Month: June 2010

Dealing with emotional eating

Emotional eating is often referred to as stress eating and over eating in general. Regardless of what it is called, it is a common problem in today’s society. Technically, it would be considered a type of eating disorder in the sense that the person that is emotionally eating is using food as a crutch to deal with their problems.

I am an emotional eater. I use it as an escape when things don’t go my way or to celebrate when I am on top of the world. If I get a promotion at work, I grab a snack cake. If I am having a bad day, I grab two snack cakes. I eat because it is available and rarely just because I am hungry. Actually, many of the times that I have turned to food for comfort, I have not been hungry at all.

Of course we all need food for survival but it is when that line is crossed that a problem begins. When food is used for something other than sustenance or a means to nourish the body, it is defeating the purpose. Yet, because there are a lot of foods out there it is often hard for many people not to reach for something to eat to help them cope.

There are a variety of reasons that people use for emotional eating. They may do it because it is available or because they are bored. They may stress eat because they are in pain or searching for a temporary solution for their broken spirit. Perhaps they are even overeating to avoid a craving for something else.

Emotional eating acts as a cushion. It provides comfort when bad things happen. It is a way for the people eating to deal with their problems and pacify themselves. In truth, it is just a far too convenient method.

Emotional or stress eating may falsely solve one problem but it brings a multitude of other problems to deal with. If a person stress eats, they are probably not taking time to read labels and make healthy choices. They are likely to gain weight and could even develop health issues. In the end, a temporary fix such as emotional eating just isn’t worth it.

Once a person gets used to stress eating, they often do it without giving it a second thought. Dealing with stress eating is very important. If a person gets too used to emotional eating, the outcome may not always be a desirable one. People can become addicted to food but no matter how delicious it tastes, very few people would want to make the world record book as fattest emotional eater.

The first step to get past this lack of impulse control is to work towards pinpointing the actual problem. If you are able

Understanding and Commissioning a Virtual Tour – a Beginner’s Guide

A virtual tour is a complete 360-degree view of a space. The user can feel as if they’re standing within a space, and then can control their movement within the area. They can look up above them, at the floor below them, and all around. Users are also able to zoom in and out, giving them the ability to focus in on areas of interest. Each virtual tour is usually made up from a number of photographs which are ‘stitched’ together

Where are they used?
One of the most familiar applications of virtual tours is by estate agents. These virtual tours tend to be small scale, and low-quality, as price is the biggest issue.

High-resolution virtual tours that can be viewed at full screen are the best option for any organisation for whom quality is important. A hotel group will use virtual tours to show the potential clients the quality of the rooms. Other examples of potential virtual tour customers include conference centres, museums, hospitals, car manufacturers, football clubs, universities, architects and property developers – all of whom benefit by showing off their space to its best advantage.

What extra features can a virtual tour have?
You can use the virtual tours in many different ways on your site, depending on how you’d like to display them. Virtual tours can be linked to a floorplan, so that users can feel orientated and choose how and where to move within a space. This is particularly useful for architects or property developers. Eye Revolution have created an example of this type for The Edison bar and lounge.

A Google Maps interface enables users to see virtual tours that are geographically removed from each other – a large number of virtual tours can all be linked via a map. Britannia Vista offers an excellent example of this type of implementation.

Many virtual tour providers will also be able to integrate hotspots – special links within a virtual tour. You may even want to include an audio script, a soundtrack or even some video in your virtual tours.

Talk to the virtual tour companies about the project, and they will be able to suggest interfaces that may be appropriate for you.

What’s the advantage of a virtual tour on your website?
A virtual tour which is relevant to the viewer can help both build a brand and sell a product. So in the case of an architect’s website, where part of their portfolio is available to be toured, the viewer is able to see the quality of the architect’s work, choose where they’d like to focus on (rather than being dependent on the ‘right’ stills being provided) and then zoom in and see the small details. This gives the company a big advantage over their competitors as potential clients get a better insight into the product on offer.

