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From Times Online

December 17, 2007

Dublin's best hotels

A design hotel with a saucy side, a guesthouse with a crackling grate and a restored grande dame

Guyan Mitra

From The Sunday Times Travel Magazine January, 2008, issue

The Shelbourne - ‘For Yeats, Princesses and rock stars’

Having rested on its laurels for the last 100 years, The Shelbourne Hotel emerged glamorously from a two-year renovation in March – as much to the excitement of Dubliners as to weekend tourists.

Since it opened in 1824, the hotel has been seen as a locals’ joint first and foremost, thanks to its excellent bars and key role in the city’s history and culture.

The drafting of the Irish Constitution took place in Room 112 in 1922, and, over the years, luminaries from WB Yeats to Bertie Ahern could be found propping up the oak-panelled Horseshoe Bar.

Regulars are relieved that little has been altered in the cosy Horseshoe, while the bright No. 27 Bar has attracted a fashionable new crowd for cocktail hour. Pop into the Saddle Room for dinner, however, and you might clock a Rolling Stone staggering out of the Oyster Bar.

Rooms are just as regal as when Princess Grace of Monaco stayed here back in the ’50s, but the makeover has brought in crisp Italian linens, marble bathrooms and flat-screen TVs.

The renovation has returned this grande dame back to her best, abuzz with class, prestige, and Dubliners drinking Guinness.

The Shelbourne Hotel (00 353 1 663 4500) has doubles from £210, room only.

The Dylan - ‘Indulge in a Kama Sutra massage oil’

If The Shelbourne represents the historic heart of Dublin, then The Dylan is the brazen face of new money. In a swish postcode (D4) where property prices are rivalled only by Mayfair and the Upper East Side, The Dylan elbows out the also-rans as Dublin’s latest design hotel.

Instead of the yawningly rolled-out minimalist look, The Dylan has opted for the opposite end of the design spectrum with a collage of inspirations – Georgian here, Asian there, and hints of Rococo everywhere.