I used to think that the twin baby stage was the hardest stage of family travel but traveling now with teenagers is challenging all my prior beliefs. We love how our guys can pack and carry their own things, help plan the trip and they are way better at waiting and dealing with unplanned things than when they were younger. But sometimes finding places to stay and finding reasonably priced food and activities when traveling with teenagers takes more research than I used to do for travel when they were small because they have big opinions now. We only had a few days in Ireland so when I looked for places to stay in Dublin I wanted to make sure we had enough room that everyone would get a good nights’ sleep for the adventures we had planned. (I also now make the teenagers help find these adventures and places to stay as well.)
Family rooms at the Grafton Hotel are great if you’re in Dublin with teenagers
The family rooms at The Grafton Hotel in Dublin can fit up to 6 people so it was more than enough space for our family of 4. As soon as I saw the cool modern look of the hotel and noticed the double set of bunkbeds in the family room, I knew this would be the perfect place for our first night in Dublin. And in real life the room was just as it was pictured on the hotel website too. It was comfortable and clean. We had parking for our car in a carpark a few blocks away and the rate did not seem as exorbitant as what we would expect from a carpark in a downtown American or Canadian city.
Our hotel was located in a walkable distance from shops and sites in Dublin-we walked Grafton street, had our first hot chocolate and walked to get pictures of the Temple Bar Pub and all the holiday lights (we visited in November during our American Thanksgiving holiday) . If we had multiple days in Dublin this would have been a good place to stay for longer too. But we were headed to the Cliffs of Moher so this was only a one night stay.
An airbnb in Doolin near the Cliffs of Moher and Doonagore Castle perfect for families with teenagers too
This is not in Dublin but in Doolin-a three hour drive away- but when one of my guys helped decide that the Cliffs of Moher would be a focal point for this 5 day Ireland trip, we knew we need a place to stay nearby just in case the weather wasn’t great in Ireland in November. We thought about doing a day trip or a trip by train from Dublin and then we found what looked like a really cool stay near a castle on the coast. What actually convinced me were the donkeys in the Airbnb picture-they didn’t end up being on the property because it was winter and too cold. I put this here just in case it might help inform a trip. Originally I had 4 nights booked in Dublin to make the trip “easier” but I think by booking a car and adding the two nights in Doolin made it a really interesting adventure and our teenagers really liked this roadtrip.
Doonagore castle, the castle near the airbnb \\also ended up being such a cool place to see and we wouldn’t have seen it had we not stayed at this Airbnb. Driving from Ennis to where the Airbnb is near the Doonagore castle was the scariest part of our Ireland drive. People drive very fast on the roads and they are narrow and dark (and the weather changes quickly. We were caught in a few deluges.)
When I looked up Doonagore castle I found out it had a really gory history which intrigued my teenage guys too.
We stayed two nights and one of the nights we went out to eat at the pub in Doolin and it was less than a 10 minute drive away. We had delicious fish and chips and listened to live music and had a great family meal.
The Family room at Stauntons’ on the Green in Dublin Ireland
I had no idea what this room would look like-I booked directly from the hotel and last minute. I thought we might want to stay in a castle so I also thought about booking the Cabra Castle just outside of Dublin and we were already coming from the Airbnb that was next to a castle so I thought we might be castled out. Stuantons on the Green is something like a castle in that it is an older townhouse than a traditional big hotel. There are three floors and you need to take the stairs. And I’ve heard all the rooms are different but the room we ended up with had a separate bedroom for the kids and we had two bathrooms.
After a couple really busy sight-seeing and driving days through Ireland, this was the perfect place to stay to end our trip. For our last morning we woke up early, walked to the Irish Emigration museum, stopped at a bread bakery I’d been wanting to visit along the way and then came back and watched World Cup soccer before we headed to the airport.
And which was the best place to stay?
This was one time when all of the accommodations we booked turned out. The teens loved the Grafton hotel the best for its location and cool vibe. The Airbnb allowed us access to the Cliffs of Moher really early in the morning and we had fun walking the area and the nearby Doolin town. Stauntons on the Green was my favorite because it was close to cute bakeries, coffee shops and hot chocolate in Dublin and it was comfortable, beautiful and reasonably priced.
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)