How should I choose a virtual tour provider?
The good news is that there’s a lot of choice out there. The bad news is that there are some very poor providers too. The best bet is to make a shortlist of virtual tour providers and then have a very thorough look through their portfolios. Look for ‘stitching errors’ – places where the photographs that make up the tour don’t line up properly. Look for clarity – are the lines clear and sharp, or fuzzy, pixellated or indistinct? Can you see odd colours which don’t look ‘right’, particularly on edges of objects in the tours. Check for over-exposure – so can you see through windows, or are they all white and hazy? Can you look around a full 360-degrees, or are the ceilings and floors blocked off?

If you’re looking for a high quality virtual tour, it’s vital that your providers are good photographers. If they’re poor photographers, nothing will make your virtual tour look as good as it should.

So, going through their portfolio to make sure that you’re happy with the quality of their virtual tour work and that they’ve got a good range of clients and experience is vital to the success of your virtual tour project.

Is it expensive?
This depends on the type of project that you’re commissioning. Talk to the providers you’ve shortlisted, describe your project in as much detail as possible and ask them to quote. A ‘menu’ of prices (where you can see the cost per virtual tour, rather than the total cost for 10 virtual tours) is often useful, as it enables you to compare like with like.

The important thing to note is that the old adage still applies – if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys! Good virtual tour providers will be investing in new equipment, training and software on an ongoing basis. They will also be expert in retouching, and can use their skills to ensure your tours look as good as they can. This investment means that you get the best possible end result, and as you’re going to live with it on your website – possibly for a number of years – you want to make sure that the virtual tours are perfect. If you’re being offered a deal that seems to good to be true, again, look back carefully at the portfolio and assess the quality again.

How do I get it on my website?
Your virtual tour provider will provide you with files which can be uploaded to your site, or they can be hosted on your virtual tour provider’s server. They will be able to liaise with your web designer to ensure the smooth delivery and upload of the virtual tours.

There are several plugins through which people can view virtual tours (for example, Flash, QuickTime, Java, Shockwave and OpenGL). Flash’s high penetration (97% in developed markets) tends to make it the main choice, however, providers will be able to discuss the best options with you.

So finally…
Good virtual tours that stand the test of time and enhance your site visitors’ experience will be likely to increase sales, will encourage people to return, and may over time increase the traffic to your website.

New South Wales: Finding the Perfect Accommodation for Your Travels

If you are planning a trip to New South Wales, including to the vibrant city of Sydney, you will want to make sure that you do book and reserve the most appropriate New South Wales accommodation to meet your travel and holiday needs.  In this regard, this article has been prepared to assist you in finding the most appropriate New South Wales accommodation to satisfy your every desire while you are on holiday in Australia.  Included within the information presented to you in this article are pointers about finding a perfect Sydney accommodation to meet your holiday objectives completely.

 

Of course, if you are like the vast majority of holiday travelers today you are interested in finding ways in which you can save at least some money on your New South Wales accommodation options.  With this in mind, you need to appreciate that in the 21st century the Internet and World Wide Web is becoming the resource of choice for travelers who desire to save money on their trips.

 

In regard to finding the most cost effective New South Wales accommodation or Sydney accommodation there are a number of reputable and well established discount travel websites that you will want to consider patronizing.  Through these websites you will be able to find a wide selection of different types of New South Wales accommodation options as well as localized Sydney accommodation options, all available to you at most affordable prices.

 

If you want to enjoy a New South Wales and Sydney holiday with your family, you likely want to find the most affordable New South Wales accommodation and Sydney accommodation options that cater to families on holiday.  In this regard, there really is a nice selection of different New South Wales accommodation options that are geared towards traveling families.

 

In this regard not only are these New South Wales accommodation options for families (as well as Sydney accommodation options that are developed for families on holiday) affordable but they also offer an interesting array of amenities.  These amenities are designed to appeal to different members of a family who is traveling through this part of Australia on holiday.

 

Finally, if you are interested in heading to New South Wales on a romantic holiday with your significant other, this can be an absolutely ideal choice for you.  There are some perfect New South Wales accommodation choices for a couple on a romantic holiday.  The same holds true when it comes to what is available in the way of Sydney accommodation options for a couple on a romantic travel experience.

