Patsey Murphyvisits Tallaght Cross
DRIVING TO Tallaght Cross Town Centre in the dark, you could be forgiven for thinking you were in the Bronx, or countless outlying American suburban towns. You're close to a mall (the Square), surrounded by apartment buildings (as yet largely unoccupied) and lured by a smattering of retail and food outlets ready and waiting to meet the demands of a new generation. There's even a new Captain Americas, to confirm the illusion, with the Luas whooshing to a stop, too.
It's a revelation, this new landscape, plonked not in the urban Docklands, where you might expect it, but at the end of the Luas line. Tallaght Cross, like Adamstown, Sandyford or Bellmayne, to name a few, has risen up amid wasteland and old-style housing estates in no time at all.
Tallaght was recently described in this newspaper as "not only saturated but swamped" with hotels. There are five in the vacinity to choose from, with a total of 400 bedrooms. We landed in the newest one, the Tallaght Cross, built by the property developer Liam Carroll for €20 million.
In case you can't find the Tallaght Cross Hotel, which opened barely a month ago, there's one of those blinking electronic signs we have all become used to trying to decipher on the M50. "Hotel here" . . . "Hotel here" . . . it flashes, with an arrow pointing to a vast underground car park.
The staff is young and keen. One manager we spoke to was thrilled to be back in her hometown, having worked in hotels in England for years.
So who is the hotel attracting? Mainly west Dublin businesspeople so far, she says, but because the Luas gets people in and out of town in 40 minutes they're hoping to get weekend shoppers and people travelling up for sports events, who can leave their cars and abide by the drink-driving ban.
We start our evening at the new Captain Americas - and find Conor Lenihan TD there, in his constituency, with his wife on their way to the cinema. The joint is jumping with early rock videos on the screens. The menu hasn't changed much since I worked there as a student, with the emphasis of burgers-with-everything. Dinner for four of us cost under €100.
The GlasHaus across the square - Carroll's first hotel - has already established itself and has a busy bar. There are bouncers rather than doormen there to greet you.
Standard rooms in our hotel - there is no other kind - are air conditioned. Beds are average, linens are white, with burgundy drapes and throw cushions. Arty black-and-white photographs adorn the walls. There is a flat-screen TV, a tea and coffee maker, an iron and ironing board, an in-room safe and free internet access. There is a shower but no bath, and soap and shampoo come from wall-mounted dispensers.
Breakfast is in the Orangerie Brasserie, and we skip across to the GlasHaus for lunch, because it is busier and both hotels are interchangeable.
The customers are mostly young, with office security badges swinging from their necks. When the apartments are occupied there will be a different vibe; at the moment it's a curious ghost town." The Luas gets people into town in 40 minutes, so they're hoping to get weekend shoppers and people travelling up for sports events, who can leave their cars
WhereTallaght Cross Hotel, Tallaght Cross Town Centre, Belgard Square West, Dublin 24, 01-4246400, www.tallaghtcrosshotel.ie.
Best rate€79 for a double or a room with a double and single bed. €89 with breakfast.
Rooms186, with five theatre-style meeting rooms with a capacity of 70.
AmbienceUtilitarian and anonymous.
AccessNo specially fitted bedrooms.
FoodBrasserie Orange; V Bar. Osten Square cafe-bar in the sister GlasHaus Hotel.
LeisureNo gym, spa or pool.
Hidden extras?None.
HighlightsView of a new town in the making. Handy for the Adelaide and Meath Hospital. Free parking for residents from 5pm to 11 am.