A night in Dublin Airport

zendo

I live in Cork but I have a 5am flight from the Dublin airport on Thu 1st October. After checking all possible buses, coaches, trains etc. it seems that I have no choice but to spend the whole night in the Dublin airport... Not looking forward to that at all, especially that I have never been there.

Do you have any advice where to go/not go once I'm there? Any places open all night etc.?

Is anybody going to be spending the same night there? Maybe we can meet up and at least we'll have somebody to talk to?

novarock

you would get a hotel close by for 50 euro per room - there are a good few around, and they might even have shuttles to the terminal.. Wouldnt fancy a night in there!

The bar is open all night;)

Latchy

There will always be a few people in same situation like yourslf OP just as long as you dont decide to do a Tom Hanks ( the man not the gesture ) and decide to stay :pac:

If you dont get to chat to anybody just get your head down on the seats for afew hrs

Colpriz

Do you have any advice where to go/not go once I'm there? Any places open all night etc.?

You could go to the toilet again and again:p..there is little to do in Dublin airport by day or by night.

Holsten

Do not do it.

Absolute nightmare.

DublinWriter

Book a room at the nearby Bewleys, they have a free 24 hour shuttle service to the airport.

You'd be crazy to stay at the airport all night.

zendo

Thanks for the answers so far.

Is it really that bad guys?
Do you think it's worth it to book a hotel/B&B even though my flight is at 5am, so i'd have to be back in the airport at 4am anyway?

January

zendo wrote: »

Thanks for the answers so far.

Is it really that bad guys?
Do you think it's worth it to book a hotel/B&B even though my flight is at 5am, so i'd have to be back in the airport at 4am anyway?

If you're staying in a hotel I'd probably arrive in Dublin earlier if possible and get the shuttle to the airport... Days Hotel in Ballymun do great deals and the shuttle bus is 24 hours. (I know because I used to live on the ground floor of an apartment opposite the entrance and the feckin bus startin up every half hour was unbearable!)

spartan1

just head out to the airport at midnight with a book, there are tons of pple out in the airport at night,and theres internet out there, 3 am ish u'll be checkin in , its really no big deal.

zendo

Spartan1, do they have wireless internet there or just those paystations where you need to put a €2 coin to surf the net? I'm thinking of taking your advice and just hanging out there for the night.

spartan1

as far as I know they do yep

see

http://www.dublinairport.com/at-airport/facilities-services/Internet_Access.html

seriously , its grand out there, as long as your not a seven year old girl...or eight....or nine...orrrrr

zendo

I'm a girl alrite, but 26 not seven so i suppose I'll be fine. Thanks for the help!

Colpriz

zendo wrote: »

I'm a girl alrite, but 26 not seven so i suppose I'll be fine. Thanks for the help!

shouldnt you call yourself Zenda not Zendo?..Look you'll be fine in Dublin airport and perfectly safe, maybe you need to put in a few hours of boredom, we all have to do it at some point. A good book, ipod full of music, some puzzles even, or top up on your mobile phone..you'll be surprised who you might meet on yr travels, maybe someone in your own situation, I meet wonderful people while travelling. Airports are generally safe

G_R

If you get the very last train from Cork City to Dublin City, it'll have you there at 11.15 AFAIK, then catch one of the Aircoach busses (i think you might have to get the LUAS to O' Connell St. for that) they run every 15 mins up untill 1 am i think and by the time you get to the airport it'll be 12 or quarter past. That only leaves 3 or 4 hours and you should be able to pass that easy enough either with an iPod and a good book or by getting a couple of hours shuteye.



*Dont take my word for the bus or train times, I'm 90% certan they are right but i dont want to be responsible for you missing your flight ha, give them a quick google first*

Run_to_da_hills

Bring a laptop, there is a good 3G recepton, plenty of plug sockets about. Boards will keep you entertained for the night. The lads need all the help they can in counting up to a million.

markpb

I can't find it now but there's a website where people can review overnight facilities in airports. Dublin rated quite badly because there are no bench seats and they play the security announcements all night long so sleep can be hard to do.

lostinsuperfunk

http://sleepinginairports.net/europe/dublin.htm

It's a very funny site, particularly the "worst airports" section. Thankfully Dublin doesn't feature in that list. It's only terrible from around 5 am onwards

zendo

Thanks for all the answers! I'm heading there tonight so, I decided not to book a B&B and I'll see how it goes. The website you provided is great, I'm going to log in there and put in my opinion once i spend few hours in the Dublin airport.

