You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.

Aptly described by a guest as a "non-view", this is what

Last fall, the renovations plans for the U2 Hotel, aka The Clarence, in Dublin were slammed by preservationists who called the proposed hotel design a bastardisation.  

And the fight is getting nastier as a planning board hearing was underway today. Guitarist The Edge stood up for the renovation which would give the hotel a "new building topped with a massive glass dome." He said:

"We feel that while it's very important to preserve the fabric of the period parts of the city, you've got to weigh up the benefits of what would be an incredible coup for Dublin City, a Norman Foster building," he said. "I feel that that outweighs the sacrifice of parts of what

After finding that the Best Western Madrid does pretty well in the WiFi stakes, we weren't surprised to discover that the same chain is advertising good access in Dublin, too. The Best Western Academy Plaza Hotel in central Dublin boasts free WiFi throughout the hotel; they emphasize that this is throughout the property, including guest bedrooms.

We've been hunting for feedback, but haven't yet heard from anyone who's used the WiFi service. There is also an internet service in guest rooms if you don't have a laptop, and it seems to operate via the television set--one recent guest complained that their room didn't have a remote control for the TV and it had to be

Want to win a free trip to Ireland? Head to the Village Pourhouse this Thursday, March 6th, for its Irish beer tasting event. Tickets ($25) will enter you to win a free airfare voucher "redeemable on a Tenon Tours Ireland Package" for May or June of this year. And, if you don't win, at least you'll leave sloshed enough not to care.

Who's the best person to open a luxury hotel? A trained hotelier fresh from hotel-school? An old dog who's been working his way up the management tree of the Four Seasons? Nope - we say the people who know most about what makes a good luxury hotel are the people that actually stay in them. Celebrities.

It seems like Abba star Benny Andersson's making a success of his Hotel Rival in Stockholm. And Richard Branson's just-opened super-luxury ski-chalet looks set to join his Necker Island fantasy playground and other hotel ventures.

So what about the cheeky chappy Bono and his mates from the band U2, who run the boutique Clarence Hotel in Dublin, Ireland?

We're in disbelief: two celebs, running through two airports this weekend, and it's not Lindsay Lohan who's getting in trouble. Instead, Irish heartthrob Jonathan Rhys Meyers had the run-in with cops, being charged with public drunkenness at Dublin International Airport.

The Tudors star was visiting Dublin for a TV appearance and was scheduled to fly to London on BMI before police detained him. Apparently telling gate agents "I will get on this flight, no matter what" doesn't always work--even if you've co-starred with Scarlett Johansson.

Related Stories:
· Irish Actor Rhys Meyers Arrested [AFP]
· Lindsay Lohan Covets Your Overhead Bin [Jaunted]
· Celeb Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: AFP]

Dublin's new Dylan Hotel is getting huge hype at the moment, and we're curious about why. Recent guests just can't rave enough about it, and one comment seems to sum up everybody else's: "We really couldn't find one negative thing to say".

Many positive comments about this 44-room boutique hotel in the south side of Dublin refer to the friendly and helpful staff. For example, they aren't "over pampering" and they don't "try to be ubercool." One guest said she and her family hugged and kissed all the staff as they left, since they'd been made to feel so welcome there.

It all sounds great, but the Dylan marketing team somehow decided to put together a VIP

U2's Bono is having some problems getting his renovation plans for The Clarence Hotel off the ground in Dublin. The Telegraph is reporting that Dublin traditionalists are object to the hotel's funky architecture:

The U2 singer has put forward plans for a dramatic structure with a spaceship-shaped glass dome at the summit of an extraordinary atrium extending from the basement to the rooftop. It has been described as a "skycatcher" and a "white hovering halo."

Bono is hoping to make this hotel a destination spot for Dublin but the city's environmental authority organization, An Taisce, says the plans "would dwarf neighbouring buildings and dominate the area." And they really hate the plan as one member of An

HotelChatter had an operative in Ireland last week who has so graciously forwarded us reviews of some hotels. This is the third in a three-part series.

Our Hotel Maven left the Crowne Plaza near the airport to spend a few days at the Clontarf Castle, also in Dublin. Here's the review:

The property was built hundreds of years ago and has been nicely updated. The rooms were spacious and had many modern luxuries. The hotel had various restaurants and bars. It is also just a short walk from the water and the city.

Overall, this was a very upscale and impressive hotel. If your looking for a great experience in Ireland we highly recommend staying at these

HotelChatter had an operative in Ireland last week who has so graciously forwarded us reviews of some hotels. This is the first in a three-part series.

Our Hotel Maven continued on from his hotel in Cork to the Crowne Plaza Hotel near the Dublin airport. Here's the review:

The hotel provided complimentary service from the airport. It was a fairly new hotel with a Holiday Inn attached. We were upgraded to an executive level which included free use of the executive lounge and access to free refreshments.

The rooms were nice with a modern decor and included the largest working desks that we have ever seen in a hotel. This hotel would be perfect for business