City hotels suffering from rise in bedroom boozers

the_syco

Aidric wrote: »

Do such places exist in Ireland?

The hotel next to Fibbers is a one star hotel. It's meant to be pretty nice, probably only getting a low score due to "The Premises has a late bar every night till 02:30am, rooms on the first floor are affected by noise."

ScumLord wrote: »

You can't smoke in your hotel room. Not legally, plus setting off the fire alarm could end up costing you.

Get a smoking room. They exist in Ireland.

ScumLord wrote: »

I didn't think they still had smoking rooms in Irish hotels. I've been in one in the UK but they're as rare as hens teeth over there.

Have always been able to get a smoking room in the UK, Ireland and France.

=-=

The publican will serve you until you can no longer handle your drink, and then throw you out of the pub. How the funk is that being responsible?

Dempsey

Thirdfox wrote: »

Very(!) quick legal answer - you're given a licence to remain on the premises (film viewing, hotel etc) backed by a contractual agreement. As part of that agreement they can dictate terms that you would need to agree to.

It gets interesting when contractual terms are not stated prior to completing the contract though i.e. terms and conditions on the back of your receipt or a sign up after you bought your ticket in the cinema/hotel.

Here's the wiki entry on this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incorporation_of_terms_in_English_law

and especially this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incorporation_of_terms_in_English_law#Contractual_document

Surely this would need to be displayed before entering into an agreement, i.e. before buying a ticket/renting a room like pub prices inside of a door, to be legal here

Stone Deaf 4evr

Thirdfox wrote: »

Very(!) quick legal answer - you're given a licence to remain on the premises (film viewing, hotel etc) backed by a contractual agreement. As part of that agreement they can dictate terms that you would need to agree to.

It gets interesting when contractual terms are not stated prior to completing the contract though i.e. terms and conditions on the back of your receipt or a sign up after you bought your ticket in the cinema/hotel.

Here's the wiki entry on this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incorporation_of_terms_in_English_law

and especially this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incorporation_of_terms_in_English_law#Contractual_document

Thats all well and good, but for a contract to be binding, you have to be given a chance to review it and accept or reject depending on whether or not you agree to the terms. At what point in booking your hotel are you informed of all these rules and regulations?

Id say 99% of hotel bookings are made online, and I certainly cant ever remember ever being informed I could only consume food and drink that was purchased on the premises.

Stone Deaf 4evr

Dempsey wrote: »

Surely this would need to be displayed before entering into an agreement, i.e. before buying a ticket/renting a room like pub prices inside of a door, to be legal here

you don't listen to the lefty show by any chance?

Dempsey

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

you don't listen to the lefty show by any chance?

No, why?

hatrickpatrick

Yet another pathetically disguised attack on the off license culture by those who don't understand the concept of competition and would prefer to use the law to hamper their competitors.

If pubs isn't charge such ridiculous prices for a pint, people wouldn't want to drink at home. Simple as that.

ToxicPaddy

I have no problem having a drink or two in the bar of a hotel I'm staying in, however there is no way I am going to a hotel for a weekend and spending my whole weekend drinking there.

One of the biggest issues I have with hotels in Ireland is that a lot of hotel bars are the last place you'd want to drink in. They severely lack any atmosphere, prices are crazy and there is no attempt to attract customers who are locals to drink there.

I can understand them not wanting parties in the rooms, but complaining that people are having a few drinks in their rooms is just pathetic.

For years they were over charging people for mediocre service, poor facilities and unmotivated staff on minimum wage working all hours of the clock.

Then they were complaining that no one was holidaying in Ireland and everyone was going abroad.

Next it was that they couldn't survive as no tourists were coming to stay in their hotels and that Irish people should be supporting them.

Now they are complaining no one is buying their over priced drink in their bars.

