What a beautiful place, luxury at very affordable prices. After a long day of business meetings and miles in the car the Grand is an 'oasis of respite' from the day, superb facilities and only a short walk from plenty of superb reataurants. The rooms are of a very high standard and staff are always helpful and friendly, remember to pack your speedo's as the leisure facilities are well worth a visit.
Malahide Ireland us just a short distance from Dublin Airport and has direct train service 15 minutes into the city. Staying at The Grand was perfect. Everything in the town was easy walking distance and the hotel occupies a premier spot with great views of the water. The hotel staff was friendly and extremely attentive and accommodating. The room was generously sized and very comfortable, although I recommend future guests ask for their room to be located near the hot water. Room 228 was not. I would certainly stay at this hotel again. Near to And with easy access to Dublin but with the benefits of small town comfortable and quiet surroundings.
We stayed here celebrating a couple of friends big day. We had a lovely room and the staff were very nice and helpful. Nice location within Malahide to go for a stroll. Breakfast was good but the choice was a bit limited.
Stayed here for business.
PROS:
Bed was very comfortable. Room very clean. Plenty of power and the Ethernet-based internet access was fast. Friendly service at the front desk and in the Coast Restaurant, which had great coffee and nice view of the Malahide inlet. Close to the DART.
CONS:
No wifi, really? What year is this? The 17" TV was incredibly old and undersized for the room. No mini-bar (which I found standard throughout Germany, Netherlands, UK and Belgium this year). Breakfast buffet had some of the worst white/black pudding I've ever had.
SUMMARY:
It's a shame that with so many positives, this hotel has so many negatives. Strongly recommend that the owners do a brief hotel tour of Europe to see how they stack up against the competition. The economy is tough everywhere but business travelers in particular expect a few basics: wifi, morning newspaper, and a decent television. Exclude those at your peril.
For our early international check-in, we wanted a place close to the airport that wasn't the usual, generic, airport hotel. The Grand fit the bill. It is an old hotel on the Irish Sea and looks like it was last refurbished in the 1960s. (The lobby and restaurant, where we had an afternoon snack, looked like it was designed for the "Mad Men" TV series). Yes, our room was small. Yes, the window looked into an air shaft. But heck, we didn't pay for an upgraded room. The view from an airport hotel wouldn't have been any better!
The reception clerks were very nice and helpful. The hotel was only two blocks from "downtown" Malahide (where there are lots of dining choices). A veranda overlooks the marina. Our room was fine, albeit small as other have said. The hotel was just what we wanted for our last night in Ireland. The airport was 15-20 minutes away, and on the route there were several gas stations to fill up the rental car.
Here on business and viewed the website with a degree of optimism that wasn't matched by the reality.
Executive rooms are a joke, old tv, no wifi and and furniture and bathroom thaty are bettered by most holiday inns these days. Room was underneath what can only be described as groaning floorboards that meant no sleep up to at least 2am.
Rest of the hotel is shabby and unloved - there appears to be adegree of complaceny here that is completely unfounded,
Food mediocure and overpriced given the number of nearby restaurants you would have thought that a greater effort would be made..
Staff disintertested - e.g - asked if there was a spare tv with HDMI connection so i could use my portable hub with a TV screen - and was promised an answer - 1 hr later went to reception - "i've not checked yet" was the answer - couple of hours later and still no word so went back down to reception later and was told no.
OK - maybe I've got a higher expectation than many but ahving just got back from Florida the conbtrrast between facilities and attitude couldn't be clearer,
If you're still in doubt - do not stay here
