difficult to find, especially by car: it's on the edge of the city center, surrounded by construction sites and parking garages, in an area that definitely doesn't feel particularly safe for walking (Galway City is not charming, particularly in the city center). The hotel is fairly new, and boasts a fancy new spa and fitness center etc (the fitness center was quite good, especially for Ireland, which doesn't exactly "do" fitness centers; didn't check out the spa). But our experience was not good. The receptionist who checked us in was downright frosty, acting as though we had personally cost her money by booking through expedia and were now somehow soiling her lobby (we are VERY seasoned travelers who do not present poorly). She gave us the very poorest room in the hotel, overlooking the front entrance and, thus, the construction site across the way, on the second floor of the hotel. But whatever--the site wasn't noisy; we had to get up early anyway; at least we weren't next to a roomful of the hordes of kids who tore through the lobby, restaurants and bar (the hotel is very popular among residents of western Ireland for spa breaks). The room seemed standard but fine, clean and business-like, a big plus since a lot of the hotels in Galway are a bit skeevy, as we understand it. We got BAD restaurant advice from the concierge; the parking garage was apparently unreachable from the lobby; the bathroom was dark; the "express" laundry service cost the moon, and was "unavailable," according to the nasty woman on the phone; our drink at the bar (actually quite a lovely bar as far as hotel bars go, marred only by the huge neon "TOILETS" sign inexplicably anchoring the lobby) was wrecked by screaming kids; part of our room service breakfast never arrived. But it was all ok--until I climbed into bed at 1:30 am, my husband already asleep, and discovered an abundance of hairs on the sheets and pillowcases that quite definitely did not belong to either of us! NASTY!
Loathe to wake my husband up (and quite sure we'd never get a cleaner at that hour), I made do. When we checked out the next morning, I complained to the clerk at the desk. Her response was simply to have me fill out a complaint card and to apologize--NOT an adequate response, as far as I'm concerned. We subsequently receieved a lovely note inviting us back to stay gratis, but since we are clearly a long way from Galway, I don't think this was the most appropriate recompense.
In general: if you can, stay out of Galway City entirely. The coast beyond the city is lovely. There's no reason to be in town.