When booking our trip to Ireland, we were lucky enough to stumble across a hidden gem of a boutique hotel in the heart of Galway’s Latin Quarter.
The Residence Hotel is located at the eastern end of Quay Street, the most popular block in town.
From this location, you’re steps away from the likes of the award winning Coffeewerk + Press, the iconic Murphy’s Ice Cream, Galway’s oldest pub, Tigh Neagtain, and the famous and historical King’s Head Pub!
This is a pedestrian only street, so be prepared to walk your luggage from Spanish Parade, just a short 100 foot walk away.
The entrance to the hotel is small, sandwiched between McDonagh’s Fish and Chips shop and the hotel-owned M.Fitzgerald’s Bar- most pedestrians don’t notice it when walking down the street.
The lobby is small, but I liked how it encourages visitors to greet the desk manager as they come in and out of the building. I became friendly with a few of the managers and was rewarded with excellent insider tips around the city.
Don’t worry, there’s still a normal-sized elevator to get to and from your room.
After the luxurious square footage of Hyatt hotel in Dublin, our Triple Room did feel a little cramped, but we were given a complimentary upgrade from the Twin room we initially booked, so I’ll count myself lucky!
We were celebrating a birthday, and The Residence was easily the most generous of our Ireland hotel stays. In addition to their standard welcome kit (earplugs, eye mask, and extensive list of local bar, restaurant and cafe suggestions), they supplied us with a complimentary handwritten birthday card, chocolates and- most excitingly- a bottle of sparkling wine! What a delight!
The beds were comfortable and the room felt super modern, with many of the amenities such as the mirrors and the bathroom having an LED backlight for an ambient glow. It did make turning the lights off at night confusing, but we figured it out eventually!
There was a wardrobe to store our luggage, and even a tiny little Juliette Balcony! You couldn’t do much more than poke your head out on it, but it looked out over a great view of Quay Street.
It should be mentioned that the hotel’s bar Fitzgerald’s is not a typical quiet lobby bar- it’s a full fledged Irish pub that serves food and drink for most of the day. The hotel is very clear that there may be some noise from the bar before you book and the earplugs in their welcome kit help to mitigate the noise.
With all of the warnings, I was a little nervous about being able to sleep, but they actually did a great job insulating the rooms so that the noise of the crowds outside are more of a white noise than a true disturbance.
They were so focused on the noise of the crowd that they don’t seem to have put as much effort into sound dampening between rooms- or maybe we just got unlucky! It seems like the TV of our neighboring room was located on the same wall that our headboards sat against. We had a neighbor that was blasting the TV for much of the night and that definitely kept me awake!
When I mentioned it to the front desk the next morning, they assured me that I could call down to them if it happened again and they’d handle it. Perks of a 24 front desk!
Overall, this was my favorite hotel stay of our Ireland trip. I really appreciated the modern furnishings and the friendly staff- and the quick commute to Fitzgerald’s!
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