 

When all is said and done, there simply is so much to offer when it comes to New South Wales and Sydney holiday travel.  From idyllic New South Wales accommodation options and amazing attractions that are available to you, it becomes an understatement to say that a holiday trip to New South Wales and to Sydney can be a once in a lifetime experience for you, your family or for your significant other.

Vertical Search Engine on Restaurants

Vertical search sites have long since stopped trying to compete with Google and are focusing instead on trying to be a niche destination site. Vertical search is a specialized search in the Internet search industry with search engines that focus on specific businesses. In a generic search engine, users would have to rely on complex keyword combinations to dig into the most relevant results. Vertical search engines send their spiders out to a highly refined database and their indexes contain information about a specific topic, say for example restaurants.

A restaurant search engine reaches out to a focused audience, who are out there looking for a fine dining guide. They are the new key to find good restaurants. When users search for restaurants in their neighborhoods, the listings displayed to them contain detailed restaurant information such as reviews, ratings, cuisine type, menu, signature dish, decor description, hours of operation, price ranges, discounts and more.

People write on blogs and review sites about the restaurants they visited and restaurant search engines like BooRah have an algorithm that captures this wisdom of crowds to bring it back to users. BooRah’s semantic scoring engine analyses what people have written and generates specific scores for food, service and ambiance from user sentiments. Restaurant search engines capture the community vibe and social essence of existing online groups, and compare these results to an individual’s search criteria; thereby delivering unsurpassed relevance with the broadest community reach. They provide a fine dining guide that acts like a one-stop shop for diners. They deliver pertinent information gathered from over a million online restaurant reviews & provide a restaurant guide for food, service and ambiance, all in the same place.

The vertical search engines are more of ultimate personalized review guides featuring detailed restaurants ratings, menus, photographs, discount restaurant gift certificates and coupons, keyword searches and other relevant restaurant information (like online restaurant reservations) compiled from hundreds of sources on the Internet. Users can find professional and user reviews available from other Web sites. The search features allow users to search by name, cuisine or location. They also provide addresses, hours, driving directions, maps, etc. for all local restaurants.

The use of Natural Language Processing technology generates quantitative scores for domain specific attributes from plain English text and automatically summarizes the most relevant user sentiment and enables a highly customizable search based on personal preferences. The search engine automatically summarizes a collection of online reviews from bloggers, professional critics and consumers, and allows consumers to search restaurants based on their personal preferences. This technology in vertical search engines is especially a handy tool for the metros, where people have exhaustive number of restaurants to choose from.

The growing search engine technology is also helping local business owners track their reviews and reputation online, and capitalize on the growing trend of user-generated restaurant recommendations. The new search engines are also powering newspaper sites with local restaurant reviews (with their automated natural-language based approach to summarize user generated content). All these technological advancements are surely making the search for restaurants a quick, easy and effective process.

How to get the travel bug

I don’t believe you can ‘get’ the travel bug. It’s one of those things that we are born with and whether or not you’ve discovered it, once you have it, you’ve got it for life.

So the question really should be: How to discover the inner travel bug? How do we uncover that little secret spot in our hearts that wants to get out of our comfort zone and start traveling?

To answer the question we should first understand what a travel bug is. The travel bug really is the desire to travel. To discover the travel bug is like opening up a whole new world. When we are presented with our first opportunity to travel and experience different cultures and people, it will naturally tap into our curious nature and the inner desire to want to travel more.

Want to get to know your inner travel bug?

The first obvious answer is to travel. Preferably travel to somewhere completely different to your background and culture. Try South East Asia or South America, where there are rich and colorful cultures completely different to what they call the ‘western norm’. Experience how they live, what they eat and the many stories that goes with their traditions and festivities and let your curiosity boom.

Look at everything. Speak to different people. Meet your fellow traveler and when you return home, share your experience with your family and friends.

The desire will come, when you have settled back in your daily life and realizing that you thirst for more.

Or, if you are still waiting to save up for your first trip, then start reading and looking at photos of various locations. The travel section of bookshops are great. Go and spend an afternoon flipping through several books on different countries and photography books, soak in the beauty of this world and start day dreaming: Where would I like to go? The more you read and learn, the more desire you’ll have to want to visit these places.

