What is it like to accidentally stay in the same Dublin hotel as Biden? Just ask Bob Odenkirk
You’re in town for vacation or work and are happy to see that your hotel has rolled out the red carpet.
It’s not until your bag has been scanned by the temporary x-ray machines that the truth emerges: you’ve been booked into the same hotel as the President of the United States while he visits Dublin.
That’s the experience of dozens of tourists staying at the city’s Conrad Hotel, and for actor Bob Odenkirk.
He said he had been afraid to get in and out with all the extra layers of security.
‘But it turned out okay. When I got here, it was a little worrying that I wouldn’t be able to come and go,” said the Better Call Saul star who is in town to promote his “Comedy, Comedy, Comedy, Drama” memoir.
Better Call Saul star Bob Odenkirk stayed at the same hotel as Joe Biden during the president’s trip to Dublin, Ireland. He expressed mild bewilderment at how it worked
Parts of Dublin were shut down as part of a massive security operation. In honor of the US president, Dublin Castle was closed ahead of Thursday night’s banquet
“Everyone has been very nice to me. It helps a lot that you recognized because it just cuts things in half.”
He paused for effect.
“They know who I am,” he continued, “which means I can’t steal the soap here.”
Biden arrived in Dublin on Wednesday and spent Thursday on official duties. He will leave Friday to visit relatives in Co. Mayo before returning to the US
It means a major security operation is underway around the city, closing roads as his motorcade passes.
Most onlookers can’t get close to President Joe Biden. But for those at his hotel, every presidential departure and return was a chance to see the motorcade up close.
“He’s coming, he’s coming,” said one visitor on a birthday weekend away from the UK. “Let’s go see.”
Odenkirk said he took it all to heart. He had known that Biden would be in Dublin during his own visit. Just maybe not that close to him.
Odenkirk posed with visitors from Britain, Claire Spong (l) and Lindsey Rees-Thomas (r), who were equally baffled that they were staying at Biden’s hotel
Odenkirk in the final season of the hit TV show Better Call Saul
Biden always travels with a big security detail. Here The Beast, his armored limousine, is seen at Leinster House addressing members of the Irish Parliament
“I knew he was coming, of course,” he said. ‘I didn’t know he was coming to this hotel. I wonder if they knew when they put me here.’
He added that it had been a pleasure to see Biden charm the Irish people, even if he had not always been a fan.
“He just seemed like a lifelong politician, which seems to be a negative point in our modern judgment,” he said. “But it turns out to be a great skill if you’re going to be president or politician.”
He left across the street for an interview.
Some of the guests expressed their wild excitement at getting so close to the world’s most protected leader.
“With all the bodyguards coming and going, it’s like being in a movie,” says Claire Spong, 49, from the UK who was in Dublin for the weekend to celebrate her boyfriend’s 50th birthday.
Biden arrives Thursday afternoon to address a joint session of Ireland’s parliament
Biden received a warm welcome from Irish MPs for his speech and managed to make amends for the rugby blunder the day before when he dubbed the New Zealand team the ‘Black and Tans’.
Others expressed similar mild bewilderment to Odenkirk about how they ended up in the same hotel as Biden.
Valentina Iusco, 17, said she had been messaging friends back home in Chicago with updates.
“A lot of people wonder how we are at the hotel,” she said as she waited for her dinner in the hotel bar. “Like how did we get here? Because they don’t know we’ve already booked it.’
The bar filled with young, burly men in suits complete with White House pins on their lapels.
Biden was away from the state banquet in the evening, allowing a brief break for some staff.
Julie Shelley, 55, said it would have been nice to see Biden come and go in his armored car, the Beast, or to see Secretary of State Antony Blinken stroll through the lobby.
She’ll have to come back another time, she joked, to see Dublin.
“It entertained us,” she said. “We are more interested in what happens in the hotel. We’ll have to come back to see Dublin without the barricades.’