I stayed here for two nights over a weekend in November 2007 while attending a conference in NUI Galway. It was a disappointing and rather frustrating experience. Arriving at the hotel by car proved very difficult. Eyre Square, where the hotel is situated, is in the centre of Galway and consequently very busy , particularly on the Friday night when we arrived. I assumed that the hotel would have a car park but could see no signs for it when I arrived by car in Eyre Square. As the traffic was busy and almost all one way I had no choice but to move on and spend a frustrating forty minutes looking for parking near the hotel. I eventually parked in a shopping mall car park thinking I could move my car when I discovered the location of the hotel car park. However, the hotel receptionist told me rather abruptly the hotel had spaces for 25 cars and all were in use. She offered no apology or explanation for this situation. I discovered the next day that the hotel has an arrangement with a local high rise car park but that was after I had paid 30 Euro for the overnight car parking in the shopping mall. Not a good start! My room was small with a very small shower room attached. While this could be tolerated the high level of noise from what seems to have been the heating system outside (but may have been from the bus station at the rear of the hotel) was less bearable. A notice in the room advising that the wooden shutters be closed to reduce the level of noise suggests that the hotel is well aware of the problem. Closing the shutters did little to reduce the noise level.
Downstairs, it is difficult to understand the logic of the design. At effort has been made to eliminate the older Victorian elegance by painting everything black with the occasional splash of red in the dining room or chrome in bar. A white and black leopard style design carpet adds to the coldness and needlessly modern design. Hopefully, the hotel management will eventually realise that the hotel's original features are an asset to be put proudly on display and not to be hidden with black paint.
The breakfast was disappointing with a limited choice by comparison with other hotels in this class. If you are not a fan of the predictable Irish cooked breakfast then your choice is cereal, fruit, cold smoked fish or sweet croissants.
Overall, a great location in the centre of Galway and if you do not have a car this might be okay but my guess would be that you could find better.

A mess of new and old.. black walls and old fashioned fussy carpet.. the room was beyond basic and was basically horrible. The bar was nice (but a little chilly) and served a nice cosmopolitan which is just as well as you'd need to be drunk to think your en suite was acceptable. The spa where i expected a relaxed experience was situated right beside the gym which had exceptionally hardcore music playing extremely loudly! Never again.

My first time in the Meyrick (aka the old Great southern), and i expected it would match my expectations, which on first impressions it did.........but when i checked into my €200 a night room, my exact words can not be repeated on this web pag!! It was disgraceful. There was a hole in the ceiling, the carpet had worn away, and the window wouldnd close properly. Basically this room had not been refurbished in 20 years, yet the hotel management have the audacity to charge 5* rates for a 2* star room.......i had been ripped off. Their excuse was on checking out that they were in middle of refurbishment. Very well, but dont charge the customers those rates.

Luckily that didnt put off my weekend to galway, as ended up having a weekend to remember for a very long time, but for anyone reading this "Do not stay in this shambles of a hotel"