The more you travel, the more likely you’ll uncover that inner travel bug; the stronger the bug, the more you’ll want to travel. Let your travel bug grow by becoming more adventurous and daring; seek out your most desired destinations and go for it; seek out the odd locations off the beaten path; learn more about the cultures, speak to the people; the more you learn and hear, the more your travel bug will grow.

Once your travel bug has matured, it’ll make you want to travel everywhere, even to the most remote parts of your own country, where many of us fail to realize, are the best travel destinations and a chance for all of us to learn more about where we come from.

And if by the end of all this, you still haven’t got the travel bug and feel like you are being forced to travel, perhaps you are one of those who simply weren’t born with the bug. There is no need to compete for the travel bug, so in this case, simply sit back and enjoy life the way you want it to be.

Flight Last Minute Tickets – Compromises You Might Have To Make

It is not impossible to get any flight last minute tickets, but you might have to make some compromises to avail of them. If you have not been thoughtful enough to book early on, or if some circumstances have created an urgent travel for you, then you might need to rely on last minute tickets. It is a fact that it makes better sense to book tickets in advance.

There are many advantages of such prior bookings. First and foremost, you can get flights and seats of your choice. You will be able to land at a time chosen by you, and not by the airline, since the choice of flight will be in your hands. And, most importantly, you will be able to buy at the listed rate of the tickets.

However, it should not be assumed that by getting your flight last minute tickets, you will have to pay any more than you would normally be paying. In fact, there are ways in which you can save money by your last minute flight tickets also. But, it is also a fact that you might not actually get what you are looking for.

Firstly, you might not get seats and flights of your preference. With the flight last minute tickets, you will have to settle with the flights that are available and you will not get to make a choice for yourself. Certainly, you will also not be able to get the seats of your choice, since they are given on a priority basis to the early bookers. In short, you will be saddled with what the airlines gives you.

Then, there could be other things to put up with. At the last moment, all the popular flights will be full. So, you will find it very difficult to get daytime flights. Even weekend flights will be difficult to get. This is a major problem with flight last minute tickets. Mostly, you will get a flight on a weekday when everyone is too busy to travel, or at an unearthly hour of the day, when the whole city you land in will be asleep and you will find it difficult to get transport up to your point of accommodation.

A more serious compensation with flight last minute tickets is that you might not be flown to the airport of your choice. Since flights to these airports will be booked in advance, you might have to land at some obscure airport a little behind your destination. There could also be difficulty in getting a direct flight, and you might have to put up with a connecting flight. That means, your compensation for last minute flight booking could be wasting time in connecting flights.

However, it should be noted that it is possible to fly at the last minute if you really need that. And it is not necessary to pay through the nose either – you can save money if you know how to do it in the right way. But you might not get the usual luxury when you get such flight last minute tickets. That is a compensation you might have to put up with.

Car rental- the most affordable medium of transport in Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City that is also abbreviated as S.L.C or in shortened form is known as Salt Lake is the city in State of Utah in the United States has maximum number of population. Sometimes, city is exaggerated pronounced as Great Salt Lake City.

Salt Lake City at average height of 4,327 feet is situated in the northwest corner of the Salt Lake Valley surrounded by Great Salt Lake to the northwest and Wasatch and Qquirrh mountain ranges on the eastern and western borders. In the valleys of these mountains are many volcanically and glacially developed canyons.

The emergence of the Salt Lake City as a metropolitan city is credited to the mining booms and the development of the first transcontinental railroad that led to spurt of economic activities in the Salt Lake Region. The city as due to impressive economic growth later on became famous as Crossroads of the West. As for tourism industry, the Salt Lake City is known for recreational activities like skiing and biking and hosted 2002 winter Olympics.

There are many places of public interest in Salt Lake City which people would find place of great public interest and entertainment. Public library of Salt like city is one such place of Architectural excellence. Temple Square, Museum of Church History and Art, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Clark Planetarium are other great places of reverence and public interest.

