The Forster Court was our first night in Ireland. After two+ hours of driving from Shannon, it was sort of tricky to find the hotel once we entered Galway.. It was EXTRA tricky to figure out parking. Once you miss the Forster Court, you have to make a major circle around town to get back to the garage. There's no way to pull up to the hotel to drop off your bags, so prepare to haul your stuff around the block. As I came to learn in Ireland, most hotels (at least the affordable ones) don't help you with your luggage. Not a big deal, but be prepared.
The staff is young and cheerful. The room was a bit tight. The location was good (a block from the thick of things) but there is a lot of construction and traffic noise. We were on the second floor right above the road. It was funny to look out the window and be eye-to-eye with retirees on a tour bus. I can't say that this was our best lodging in Ireland, but it costs less than most U.S. hotels. Galway is a very vibrant city, and this hotel suited our trip fine.

First of all when we arrived at approx. 13:00 we were told our room wasnt ready and to come back in 30 mins. After 30 mins I called the hotel and was told come back in 45 mins at this point I asked if any other rooms were available and was told there was. Why couldnt we have had that one without having to ask?. Then we were told breakfast would be served up to 12 midday. Work started on a building site opposite our room at 08:30 the next morning with the most incredible and persistant banging you actually had to almost shout to be heard!. Then we got a phone call at 10:00 to tell us breakfast is finishing in 20 mins and if we want to eat basically we had better hurry up. When I questioned the previous "breakfast till 12:00" arrangment I was told they were working on the kitchen and wanted to finish breakfast early. While I realise these are mostly small things and some of them i.e. the building site accross the road were beyond their control what really annoyed me was the fact that we never received an apology from any staff member it was very much a "well what do you want me to do about it?" attitude. On check out I asked to speak to the GM and was told that he wasnt there but would contact me the next day. I had intended to speak to him before I posted this but he obviously cant be bothered. This is actually a nice hotel and it seems to me that as long as things go smoothly you should be ok but dont expect anything in the way of customer service should you experience even the slightest ripple!.

I have stayed at this hotel many times, as I lead student university groups each year on tours to Ireland. In the previous years I did not have any problems at Forster Court. However, on my most recent stay, while my group was at dinner in the hotel dining room, four of the group member's hotel rooms were broken into and money and other articles were stolen. The police concluded it was an inside job as there was clearly no forced entry. I will never take another group to Forster Court again that is for sure.

Stayed for one night in May. This is a great hotel smack bang in the middle of Galway city. In fact, it is street away from Eyre Square which is good as it means its a little quieter at night and there isn't as much traffic. You park in the public mulit storey car park at the back and walk around the corner to the hotel. They charge you € 8.50 per day (via a hotel concession) which is a reduced priced and actually pretty good.

Get a room with a little balcony, handy if you are a smoker but don't want to stay in a smoking room (strange, I know!). My balcony door was locked and they couldn't find a key but they soon sent up the maintenance man who unlocked it, which was great. The room itself was large, nicely appointed, not terribly modern but very comfortable. Small TV and a decent desk / table with free broadband internet connection. Nice clean bathroom.

Staff at reception were very helpful and friendly; the reception is cool and quiet and there's a bar too but I didn't go in. Be prepared for city noise while you are sleeping; after all it is on a main street and there was construction going on across the road but thankfully not at night. Nor could I hear any noise from the adjoining rooms; in the corridor I could hear a TV but not in the room.

Eyre square and all the shops etc are a five minute walk away; if you are there in summer sit outside the Spanish Arch hotel with a pint and watch the world go by, and follow this up with a meal in Cactus Jacks down the laneway across from it - great Tex Mex food. The hotel has two convenience stores next to it which is handy for buying water or snacks.

In all, this is a nice hotel and I will be staying there again.