:rolleyes:

southsiderosie

One of the best trends in hotels that I have seen over the last few years is the rise of apartment hotels: you get a full-size kitchen and living/dining room and laundry facilities, but still get the front desk and housekeeping services of a hotel. On my last trip to Puerto Rico for a project, we stayed in a beautiful building that was meant to be condos, but the developer couldn't sell because the market crashed. After a long day of running around to meetings, it was nice to go to the 7-11 next door for a few beers and snacks and then decompress/debrief on the balcony or around the dining room table. Plus you can minimize luggage with the laundry facilities. It didn't have room service, but the front desk had a list of local places that delivered, and there were several good restaurants within walking distance.

I think these kinds of setups are growing in popularity with families as well: everyone can spread out, parents can save money by buying cereal, milk, lunchmeat, juice and snacks to save on meals out, and yet someone will come in and clean up after you everyday, so you can still enjoy your vacation.

Hotels, like any other industry, need to be open to change: apartment-hotels are more DIY for guests, but allow hotels to save on staff: they only need housekeepers and front desk workers, not all of the food, beverage and room service staff.

Stone Deaf 4evr

Dempsey wrote: »

No, why?

no reason, just its an online podcast that literally went through what we were saying. Very interesting.

hatrickpatrick

Expect sustained, repeated assaults on the Irish alcohol consumers from the media in the coming months as the pub trade lobbies for protectionist price fixing under the guise of caring about public health.
There's a major sh!tstorm coming and those of us who value our freedom of choice would do well to take notice of it and start letting the government know that while lobby groups may be powerful, we the voters have the final say over whether they keep their jobs.

bbm1

I'm not a fan of people bringing drink to a wedding, my cousin got told before her wedding that if they found people taking their own drink into the wedding it would be pulled. The various stunts I've seen is some one coming in carrying what looked like a big wedding present wrapped in wedding paper and all and sit it under their table when it fact it was full of cans, another is girls filling up empty glass water bottles with vodka.

southsiderosie

bbm1 wrote: »

I'm not a fan of people bringing drink to a wedding, my cousin got told before her wedding that if they found people taking their own drink into the wedding it would be pulled. The various stunts I've seen is some one coming in carrying what looked like a big wedding present wrapped in wedding paper and all and sit it under their table when it fact it was full of cans, another is girls filling up empty glass water bottles with vodka.

Were they not serving alcohol at the wedding?

bbm1

southsiderosie wrote: »

Were they not serving alcohol at the wedding?

They were, but a lot of guests have started to bring their own drink with them instead of going to the bar at weddings

Dempsey

bbm1 wrote: »

They were, but a lot of guests have started to bring their own drink with them instead of going to the bar at weddings

Because the hotel understaff their bars and/or have lazy barstaff

0ph0rce0

Roll on the galway beers where i shall bring more drink into a galway hotel room than they have ever seen before :pac:

bbm1

Dempsey wrote: »

Because the hotel understaff their bars and/or have lazy barstaff

or because people are stingy.. I know their is a lot of expense with weddings but its one day and if you cant afford to drink then dont drink

Dempsey

bbm1 wrote: »

or because people are stingy.. I know their is a lot of expense with weddings but its one day and if you cant afford to drink then dont drink

So wait in line to pay over the odds or dont drink? You serious?

TheUsual

First thing I do with a hotel room is fill it with cheap water bottles & snacks from a supermarket.
And if it's the weekend get some Jameson, mixers and ice from the shops.

I paid for that room, and I can do what I want in it, within noise-limits and respect for neighbours/families. It's my room for the night.

They can stick their bar prices up their hole. The problem with these modern hotel owners and managers/bullies is they really see people like sheep to shake down, business degrees instead of common sense and some street smarts with giving people what they want in a recession.

Frynge

As I work in the management of a chain of hotels I will try and clarify some of the issues in this tread.

Number one point to make is that the purpose of this article in my opinion is so that the IHF ( Irish hotels federation) is seen to have a meaningful reason to exist, and more importantly charge their members the annual fee.

We left the IHF more than six years ago as they offered no real value, we have recently left the vintners for the very same reason.

Now in one of our hotels we cater for a lot of hens and stags, we prefer stags for the simple reason that the bag goes into the room and the body goes into the bar. Hens come into the hotel with boxes and bags of drink to bring into the room. We would prefer they drank in the bar but it is not a requirment nor would we ever try to prevent this happening.