So being a center of economic activity and with a number of tourist centers located here Salt Lake City is visited by million of tourists ever year. If you are planning to visit Salt Lake City you can reach there by the help of any of the available public mode of transport, however, the million dollar question is that how you will visit different parts of the city or the designated spots as scheduled in minutes of your official meeting.

After reaching the city you can depend on any of choose any mode of public transport from buses, taxis, metro rail and other available mean. However, all these talked about mode of transport have their certain limitation in carrying you to the designated spot. Taxis are very expensive, if you hire them to travel for a day or two whereas public transport hardly carries you to the country side close to the city where a close relative of yours reside.

In such a situation car rental in Salt Lake City is a very affordable medium that can carry you out to all the desired spots of your choice and opinion, at whatever location of the city you might have to travel through. There are many ways you can book car on rent in Salt Lake City. You can have car rental as discount or service from your flier or it can be booked from a car rental service providing website online. However, not be very prompt in making any decision while buying car rental online, buy car rental only after comparing the rates of car renting agencies and only decide upon in favor of best one appropriate to your budget and range.

Should restaurants be required to list calories and fat grams on their menus?

Sanitation and employee infectious disease requirements should be the only things mandated by law.

Why take business, especially small family owned restaurants on a consistently longer financial ride? All we really do is run small businesses out of business and allow the larger corporations to increase charges and lower food quality.


What do I mean about running small businesses out of business? I am personally familiar with a small restaurant located on the third floor of an old building. The State Legislature passed a law requiring all businesses to be accessible for the handicapped. As the old building had no elevators and the small restaurant could not afford to install one, good-bye business.

I, myself, am disabled. However, there is no glee in watching a business close so my healthy neighbor cannot climb the stairs to enjoy a restaurant.

If you think that the Alfredo sauce in that corporate restaurant does not come out of a package for mixing with water, you might want to think twice. If you ask your food server, they probably will not have a clue.

In a small family owned restaurant, you can pretty well bet your cream, butter and garlic they know what is in the food.

Should we create a new law to go with the many others we have? Let us go with a listing of calories, fat grams, and maybe later a full list of ingredients and amounts of those ingredients.

Maybe a list of the cleaning agents used and with what soaps what employees shower?

Do you think that sounds ridiculous? It is, and so is this constant push for legally mandating what and what not restaurants must or cannot do.

If it is best for his business to include any specific information on their menu, that should be the restaurant owners prerogative. A full list of food temperatures and ingredients, a separate low calorie low fat menu section, or simply daily special’. French fries are fattening. Anyone who does not know this should avoid restaurants.

If a restaurant considers it good business to include a low fat, low calorie section on their menu, that should be up to them.

Sure restaurants should have certain responsibilities. However, those responsibilities should be limited to current civil suits, not new laws demanded by irresponsible peoples.

If my child is allergic to peanut products, it should be my responsibility to notify the food server. I should be the restaurants responsibility that the serve know the food ingredients. If that server allows us to order a hamburger with ‘special sauce’ for the child and that sauce turns out to (oddly) contain peanut butter. That restaurant should be responsible in a civil court for damages.

Why is the restaurant responsible because their coffee happens to be hotter than from the average restaurant? Common sense alone would tell me that any hot coffee would scald me if I spill it upon myself. Good Grief, hot means what it says, hot. We have gone way to far, demanding businesses be responsible for what we ourselves should know.

How many grams of fat are in an ounce of lettuce? How many calories in an average hot fudge sundae? If I care about it, I will become informed myself. Not make the restaurant responsible to inform me.

We have gone too far already in blaming others for what should be our own responsibility.

Mandating that restaurants list calories and fat grams on their menus is simply a lack of accepting personal responsibility.

Battling an Eating Disorder: When Bulimia Becomes a True American Idol Sized Problem

In a People Magazine article, American Idol contestant, Katherine McPhee disclosed that she has secretly suffered from bulimia for the past five years. It was her success in television’s American Idol competition that inspired her to come forward and get help to recover from her life-threatening eating disorder. Katherine, a vocalist who at her worst point was self-inducing vomiting up to seven times a day, claimed that she realized her bulimic behaviors were “equivalent to taking a sledgehammer to her throat” and brought herself to treatment.

