This place is perfect for many different types of break. Unlike what other people have said, it is very convenient to the airport. You can get a bus, costing €1.60 from the airport to within 1km of the university. There's also a shopping centre located at the bus stop, with clothes shops and supermarket. It's easy to walk to the city, it's less than an hour, or there's bus stops just 400m away, where there are a choice of 8 different routes that will take you into the city in less than 30 mins, for €1.60

The accommodation is fine, clean and sparsely furnished. You need to bring your own kitchen stuff, or you can get breakfast in the restaurant. 4 different accommodations available, Larkfield has huge single bedrooms, with a tiny kitchen and miniature bathroom, Hampstead has singles and double, a common living area and ensuites, and College Pk and the postgrad residences are 4* standard.

Stayed in a room at DCU for 5 nights in August 09 while attending an international conference there. My room was part of an 'apartment' which consisted of a number of rooms off a corridor - bedrooms with ensuites plus a common room with kitchenette, dining table and chairs and some lounge furniture. This was a great setup for our group as we took up most of the bedrooms in the apartment and felt comfortable moving about. We had to ask for a kettle for the kitchen and the common room furniture was pretty spartan but it was ok for the occasional time we used it.
My bedroom had twin beds and was quite spacious with a small wardrobe, ample desk space and a nice ensuite bathroom. All was very clean and the towels were changed daily. A short walk to the dining room for breakfast - and the breakfast was excellent and good value.
It's a long way though into the city if you don't have a car, and if you do it can be hard to navigate to and from. Not much nearby that is open in the evenings really. We got cabs a couple of times which is fine but as everything in Dublin is expensive the cost of a taxi really adds to an expensive night out.
Our rooms were adjacent to the sports centre and we were keen to have a swim but learned it would cost each of us 10 Euros each time!! That's AU$20 !! Incredible...needless to say we decided not to swim. We did suggest they could offer a special deal to people attending the conference on campus (over 900) but they weren't interested.
There's a Spar grocery shop and a pharmacy and bank on campus - but not open late.
Staff at reception were very friendly and helpful and could usually help with any queries. There's a PC with free internet in the reception area. No wifi anywhere in the accomodation area.
All in all, a good place to stay for an on campus event but not if you want to spend most of your time in the city.

Don't bother staying here. This is a college dorm, and not a very good one. It is small, sparse, dirty, and in a horrible location. Dining facilities on campus typically close early, and there is no convenient dining option nearby. The room had a small bed, built in desk, and small bathroom with a very dirty shower. My stay was miserable.

My fist room was a bit out-dated room on street level and wasn’t cleaned after previous visitor. I changed the room because the young people made so much noise on the pedestrian street I couldn’t sleep. The second room was more modern and more spacious.

Breakfast was great, although it was a bit strangely organised. You had a voucher valued of 8,75 Euros and you had to calculate (in your head) what you may buy with it from the offered selection. You don’t get money back from the cashier, but you have to pay if 8,75 is exceeded. This system was really bad, people were arguing with the staff because they didn't understand the system and because they thought that the breakfast was included - without limits…

There are many language schools and summer camps going on at DCU in summertime, so there are lots of teen-agers who may cause noise outside apartments during the night. There is only one internet-pc in the whole area with limited usage of 15 minutes/person at time. So be prepared to stand in queue…

There is a small grocery shop on the campus, and you may heat food in the common kitchen. As a speciality, there is a swimming pool, spa and sauna on the campus. No TV or magazines to read. Far from city centre – 5 kms. No bus connection straight from the campus, you have to walk about 400 meters to bus (Ballymun Road), and even further (Swords Road) if you go to the airport.