With regard to smoking in rooms, the smoking ban had an exemption in relation to hotels where up to 20% of rooms could be smoking rooms. Most places choose an outright ban. Also if you are in a hotel room and want to smoke will you do it out the window and DON'T remove the sensor on the ceiling. Cigarette smoke won't set it off but removing it will register a fault in the system.

When people book into hotels this Is generally considered there place of residence for the night so they can essentially do anything in the room so long as it doesn't affect other guest, damage hotel property or be outright illegal. So the notion of banning people drinking in the room is already a bit ridiculous.

Another point raiseed was an off licence in the hotel, we did this three years ago in one of our hotels and have plans to do it in all of the hotels over the next three years. There is the stipulation that it cannot be drank in the bar but any wine purchased in the off licence may be consumed in the bar or restaurant for an additional €5 which we feel is quite reasonably.

Also in our hotels we don't charge extortionate prices for drink e.g. Pint of Guinness €4, vodka €3.70 (free white/red lemonade, orange, black, lime cordial).
But in the interest of truth our bar prices go up €0.10 30 minutes after closing for the residents.

Someone mentioned a hotel just having housekeepers and front office staff I.e. no food and beverage staff. Unfortunately hotel is a protected term. And to let people stay in an establishment you need an annually renewed licence from an organisation called TAMS which has some pretty strict basic requirments. Food being one of them.

I am as always open to correction on these points.

NuckingFacker

ibarelycare wrote: »

I remember listening to Joe Duffy a few years ago and a man stayed in a hotel in Dublin with his wife and two kids. They brought two bottles of wine and drank them in the room, as they couldn't sit in the bar with the kids, and they left the empties behind them. A few days later he noticed on his credit card bill that he was charged an extra €20. He got in contact with the hotel and they told him it was the charge for drinking the wine in his room!! In the end the manager phoned up and apologised and reversed the charges and offered the man a free stay in the hotel.


.

Typical money grubbing hoteliers, won't even pay for their own phone calls. On another note, I thought having a couple of bottles of wine and then having "no feckin kids listening in the room next door" time was the whole idea of paying for a hotel room? It is for me anyway.

southsiderosie

Frynge wrote: »

Someone mentioned a hotel just having housekeepers and front office staff I.e. no food and beverage staff. Unfortunately hotel is a protected term. And to let people stay in an establishment you need an annually renewed licence from an organisation called TAMS which has some pretty strict basic requirments. Food being one of them.

I am as always open to correction on these points.

The place with no food was in Puerto Rico, not Ireland, and I think it would be considered a vacation rental.

Come to think of it, when I first moved to Dublin I stayed in one of these just off of St. Augustine. It seemed like the same set-up: a building built to be condos, but converted to vacation apartments.

token101

If they don't want the business, it's their right to refuse. Just stay in a hostel. Don't know why anyone would ever stay in a hotel if you're under 35 and have no kids. Private room in a hostel is half the price, twice the craic and most decent places are at hotel standard anyway.

Lou.m

Wow Irish people ( and i am Irish) are turning into a sad nation of alchos.....using hotel rooms for getting drunk instead of what they are intended for ..durty sex.....

Seriously this generation under 30 has the highest rate of liver cancer in Ireland for generations

crusher000

Lou.m wrote: »

Wow Irish people ( and i am Irish) are turning into a sad nation of alchos.....using hotel rooms for getting drunk instead of what they are intended for ..durty sex.....

Seriously this generation under 30 has the highest rate of liver cancer in Ireland for generations

Because anti drink lobbyists believed the pub was the root of all evils. So take it out of the pub and bring it into the home. Irish people are getting more used of the change in life style where most of the socialising and drinking is done in the homes.

If people choose to drink in hotel rooms when they go away so be it, but for most of us it's not to get gee eyed but one or two before you head down to the bar.

meoklmrk91

I was at a wedding last year and while we were all sitting down, having dinner the hotel staff searched the rooms and the bags of the guests for drink and confiscated it. I wasn't staying in the hotel, but if I had been I would have personally lost the plot over this, someone rooting through my bags, invading privacy. There was no warning given that this would happen given to the bride and groom either.