This was the once elegant Great Southern (railway) hotel but it has recently undergone a makeover to turn it into a 'designer' or boutique type hotel. The changes seem to have been made for the sake of fashion - not for any particularly sound design reasons. Upon entering through the revolving doors one finds oneself in a dark black bar. It's rather strange. You then have to look for the tiny little reception desk which is inexplicably hidden away in another room. Rather than go along with the architecture and lines of the existing building,and provide a decent reception area in a sensible and convenient place, an effort to be trendy has overruled all common sense. The reception desk is so small and inadequate it appears cluttered and messy - because it is cluttered and messy with computers and cables and phone lines all on full display. This is not the seamless and elegant reception one would expect from a supposedly 5 star hotel.
Apart from design quibbles (everyone will have a difference of opinion as to what constitutes aesthetic grace and comfort. For me personally, the colour black which predominates everything simply doesn't do it) I will now address the basic level of service i received which was simply appalling.
Upon arrival there was no porter available to help me carry two heavy suitcases up a flight of limestone stairs. I have a broken arm. The creative genius who has been so busy painting everything black might have directed his attention towards providing something simple like a ramp at the entrance for luggage - or even for wheelchairs. But no. So without a ramp a porter on standby would have been useful. But no. There was no one there to park the car either. I subsequently found out that the total lack of staffing at the entrance is partially due to the fact that the hotel car park is a 15 minute walk away from the premises - so the young boy/porter who has the job of parking your car is spending most of his time pounding the streets of Galway instead of being of service at his post. Ridiculous. I asked for my luggage to be brought up to my room and it never arrived. After waiting an hour I had to go out and needed a change of clothes so I had to ring down to remind someone to send my cases up. This was mildly irritating (and certainly sub-standard practise for a 5 star) but on its own the slack service wouldn't have compelled me to write this review. But read on.
My room was one of the bedrooms which hasn't yet been given a makeover but this in no way excuses the fact that it was filthy beyond belief. It shouldn't have been sold to anyone. It was hard to see out of the windows because they were so grimy and covered in bird droppings. The carpet had serious stains and in places felt crispy & sticky underfoot. No bathrobes or slippers were provided (surely this is standard in a 5 star hotel?) so I went up to the spa to get some so that I could walk around the bedroom without treading on something unpleasant. If I'm paying good money to stay somewhere I expect at the very least that it will be clean. The spa was dissapointing because the swimming pool that used to be there has been removed. In its place is a standard gym which you can get anywhere. The television remote in my room wasn't compatible with the television set, which meant the channels weren't all available and couldn't be tuned in by either me or the concierge who tried but had to admit defeat. He told me this was a problem in all of the rooms. At this stage I realised that I would have received better services from a much cheaper guest house or Bed & Breakfast anywhere else in the city.
When I got back to my room later that evening I decided to take a bath. That's when I realised there were no toiletries supplied. No soap. No bath mat. Nothing. I had to ring down to reception yet again in order to get some. The phone beside the bed was so old and clapped out it was almost impossible to make calls on it, the wiring must have been ready to fall apart. Every time I made a call it was like trying to hear someone whispering at you in a force ten hurricane. Again, on its own, this minor irritation wouldn't add up to much but they just kept coming and it was starting to drive me crazy. I stay in hotels all the time and I must say this was one of the most shambolic I've ever had the misfortune to spend my money on.
I decided to have a word with the hotel manager before I left but he wasn't on duty (of course). I ended up talking to the duty manager instead, a woman of spectacular surliness. As the hotel is in a state of flux at the moment I felt it might be of use if I pointed out where some of the problems lie. She carefully took notes but seemed inconvenienced by the points I made. There was no apology. She asked me if I would like to have my bill reduced. What sort of a question is that??? I was staggered. I simply said that I would leave it to her discretion to act as she saw fit. She then asked me if i would like help with my bags. Again, I couldn't believe it. I am a middle aged woman with a broken arm, travelling alone, I have been complaining about the lack of porters to help with bags, so I would have thought it safe to assume that I obviously needed help with my luggage. But even if I was a strapping young athlete with two functioning arms I still, as a paying guest, would have expected porter service without having to ask for it. In response to her ridiculous question I decided to say no, to see what her reaction would be. Predictably, the woman didn't offer any assistance as a matter of course (normal 5 star practice) and accepted my response to her question as if my previous complaints were utterly irrelevant. It was all very silly indeed.
Upon checking out I found out that she had taken 45 euro off my bill. I don't know if this is standard behaviour but it seemed like a mean and odd amount. The 45 euro discount wasn't of much use to me because I was also charged for two restaurant meals which I hadn't had. They came to 75 euro. It took 15 minutes to rectify the mistake. The duty manageresss was at the desk while this was going on and when I pointed out yet another example of shoddy service to her - she barely grunted in my direction. Again no apology, no grace, no elegance.
Don't waste your money here. The address is good but there are other, cheaper, better hotels and guesthouses in the same general area.