Glamorizing Eating Disorder Illnesses? Or Becoming an Invaluable Role Model?

Some may think when celebrities like Katherine come forward with such problems it only “glamorizes” the illness and encourages dysfunction in impressionable young people. In reality, some impressionable youngsters may respond by engaging in self-destructive experimentation, but for the most part, the responses of people like Katherine McPhee provide invaluable role modeling for fans.

Though statistics show that 1 percent of young females in this country suffer with bulimia, the numbers most likely do not reflect the enormity of the problem, as bulimia is among the most frequently missed diagnoses, and only a minority of people with eating disorders, especially with bulimia nervosa, are treated in mental healthcare. A problem cannot be solved until it is defined. In coming forward as she has, McPhee has displayed the courage and intention to achieve her dreams, to become proactive in making her life as healthy, gratified and fulfilled as it can be. Despite the widely held misconception that “once eating disordered, always eating disordered,” eating disorders are fully curable in 80 percent of cases where recognized early and treated effectively. In her forthright and courageous stand, this American Idol contestant has become a true American idol.

Uncovering the Secrets of Bulimia Nervosa and Anorexia Nervosa: The Most Lethal Mental Health Disorders

The most lethal of all the metal health disorders, bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa are extremely hard to recognize. Highly secretive diseases, they rarely show up in doctors’ offices during physical or functional assessments; even laboratory tests do not show evidence of eating disorders until they are in their most advanced stages. By their nature counterintuitive, eating disorders typically give victims a pseudo-sense of power and control, creating the illusion of feeling and becoming “better than ever.” In actual fact, certain stages of recovery feel more precarious and painful than does the disease itself. Making matters even more confusing, many of the symptoms of these lethal disorders lay somewhere along the continuum of normal human behaviors. Who doesn’t overeat, under-eat or engage in emotional or social eating at times?

Eating disorders, which essentially represent an abuse of food in an effort to resolve emotional problems, transcend a dysfunctional relationship with food to represent the tip of a physical, emotional, cognitive, behavioral and social iceberg, with early signs of clinical eating disorders typically evident in diverse life spheres.

8 signs that parents and families may see at home, around the dinner table, in the family bathroom, or the child’s bedroom:

• Erratic eating, eating too much or too little, too frequently or too seldom.

• Dieting and other restrictive eating behaviors (in some instances vegetarianism or skipping meals) that can result in extreme hunger and gorging, irregular menstrual periods.
• Fear of putting on weight, with an all-encompassing preoccupation with food and eating that can account for as much as 80 percent of an individual’s thoughts
• Hiding food, and feeling shame and guilt after eating it. The refusal to eat in the company of others.
• Depressive moods
• Various forms of purging, including self-induced vomiting, excessive exercising, laxative, diuretic, or Ipecac abuse
• Disappearances into the bathroom during or following meals
• Impulsive, immoderate and out of control behaviors beyond the realm of eating, that might include shop lifting, promiscuity, cutting, engaging in chaotic relationships, abuse of substances such as drugs, alcohol, nicotine, diet pills, etc.

There is nothing passive about eating disorders. Always on the move, they are either getting better or you can be certain they are getting worse. Eating disorder recovery can be a long-term process, requiring input from a diverse team of professionals including physicians, psychotherapists, family therapists, nutritionists, psycho pharmacologists and school counselors. The course of recovery will be as variable, must be as comprehensive, and in many ways will feel as convoluted as the course of disease, typically combining outpatient and inpatient treatment milieus and diverse treatment modes. Victims of eating disorders, as young as age 5 or as old as 60, male or female, individuals alone or living within the context of a supportive or not so supportive family system need help to recognize, accept and conquer these diseases…to become capable of reclaiming their lives, proactively, with steadfast commitment… to fight the good fight for life and life quality.

Dublin Airport Hotels Guide

If you just can’t face that long journey to the airport before your flight we?ve a number of hotels that you might be interested in staying in, and with 30 hotels in and around the airport there?s sure to be one that?ll suit your taste and budget!

