Busy spring for Tallaght Hotel

It has been busy period for Plaza Hotel - we refurbished more rooms so now our Guests have 2 options of their stay: in standard or executive rooms.
We have new promotion in place - Guest of the Week.
Every week we pick one random guest who is upgraded to our executive room with all extras for free.
We also have special rates for our facebook Fans so please join our page www.facebook.com/Plaza.Tallaght to get a secret code!

June looks very busy too, with a lot of events like Westlife Concert on the 22nd and 23rd in Croke Park and Aslan Concert in Tallaght Stadium on the 30th. Not many rooms left!

We will also have some CELEBRITIES staying at the Plaza soon...check our blog for updates!

JLS After Party at Playhouse Nightclub

Playhouse Nightclub has a real treat for their fans: the well-know boysband JLS will have their After Party at the nightclub on the 9th of April, straight after the concert in O2.

The band became popular after coming second on X-Factor, defeated by Alexandra Burke. Following their success, JLS signed a record contract with Epic Records in 2009.

Since then they have released 3 albums with such hits like "Beat again" and "Everybody in Love", and gained numerous awards.

Plaza Hotel invites everybody who would like to stay overnight after the party. We have a special offer: single room for 60 € and double room for 80 €, including VIP tickets to the After PArty.

St. Patrick's Day

Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, was probably from Wales, France or Scotland.

He was born about AD 385 in a small village. When he was 16, a group of Irish marauders attacked the village and captured young men to be sold as slaves. Patrick spend 6 years of his slavery in co Antrim, working as a sheepherder. Escaping Ireland and slavery, he spent some time studying at a monastery in Gaul.

After becoming a priest, Patrick desired to go back to Ireland and convert pagans to Christianity., but his superiors chose St Palladius to do this job. Patrick had to wait 2 years and got his chance when St Palladius was transferred to Scotland. 

He travelled throughout Ireland, founding monasteries, schools and churches.  There are a lot of legend about him, like the one that used the three leaves of a shamrock to explain the Christian holy trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He also banished snakes from Ireland.

After 30 years of missionary work, he retired to Saul in Co Down where he died  on March 17^th, about the year 461.

That day has been commemorated as St. Patrick's Day ever since.

The largest of all worldwide St Patrick’s Day parades is the one in New York. It began in 1962 as a proud display of Irish heritage.  

Although there is no parade in Tallaght, South Dublin County Council will host a St. Patrick's Day Celebration in Tallaght Stadium on Saturday 17th March 2012 commencing at 6pm . There will be fun for all the family face painting, balloon modelling, Irish Dancers, Marching Bands, Kick Boxing displays and much more, finishing with a spectacular firework display at 7pm

Our guests can easily get to the city centre with Luas to take part in many interesting events, watch the parade and of course to have a pint :)

Leap Year

Ladies, be prepared for the 29th of February!

That day you can propose to your boyfriend and he should not refuse ;)
This tradition known as "Ladies Priviledge" has its origins in the Irish legend. St Bridget kept asking St Patrick to allow women the right to propose.
He refused but finally agreed to give this privledge to women once every 4 years.

The tradition was taken to Scotland by Irish monks and in 1288 it became a law.

The law also stated that any man who declined the proposal in a leap year would have to pay a fine.

In the USA  some people refer to February 29th as Sadie Hawkins Day with women having the right to run after unmarried men to propose.

Just in case we advise all unmarried men to stay at home ;)

 

You might like to visit our facebook page www.facebook.com/PlazaTallaght to take part in the Leap Year competition which will be announced soon.

Valentine's Day

Valentine’s day is getting closer and closer.  Whether you like it or not, shops will be taken over by teddy-bears, red hearts, chocolate boxes and roses.  

The origin of this day is very romantic and goes back to the Roman Empire.

Claudius the Emperor forbid marriages because he thought that married men would refuse to go to war (but we think that some might have been happy to do so ;) However a catholic bishop Valentine decided to secretly marry couples, and he soon ended up in prison.  He was sentenced to death and while waiting he fell in love with the jailer’s daughter. They were exchanging letters and the last one, sent to her before his execution, was signed: from your Valentine.

Valentine’s day became popular in the 1700’s when craftsmen started to produce special cards made of ribbon, satin and lace. They were quite expensive until one clever American woman, Ms Esther Howland, started her own Valentine’s business producing the cards for 1 cent only.

St Valentine’s Day is not that widely celebrated like it is in America. According to some surveys over 15% of American single women will send flowers to themselves just to pretend that they have a boyfriend.  More than 9 million pet owners are going to buy Valentine’s gifts for their pets.  Also over $1 billion worth of chocolate will be purchased.

14^th of February is also one of the most popular days to get engaged (after Christmas). Good luck then and we wish you all a lot of love J

Jack Vettriano "Dancing to the end of love"

Congratulations to Dublin Zoo

Congratulations to Dublin ZOO which attracted over 1 million visitors in 2011.

Among the new attractions last year was the opening of the Gorilla Rainforest which became highly popular.

The Zoo welcomed 42 new “arrivals” including a giraffe calf, a baby hippo, two red panda cubs and two baby gorillas.

The director, Mr Oosterweghel says:

“Over past two decades, Dublin Zoo has transformed into a worldclass centre of learning about wildlife and conservation that immerses its visitors in a truly unforgettable experience.”

You might not know that:

-          The Zoo was opened on 1.09.1831, the animals were donated by London Zoo

-          President of the USA, Ulisses Grant (after leaving office) was among the celebrities who came to see Dublin's world-famous lions in the 19th century

-          On 17 June 1903 an elephant named Sita killed her keeper while he nursed her injured foot

-          During the First World War the situation in the zoo was very bad. Meat ran out during the Easter Rising of 1916. In order to keep the lions and tigers  alive, some of the other animals in the zoo were killed

-          Slats (1917-1928) was the first lion  used as a mascot for the Hollywood film studio Metro Goldwyn –Mayer

It is very easy to get to the Zoo from our hotel – simply take Luas and get off at Heuston Station, from where you can have a short walk to the Phenix Park.

Happy New Year!

Dear Bloggers,

We wish you all the best in New Year 2012, thank you for reading our blog, joining our facebook page and for your visits in the Plaza Hotel.

We have a lot of plans for next year so keep in touch with us, and for now - just HAVE FUN TONIGHT :)