I love going on holidays. What I don’t like is the getting ready. I get quite stressed about the packing in case I leave anything behind. My other big stress is getting to the airport. To drive or catch a bus? Where to park? Quite honestly I don’t normally want to be around myself the day before travel.
The Carlton Hotel Blanchardstown offer a service called #StayParkFly – you can stay over at the hotel the night before you fly, and leave your car there. They then offer a shuttle service dropping you right at the airport.
I was delighted to collaborate with the Carlton Hotel Blanchardstown on our recent visit to Turkey. We were flying at 6am on Sunday morning so needed to be at the airport at 4am. And, yes the shuttle bus was available at this hour of the night.
This was such a cool experience that I decided to dedicate a full blog post to what I am now calling the first day of the holiday.
Day 1 of my Holiday
On Saturday afternoon we took a leisurely drive up to Dublin arriving at the hotel mid-afternoon. I have visited the Carlton Hotel Blanchardstown before and I know the rooms are lovely but we were given a real treat and upgraded to a suite. I felt like a movie star! We settled in with a cup of tea and some lovely little cakes. I stretched out like a star fish on the bed and himself watched a little TV.
Instead of my usual stress I felt so relaxed, like I was on holiday already. And what better way to celebrate the beginning of a holiday than a wonderful G&T! The bar is so lovely and welcoming and all the staff were super helpful.
We needed an early night (as we had an extremely long day ahead of us) so we had an early dinner. A delicious juicy steak for himself and some yummy pumpkin ravioli for me, before heading off to our gorgeous room for a bubble bath and an early night.
Watch a video of my ‘room tour’ here
Day 2 of our holiday
The next morning I woke up and instead of being stressed, I was excited! The attitude of the staff at this hotel is fantastic. Before 4am we came downstairs with our bags to be greeted with a smile, and two little bags with take-away breakfast of croissants, muffins, fruit and water. Our cheerful driver Michael set off for Dublin Airport – next stop for us – Marmaris, Turkey!
You know the feeling when you come home from holiday. You have been travelling hours on a mini bus and a budget airline and you are beyond tired. This is normally the time when you have to either climb on a bus for another few hours, or play the game of find the car in among hundreds of cars in the long-term parking. By this stage my fatigue normally has me close to tears.
What a difference this was. Despite our plane being delayed, the cheerful driver Michael was waiting for us, he had even called ahead to check that we knew where to find him.
I can honestly say that the wonderful service from the staff at the Carlton Hotel Blanchardstown contributed to a wonderful holiday.
Kerry xx
Our stay at the Carlton Hotel Blanchardstown was gifted to us. Thank you very much! Thank you also to Sinead from the Irish Blogger Agency.
p.s. The next installment of our holiday in amazing Turkey will be coming soon! And it includes my take on a Turkish Bath!