On site Dublin Airport hotels…

To get your holiday off to the perfect start stay in one of the hotels located in the Dublin Airport complex?
The plush 4 star Clarion Hotel is conveniently located within the Dublin airport complex. The hotel has everything you could want from an airport hotel including restaurants, bars, conference and banqueting facilities and a complimentary pass to nearby ALSAA Leisure Centre, as well as a 24 hour complimentary shuttle bus to and from the airport terminal.

The other hotel to be found within the complex is the 4 star Radisson SAS Dublin Airport Hotel. It?s a very elegant hotel especially designed to meet the needs of the modern day traveller with a ‘Grab & Go’ breakfast served from 5.30am, an Express Check Out service and a complimentary shuttle service to and from the airport terminals.

Dublin hotels near the Airport?

If you don’t want to be based in the airport complex then take a look at some of the following hotels.

The 4 star Carlton Hotel is probably the nearest offsite airport hotel. It’s located on the Old Airport Road, just a short drive from the airport. This new hotel is the height of luxury boasting a rooftop restaurant where guests can view the planes landing and taking off on the runway.

Another stylish hotel very close to the airport is the Tulip Inn Hotel, which is located next to the Airside Retail Park. It offers a shuttle service to and from the airport and if you’re driving, it’s good to know that the hotel has easy access to the M50 and M1 motorways.

Other luxury hotels close by the airport include the Crowne Plaza Hotel and the Hilton Hotel which are both around a 10 minute drive from Dublin Airport.

Hotels like the Bewleys Hotel, the Travelodge Hotel, the Ballymun Plaza Hotel and the Carnegie Court Hotel are all within a 20 minute drive from the airport.

Dublin hotels between the airport and city…
If you’d like your hotel to be between the airport and the city then we recommend you check into the 3 star Regency Hotel or the 3 star Dublin Skylon Hotel which are both located in Drumcondra ? a suburb between the city and airport. These hotels are really handy for a city break in Dublin, and Drumcondra has excellent public transport connections with both the airport and city.

Other Dublin hotels convenient to the airport…
You can also choose peace and relaxation in wonderful surroundings when you stay at the following Dublin hotels.

The 3 star Finnstown Country House Hotel is a superb mansion located on 45 acres of matured grounds and gardens. It’s about a 20 minute drive to the airport from here via the M50. Or maybe you’d like to base yourself at the 3 star White Sand’s Hotel in Portmarnock ? a fantastic hotel overlooking the sea yet it’s just about a 15 minute drive from the airport.

If it’s golf you’re after then check out the 4 star Portmarnock Hotel, the 3 star Deer Park Hotel in Howth or the 4 star Roganstown Hotel in Swords which all come with superb facilities and their own adjoining golf courses. These hotels are located about a 20 minute drive from Dublin Airport.

For something a bit extra special why not book yourself a room at the exclusive 4 star Clontarf Castle Hotel. This historic castle was built around 1172 and inside its thick castle walls you’ll find a world where ancient history meets modern day luxury. The castle has a unique setting secluded in the beautiful area of Clontarf just about 8km from Dublin International Airport.

We’ve also got some good budget hotels within easy reach of the airport. The 2 star Baily Hotel is located in Howth and is about a 15 minute drive from the airport. The Lucan Spa is another 2 star hotel and is located in Lucan about a 20 minute drive from the airport. The 2 star Hawthorn Hotel located in Swords village is the perfect accommodation if you need something comfortable, clean and convenient to the airport as this hotel is about a 5 minute drive away.

Dublin International Airport is about 9km from the city centre and it’s easy to get there with the Aircoach bus service. This bus line stops at all the major hotels in Dublin. The blue Aircoach buses can be spotted outside the arrivals terminals and depart regularly 24 hours a day. It costs ?12 return and ?7 one-way.

Taxis are always available outside the arrivals hall to bring you directly to your hotel, which is a great option if you’ve got some heavy luggage.

Of course, you could always rent a car (which is highly recommended if you’re touring further than Dublin city). Check out our sister website Novacarhire.com and get yourself a quote now!

Book Dublin hotels or Dublin city hotels now for your visit to Dublin.

Mairead Foley writes for Ireland travel website http://www.GoIreland.com