It was a great day and everything else was really top notch, but I would have no interest in ever going back there again, left a bad taste in my mouth.

JustAThought

meoklmrk91 wrote: »

I was at a wedding last year and while we were all sitting down, having dinner the hotel staff searched the rooms and the bags of the guests for drink and confiscated it. I wasn't staying in the hotel, but if I had been I would have personally lost the plot over this, someone rooting through my bags, invading privacy. There was no warning given that this would happen given to the bride and groom either.

It was a great day and everything else was really top notch, but I would have no interest in ever going back there again, left a bad taste in my mouth.

That's really Really shocking.
Where & What was the hotel ?

meoklmrk91

JustAThought wrote: »

That's really Really shocking.
Where & What was the hotel ?

I'll name and shame if I'm allowed, Mods?

crusher000

That's dis graceful. Please say it was in North Korea and not here in Ireland.

the keen edge

bbm1 wrote: »

or because people are stingy.. I know their is a lot of expense with weddings but its one day and if you cant afford to drink then dont drink

Absolute bullsh!t.
There isn't a minimum price (below which alcohol can be bought) that people must pay otherwise someone with your philosophy decides that they shouldn't be allowed drink.

meoklmrk91 wrote: »

I was at a wedding last year and while we were all sitting down, having dinner the hotel staff searched the rooms and the bags of the guests for drink and confiscated it. I wasn't staying in the hotel, but if I had been I would have personally lost the plot over this, someone rooting through my bags, invading privacy. There was no warning given that this would happen given to the bride and groom either.

It was a great day and everything else was really top notch, but I would have no interest in ever going back there again, left a bad taste in my mouth.

Hotel staff searching guests bags? Are you serious?

meoklmrk91

Guys, I am deadly serious about the hotel searching bags and yes it was here in Ireland.

rubadub

Frynge wrote: »

With regard to smoking in rooms, the smoking ban had an exemption in relation to hotels where up to 20% of rooms could be smoking rooms.

Where did you hear this? I can't see it in the laws on irishstatutebook, I would have thought they could all be smoking if they wished..

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/employment_rights_and_conditions/health_and_safety/ban_on_smoking_in_the_workplace_in_ireland.html

ibarelycare

People bringing cans to a wedding and hiding them under the table is so knackery...

Real Life

ibarelycare wrote: »

People bringing cans to a wedding and hiding them under the table is so knackery...

yes but not as knackery as hotel staff searching bags in peoples rooms

TheUsual

Name and Shame Joe !!!!!

ScumLord

meoklmrk91 wrote: »

I was at a wedding last year and while we were all sitting down, having dinner the hotel staff searched the rooms and the bags of the guests for drink and confiscated it.

Pretty sure that's illegal and everyone at the wedding could sue the hotel.

Pinewoo

meoklmrk91 wrote: »

I'll name and shame if I'm allowed, Mods?

Yes it's ok to name them if it actually happened, if you're making it all up then you might be in for some trouble...

Frynge

rubadub wrote: »

Where did you hear this? I can't see it in the laws on irishstatutebook, I would have thought they could all be smoking if they wished..

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/employment_rights_and_conditions/health_and_safety/ban_on_smoking_in_the_workplace_in_ireland.html

It might have just been guidelines from the IHF, as I said the room is you're residence for the night so it would stand to reason that the government can't dictate what you can and can't do in it.

Frynge

meoklmrk91 wrote: »

I was at a wedding last year and while we were all sitting down, having dinner the hotel staff searched the rooms and the bags of the guests for drink and confiscated it. I wasn't staying in the hotel, but if I had been I would have personally lost the plot over this, someone rooting through my bags, invading privacy. There was no warning given that this would happen given to the bride and groom either.

It was a great day and everything else was really top notch, but I would have no interest in ever going back there again, left a bad taste in my mouth.

