I take a group of university students to Ireland every 2 years and we stay at the Shaw Court when we are in Dublin. I have always found it very clean and the staff very accomodating. It is a place where you can experience close to what it is truly like to live in Dublin, so tourists and the non-adventurous might find challenges, as they would in any unfamiliar larger city. It is a safe area (Dublin Gardai HQ is around the corner and the Gardai Club is just up the street). It is a short walk to most of Dublin, but Dublin is a walking city. Taxis, buses and the LUAS line are all close by. The apartments are spartan but comfortable. Shopping, internet cafes, coffee and pastry shops are all close by. The main "tourist" areas are 15-25 min walks away. Dublin is an expensive city so the opportunity to save on meals, do your own laundry and have some space to move around is a pleasure. Of course there are minor drawbacks that each individual will find according to your needs and background, but it is a very good value for an extended stay in a delightful city.

Once we settled in to the Shaw Court Apartments, we decided that staying there was worth the hassle of getting there. However, if we had to leave the next day or even the day after, I would not have felt it was worth it. It takes all day to find the Harcourt Hotel if you're driving a car and unfamiliar with Dublin (lots of one way streets), then it is a very tricky drive (or long walk) to the apartments themselves from the hotel. The hotel staff is very stingy with parking at the Shaw Court Apartments, and for the first several days, we had to park miles away (literally). That said, however, it is very easy to catch a taxi from the apartments, there are stores and Internet cafes very close by, and after several weeks of travelling, I loved having a laundry machine right in my own apartment (with no additional charge for using it). If you are only going to Dublin for a day or so, the hassle of the Shaw Court apartments is definitely not worth it. If you're going for 4 days or more, I can't recommend it highly enough. We took a 2 bedroom apartment, and it very comfortably fit 3 adults and 2 children.

Great place for a family stay in Dublin. My wife and I were very comfortable with our 2 older children in the apartment. New, spacious, clean 2 bedroom apartment for a great price. Above average for a 3-star hotel. Good location, about a mile from Grafton and 1.5 miles from Temple Bar. We liked the quiet of being just outside of the busy areas. We walked everywhere, but its an easy spot to catch a taxi. Safe area.

The staff at the Harcourt is very good, as is the bar and restaurant. The only complaint we had is the several block walk after check-in with bags to get from the Harcourt to the Shaw Court. The hotel should provide a shuttle, but they don't. When checking in, leave your bags in the taxi and have them wait for you to take you to the Shaw Court. Would definitely stay at the Shaw Court again for a family visit.

I thought it would be great to stay in a self-catering apartment in Dublin and the photos of Shaw Court looked nice. When we arrived, it was disappointing that the distance from the hotel was so far of a walk- down not the greatest of streets. We found ourselves walking quite far just to get to Grafton Street and Temple Bar, and we ended up spending a lot more money than expected on taxis (just to avoid the long walk home in the dark down nearly empty streets). We switched apts because ours was absolutely tiny, we were tripping over ourselves. The decor was so minimal that my Dublin friends said, "It's just so stark. Not one picture on the wall!" and between that and the distance to the city centre, and the distance from the hotel- I felt rather alienated. The hot water was dangerously hot. So hot that I would not reccomend the place to people bringing small children. Both my husband and I burned our hands just trying to wash dishes or brush our teeth. It took me 5 days to figure out the washer/dryer. Our phone didn't work the day we got there (alienating us even more). On two occasions we did not receive our scheduled wake up call. Additionally, you have to have three numeric pass codes to enter and leave the buildings, so it was hard to have people visit us as well. We had to carry a little paper around with us and type in passcodes every time we came and left. And then we had the long hike into town.
The apartments are nice and clean, but it felt a bit like being in a university dorm. You lacked the comfort of the hotel staff being nearby. Beds were made and linen seemed to be changed daily. That was a plus. I think the apartment may be good for some, but there were too many negatives for me to go that route again. I just booked the Fitzwilliam Hotel for my next trip. I'm looking forward to the proximity to the sites and the personal attention.