Whether you should stay here depends entirely on what you are looking for from a B&B in Ireland. There are many negative reviews on here, and I can see that they are justified; yes, the decor is not great verging on nasty in some areas (such as very faded and jaded curtains, and stained radiators etc), the TVs are not very good, there is not a 24-hour reception, and the food is not wonderful. It is relatively distant out of the city centre, though well served by buses, but as another warning there is very little around the area in terms of shops or pubs- it is a good 15/20-minute walk into Donnybrook for the nearest Spar shop and pub. So, if you want a nice place to stay, if you are planning to spend time in the B&B rather than be out all day rather using it mostly as a base to sleep and store your luggage, despite the low price I am not sure this is the place for you.

However, it is not the worst place I have ever stayed. In terms of comfort level, it rates for me just above a private/twin room in a hostel, so if you have ever stayed in one think a private hostel room with a TV and Ensuite. Lower standards than I would expect in the UK from a Travelodge or an Etap hotel. However, it is fantastically convenient for UCD, so if you are looking for somewhere to stay for a conference at the uni I can't recommend anywhere more suitable in a budget range.

So essentially, just be sure about what you want, and how much you are willing to pay and to put up with. I was expecting something dreadful because of the reviews and this has perhaps tempered any problems, because it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. Not glam, not sophisticated, not luxurious in the slightest- but cheap. Having visited in the summer I cannot comment on whether the building is warm enough during the winter, other reviews must rate this instead, but considering the disaster that I was expecting from the Lodge, it didn't seem that bad to me and my budget-self.

I traveled a lot all around Ireland in these years and I visited tens of B&B but let me say that the Donnybrook Lodge Guesthouse is absolutely the worst one. The room (in particular the room number 8) was in a terrible condition: it was quite dirty, it had very peeling paint, the dust was everywhere and the smell was disgusting. When I will be in Dublin again certainly I will avoid that place.

The service is so offhand and rude that I wonder if it is supposed to be some sort of joke. When you arrive, nobody is there. After ten minutes spent knocking on a door, you are told off for disturbing the staff. The rooms are filthy, the linens tired and worn and the TVs do not work. Breakfast is the wrong side of pathetic. The wrong credit card is charged the wrong amount without apology. Attempts to offer feedback to the manager are rudely deflected. I intend never to stay in this B&B again, and despite its bargain bucket prices, I would advise you not to consider it. You may consider €35-€40 value for money, but not for disgusting accommodation, vile food and derisory service.

We arrived around 7.30pm, having been called twice to know what time we would arrive: I said 7pm...and found it odd that he should have rung again just 30 minutes after our stated arrival time. The reason soon became clear, however; he left immediately after we went into our room! I had been under the impression that it was 24-hour reception, although I am not sure of this. (His contact number was there in case of emergency, which may be legal but seems extremely odd and defintely not satisfactory.)
We went into our room and took a minute to take stock of it- what I immediately noticed was the curtain hanging off the rail, the flimsy duvet covers (with no extra ones to be found- despite the freezing conditions outside), old-fashioned decor (which can of course be overlooked but with all these bad elements clocking up, it just adds to the depression of the B&B), the noise from both outside the door and outside on the road and finally, how COLD the room was!!! It was exceptionally cold that night, but that should have meant extra care was put into warming the room.
I went outside to enquire about the heating and if it would be on all night (although I suspect it would have made little difference- the heat was not efficient) . Noone to be found outside!! I rang the doorbell in a desperate attempt to get service. Two minutes later a woman from an adjoining 'house' (it seems the B&B has a living quarters separate, but which is linked by a locked door) came out explaining she only worked there one day a week and if I need assistance to call the man, and his number was on the door. I was shocked!! He had just run off once we arrived! Hence the pushy attitude to know our arrival time!
The only saving grace (!) was that I had brought my laptop and we had taken the Intermet code, so we looked up hotels on the Internet and left within 20 minutes.
I considered complaining to the man, but his quick disappearance did not inspire confidence in me, and certainly not in the fact that we might get refunded. We preferred to avoid any more unpleasant experiences for the night...this was a one-night, two-day trip- you do not want to spoil it with dealing with such situations.
This is a dire example of an Irish B&B (I am Irish and have only ever experienced positive stays in B&Bs here, albeit outside of Dublin). Please be assured that not all B&Bs are like this in Ireland, but do check out reviews on sites such as this one in advance of booking...some B&Bs are clearly only interested in making money.
Ironically, we had chosen to stay here in a simple B&B just for a simple break away, but we ended up paying for a hotel in addition to paying for the B&B. Overall, VERY disappointing.