Wish you all a good weekend (mine starts tonight)

Wishbone Ash

The security announcements are very annoying in the dead of night. They run 24hrs but are generally unnoticable when the airport is busy. It is at it's quietest between 2am and 3am. After that, things begin picking up again.

EDIT: OP if you wish to pass the time by people watching, go downstairs to arrivals until 1am/2am. Departures will be very quiet from 10pm.

KenHy

Just bring a book. I've spent plenty of nights in airports and while not an enjoyable experience, its not too bad. No need to pay for a hotel for a 5am flight, realistically you need to be in the airport for 3am for your flight anyway so just get the latest public transport from Cork and you'll only have a few hours to pass.

luckat

You have to pay for the wifi in the airport, don't you? It's by the hour, not Bitbuzz, I think.

Kotek Besar

How did it go zendo?

mike kelly

Holsten wrote: »

Do not do it.

Absolute nightmare.

I did it before and it was awful. Now I'm in the same situation again. Any hotel which is withing easy walking distance of the airport?

Ham'nd'egger

mike kelly wrote: »

I did it before and it was awful. Now I'm in the same situation again. Any hotel which is withing easy walking distance of the airport?

SAS Raddison and the Clarion are on the airport campus itself and literally within a few minutes walk from both terminal buildings. There are several other hotels and B+B's within 15 minutes drive away so all in all, you won't be stuck for a bed if you look around a little.

angel01

mike kelly wrote: »

I did it before and it was awful. Now I'm in the same situation again. Any hotel which is withing easy walking distance of the airport?

Bewleys or Crowne Plaza

Ham'nd'egger

angel01 wrote: »

Bewleys or Crowne Plaza

Bewley's is 4 miles away as is the Plaza. They do run courtesy buses which is a help.

mike kelly

Hamndegger wrote: »

SAS Raddison and the Clarion are on the airport campus itself and literally within a few minutes walk from both terminal buildings. There are several other hotels and B+B's within 15 minutes drive away so all in all, you won't be stuck for a bed if you look around a little.

Premier Inn Dublin Airport looks like a good option, special offer of 39 euro per room and seems to be beside the coach park which is where I would be arriving

Ham'nd'egger

mike kelly wrote: »

Premier Inn Dublin Airport looks like a good option, special offer of 39 euro per room and seems to be beside the coach park which is where I would be arriving

It's a decent price; yeah. Just slip into the Quickpark for a bus transfer

mike kelly

Hamndegger wrote: »

It's a decent price; yeah. Just slip into the Quickpark for a bus transfer

why do I need a bus transfer if the hotel is beside the coach park?

Vic_08

mike kelly wrote: »

why do I need a bus transfer if the hotel is beside the coach park?

because it is not beside the coach park.

Clarion and SAS Radisson are within the airport complex and are walkable, anything else will require a bus or taxi.

mike kelly

Vic_08 wrote: »

because it is not beside the coach park.

Clarion and SAS Radisson are within the airport complex and are walkable, anything else will require a bus or taxi.

yes, you are right and Google maps is wrong!

murphaph

Hamndegger wrote: »

Bewley's is 4 miles away as is the Plaza. They do run courtesy buses which is a help.

It can't be anywhere near 4 miles from the airport to Bewley's.

Jesus Wept

lostinsuperfunk wrote: »

http://sleepinginairports.net/europe/dublin.htm

It's a very funny site, particularly the "worst airports" section. Thankfully Dublin doesn't feature in that list. It's only terrible from around 5 am onwards

It gave Frankfurt best runner up in Europe.
Spent 14 hours there once, it was not good to sleep in, the seats sucked.

KC61

murphaph wrote: »

It can't be anywhere near 4 miles from the airport to Bewley's.

Probably 2-2.5 I would say.