I'm calling buls8it on this. From a purely logistical point of view that statement is patently absurd.

meoklmrk91

Frynge wrote: »

I'm calling buls8it on this. From a purely logistical point of view that statement is patently absurd.

Well by all means do, it happened, I was there, that's all I can say, I will name and shame but only if a mod gives me the go ahead, in fairness I have over 2000 posts, I am not some newb troll.

It didn't happen to me personally as I was not staying at the hotel, but it did happen, the guests who were staying were going mad, especially one guy who worked in security, they gave them their drink back when they were checking out the day after.

Frynge

Would you pm me the name of the hotel then?

Thanks in advance.;)

TheUsual

meoklmrk91 wrote: »

I will name and shame but only if a mod gives me the go ahead, in fairness I have over 2000 posts, I am not some newb troll.

You're right, I wouldn't name them.

If you ever stay there again for work or whatever reasons, then they will get you back with the cream of mushroom soup.
(Food terrorism)

xpletiv

Thats appalling. No problem legally if you know that it is fact (and therefore not discrimination). Though I would have thought we would have heard about smoething like that in the news. No way Id keep quiet about that.

Myself and other half always bring drink; because its too dear. Sorry, I pay enough for somehwere that is legally my residence for the duration of my stay, and by god im going to treat it like my home. This is just greed on the publicans parts tbh; I watch my money carefully and so should in this economy.

meoklmrk91

Frynge wrote: »

Would you pm me the name of the hotel then?

Thanks in advance.;)

Just tried to send it there and got a message saying that Frynge has chosen not to receive private messages, change your settings and ill fire it off then.

meoklmrk91

xpletiv wrote: »

Thats appalling. No problem legally if you know that it is fact (and therefore not discrimination). Though I would have thought we would have heard about smoething like that in the news. No way Id keep quiet about that.

Myself and other half always bring drink; because its too dear. Sorry, I pay enough for somehwere that is legally my residence for the duration of my stay, and by god im going to treat it like my home. This is just greed on the publicans parts tbh; I watch my money carefully and so should in this economy.

I didn't stay in the hotel so I couldn't say or do anything but I had I been I would have been off to my solicitor on Minday morning.

Frynge

meoklmrk91 wrote: »

Just tried to send it there and got a message saying that Frynge has chosen not to receive private messages, change your settings and ill fire it off then.

Think I have that changed now.

meoklmrk91

Frynge wrote: »

Think I have that changed now.

PM sent

King of the soaps.

I think the whole thing is ridiculous. When I was younger people tried to show they could hold their drink. Nobody drank before going out as it could result in getting drunk before others in the group thus showing an inability to hold ones drink, which was the mark of a man. Only little boys and outright alcoholics got drunk. The vast majority of people drank publicly, at a bar or table in a pub or hotel and nowhere else.
It is about time some maturity returned to drinking.

Wompa1

King of the soaps. wrote: »

I think the whole thing is ridiculous. When I was younger people tried to show they could hold their drink. Nobody drank before going out as it could result in getting drunk before others in the group thus showing an inability to hold ones drink, which was the mark of a man. Only little boys and outright alcoholics got drunk. The vast majority of people drank publicly, at a bar or table in a pub or hotel and nowhere else.
It is about time some maturity returned to drinking.

That attitude is also pretty immature. Being able to drink is not a sign of masculinity or maturity...

King of the soaps.

Wompa1 wrote: »

That attitude is also pretty immature. Being able to drink is not a sign of masculinity or maturity...

Drinking but avoiding losing complete control is a lot more mature than drinking to get completely drunk and incapable.

Wompa1

King of the soaps. wrote: »

Drinking but avoiding losing complete control is a lot more mature than drinking to get completely drunk and incapable.

But for the reason of proving your masculinity? That's pretty immature and that's still a mindset in a lot of guys in Ireland. My dad applies that same logic, tthe catch is, he still gets drunk but he says he's not as drunk as young people get and also sure he doesn't hurt anyone...he doesn't but if you get drunk then at least be honest with yourself rather than tell yourself you are well able for it and can handle your drink.