Honeymoon Highlights: Four Seasons Dublin
How we broke the international travel cardinal rule
12/31/05 - 1/10/06
We all know that what you are supposed to do when you arrive several time zones away from your own first thing in the morning is to stay awake all day. But, after a long flight and an even longer couple of days, including that little event known as a wedding, we were beyond tired. So what we did instead of doing what we were supposed to do was spend the day sleeping. Such rebels, I know! Thankfully, we had the perfect place to break all the rules. As a wedding present, Clay's brother paid for a night at The Four Seasons Dublin.
The Four Seasons is in the Ballsbridge area of Dublin, which is both gorgeous and historical, but not within easy walking distance of most of Dublin's primary attractions. Which would not have been a problem if we were old enough to actually rent a car in Ireland. Because we were still years away from this particular milestone, the lack of transportation provided the perfect excuse to do nothing but sleep and relax around the hotel for the entire first day of our trip. Although this decision would perhaps doom us to sleepless nights and exhausted days for the remainder of our honeymoon, it felt luxurious and could have perhaps prevented the early demise of our marriage following an exhaustion induced fight. And really, who could complain about wasting spending time in such a beautiful hotel?
That night we enjoyed dinner at the onsite Seasons Restaurant, which was excellent. I mean, we certainly would not want to ruin our day of doing nothing by actually putting effort into the dinner plans. The next morning as we were checking out to relocate to less expensive and more centrally located accommodations, we inquired about a taxi and were informed that the complimentary town car was available, which just so happened to be a Jaguar. That was the first (and probably last) time I had ever been in such a nice car. The driver gave us a mini tour of Dublin as we drove from the Four Seasons to (no joke) a Best Western. Then, the driver not only helped us unload our luggage, he apologized for not being able to get us directly in front of the entrance because of construction. To be fair, the Best Western was in a fantastic location off O'Connell St. in the city center and had recently been remodeled. It was actually a great, affordable choice in an ideal location and we would gladly stay there again.
But it was no Four Seasons! There, amid luxury and with unbelievable service and style, we had one of those days that you dream about, but rarely dare to have. Not wanting to waste a single second of valuable vacation time, we usually fill our days with activities and sights and plans. This time, we did nothing but relax and enjoy the amenities of a gorgeous hotel for an entire day. It was a perfect day that allowed us to recover from the craziness of our wedding and actually be rested enough to enjoy the rest of our time in Ireland. I think we made the right decision!
Posted by cgplatt 2/16/12 17:10 Archived in Ireland Tagged honeymoonhotelireland