BuffyBot

Holiday Inn Express generally has some good rates in Northwood, and they run a shuttle to the airport from early morning. Comfy hotel, and not too bad service.

Bluetonic

murphaph wrote: »

It can't be anywhere near 4 miles from the airport to Bewley's.

3 miles, that near enough to 4 miles!

There is also a B&B at the old entrance which is cheap as chips and you can walk to the terminal in 5 minutes or hop on one of the car park buses.

http://goo.gl/maps/hyjl

Ham'nd'egger

murphaph wrote: »

It can't be anywhere near 4 miles from the airport to Bewley's.

From door to door, it would clock up to a little over 5KM; a little over 3 miles.

Took the liberty of Google maps to check it out just now

killbillvol2

luckat wrote: »

You have to pay for the wifi in the airport, don't you? It's by the hour, not Bitbuzz, I think.

If you have eircom broadband at home (the higher speed packages) you have free wifi in Dublin airport. But you have to register and get a username and password.

mikemac

lostinsuperfunk wrote: »

http://sleepinginairports.net/europe/dublin.htm

It's a very funny site, particularly the "worst airports" section. Thankfully Dublin doesn't feature in that list. It's only terrible from around 5 am onwards

Pretty accurate

And gave Roma the terrible review it deserves

cocoshovel

I had to do something similar earlier this year. I just sat upstairs watching the tv across from macdonalds. All the airport staff were there too, watching a world cup match. Go for a few walks n what not. There really isnt much else to do. There was still a few people around the airport.

Alpha Papa

The reason there are no bench seats in Dublin Airport is because they dont want to attract people to stay or sleep over in the terminal. It is not a hotel, an airport is designed for people come to and go not to stay.

But saying that It is permitted but only if you hold a valid confirmed flight/boarding card for departure the next day.

Both uniformed and plain clothes members of the Airport Police do frequently patrols and can be seen conducting checks around the building during the early hours and will check members of the public, who are over nighting in the terminal and will request boarding cards/flight confirmation details to make sure they are legit. So make sure you have some form of it on you just in case.

Police will wake you up when operations begin starting up again around 5am, as its a airport and they dont want people sprawled out across the floor with people taking up the area or taking over more then one chair etc..

You should feel safe staying the night. My advice is maybe have a walk around first before you decide where your going to sleep/sit choose some where well lit and with enough people around.

If you have any concern on your safety contact

Airport Police Emergency Line on : 01-8144300

check out www.dublinairport.com it has a map of T1 and info on services at night time. wifi is not free and best way is to purchase via credit card when you get there. The connection is should come up as "eircom" dont connect to any other as they may not be secure. There are plenty of plugs around.

Before you go for sleep, you should try find out your check in area for the morning either from DAA customer service staff in pink or from main info board. Importantly try and get through passenger security screening early to avoid queues and relax airside, as in my opinion it's quieter and defo more relaxed.

Hope this helps. I always find one of them flight sleep masks the best way to sleep at airports as they black everything out. Make sure to secure valuables on your person and not in your baggage in case you fall asleep and there stolen or tampered with.

veryangryman

Alpha Papa wrote: »

Before you go for sleep, you should try find out your check in area for the morning either from DAA customer service staff in pink or from main info board. Importantly try and get through passenger security screening early to avoid queues and relax airside, as in my opinion it's quieter and defo more relaxed..

Glad i dont work that job :eek:

oisindoyle

veryangryman wrote: »

Glad i dont work that job :eek:

Why so ?

Wishbone Ash

mike kelly wrote: »

Premier Inn Dublin Airport looks like a good option, special offer of 39 euro per room and seems to be beside the coach park which is where I would be arriving

Hamndegger wrote: »

It's a decent price; yeah. Just slip into the Quickpark for a bus transfer

I think you're confusing it with The Carlton which is nextdoor to Quickpark. The Premier Inn is up in Airside (near Swords).

Vic_08 wrote: »

because it is not beside the coach park.

Clarion and SAS Radisson are within the airport complex and are walkable, anything else will require a bus or taxi.

All hotels in the Airport and near the Airport have courtesy shuttle busses. There's no need to walk or get alternative transport to any of them.