Forster Court Hotel Galway Ireland Review

by VGP Guest Blogger, Rachel

On a recent quick vacation to Galway, Ireland I was looking for an inexpensive, clean, safe hotel in a prime location.

I always have success checking Trip Advisor for hotel review and that is how I picked the Forster Court. On Trip Advisor it was voted the #2 hotel in Galway. We arrived via bus from Dublin and left via bus to Shannon and for bus travel the location can’t be beat. It is about a block from each bus station. The hotel is steps from Eyre Square, a small central public park. Branching off from Eyre square is the main strip, Quay street. Most of the shops, restaurants and pubs in Galway city are on Quay or nearby.

They seemed to be doing some significant construction in the small downstairs lobby which was very loud during the day  and let in a lot of cold air from outside. This led to little to no ambiance in the main entryway. Our stay was in early October so I would assume that this construction would be near complete by now. My only complaint regarding the construction is that the front desk did not acknowledge or apologize for the loud noise.

Otherwise, the front staff  was extremely helpful. They helped us to plan our trip to the airport via bus, print plane tickets and provided excellent restaurant options in the area.  I asked the front desk staff if breakfast was included , and she said though we didn’t book that option only she would be happy to add it to our stay free of charge. The hotel has 50 rooms and the staff remembered us and offered friendly personal attention.

We had a quick trip and didn’t plan any day trips to close by Aran Islands, The Burren or the Cliffs of Moher, but the hotel had many brochures on each and was one of the main pick up spots from which many of bus trips departed from.

Our in room hair dryer was broken and we had some problems with the sink draining which were really minor inconveniences since the hotel was less than $75 a night. The beds were comfortable and the free in room wifi was speedy.

Forster Court Hotel

Photo Credit: Forster Court Hotel Website

My friend and I chose Galway as a stop on our European vacation because we wanted to see the Irish countryside and experience some pubs and shops. Also because of the very reasonably flight we got from Shannon to Boston to head home. My favorite part of Galway was the two mile walking path alongside the city called Salthill Promenade. When I was there, it was a clear day and you could see bright colored buildings on one side and the hills of Country Clare on the other.

3 Comments on "Forster Court Hotel Galway Ireland Review"

  1. I’ve stayed here twice this year. Back in February the entire downstairs was being remodeled, including the bar and breakfast area, and it was all cordoned off. They provided a very nice full Irish breakfast delivered to my room as an alternative.

    I was back again two weeks ago and the remodeling is over with and the bar and breakfast room look great. They had an issue with hot water in some of the wings one morning. I came back in early afternoon for a shower and it still hadn’t been repaired. They arranged for keys to be delivered to my room to access a room on a different floor with hot water and that worked out fine to access a shower. Hot water had returned to my room later that day.

  2. One correction: It was in February, 2011, that the bar and breakfast room were ripped up as part of a complete downstairs remodeling (just looked at my photos from then). If they were just finishing up in October of this year that was one long project.

  3. VGP Guest Blogger, Rachel | December 11, 2013 at 12:03 pm |

    Thanks for sharing, Tom! Sounds like we had similar trips where the remodeling was a minor inconvenience. Sorry to hear about the hot water!

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