This immaculately designed and run hotel in the heart of Dublin is one of the most elegant and stylish new five-stars in Europe — a visual riot where art and design take centre stage.
Guest floor walls are decorated with geometric patterned wallpaper and lined with artworks from more than 80 Irish artists and photographers, including original, commissioned and limited-edition pieces. On the top floor the lift doors open to reveal an intricate oak parquet floor, which must have taken weeks to assemble. An equally beautiful floor is found in The Collins Club.
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Even the Jean-Georges restaurant’s chinaware has been carefully selected, with beautifully glazed sky-blue cups and mugs for breakfast coffee and tea, and gracefully patterned formal plates and bowls for lunch and dinner.
If the creatives behind The Leinster wanted to ensure their hotel stood out from the crowd they have succeeded. So if art and design are your things, you are going to love every inch of it. Most of all, the hotel’s design makes it fun and as much the destination as Dublin itself.
Middle East Traveller checked into a Corner room at The Leinster.
The Arrival
I checked in late in the evening and with no delay. Just 10 steps away was The Collins Club, where the staff shook me a Passion Fruit 0% mocktail with rose non-alcoholic spirit, sparkling zero chardonnay, vanilla cordial and passion fruit sorbet – perfect after a day spent airport-hopping through Europe.
While my suitcase was being whisked up to my room, I indulged in a plate of mouthwatering beetroot, walnut, pomegranate and handmade goat cheese from St Tola, just south of the Burren and Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Geopark on Ireland’s west coast.
The Room
The Leinster has 55 rooms spread over four floors. Standard rooms are a cosy 16sqm, Superior rooms a little larger at 20sqm, Corner rooms are 23sqm and there are three accessible Studios (different sizes). I had a Corner room which was filled with light and had window seats and great views down Mount Street Lower.
All rooms in these three categories, regardless of size, include the hotel’s signature design statement: a dramatic oversized bedhead embroidered with red, green and violet flowers, all intertwining like an everlasting vision of spring and summer.
My Corner room also had tasselled bedside lamps, a faux-Victorian telephone, a bright scarlet velvet sofa and matching chair, and cushions decorated with fantastical forest scenes including elaborate trees, orange snakes and mythical green leopards.
A mirror-topped cabinet held the minibar, which had a good selection of local produce, including alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks – who knew they made rum in Ireland – while the bathroom and shower walls were lined with deep emerald tiles.
There is not a huge amount of storage space for hanging clothes and there is no in-room safe (reception can provide one on demand) but it’s hard to mind too much about these things when you’re in such a beautiful and fun room.
If you’re travelling with kids, the Studios connect to smaller Bunk rooms, which have bunk beds and are perfect for the little ones. Finally, if you’re after the ultimate romantic break in Dublin, book the 40sqm Rico Suite, with its peach-coloured velvet sofa, pine-green chairs, cute dining table and balcony.
The Service
There was a lively international crowd working at The Leinster all of whom spoke good English and were eager to please. Where the service really shone was up in the rooftop restaurant, Jean-Georges.
The smartly suited staff from Spain, Portugal, Ireland and elsewhere were faultless at breakfast: they remembered orders without making notes (including dietary concerns) and delivered everything with 100% accuracy and speed.
More noticeable than the efficiency, however, was their attitude: they were friendly, upbeat, happy. It was a great way to start the day.
The Activities
The Leinster is in the heart of Georgian Dublin, characterised by elegant terraces of buildings. Just around the corner is Merrion Square, which has been home to many famous Irish writers, artists and activists over the years. Not least among these was Oscar Wilde, who lived on the corner of Merrion Square North and Merrion Street Lower in what is now a museum dedicated to his life and work.
The National Gallery of Ireland, National Museum of Ireland and the office of the Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) are just off the square too. If you’re keen to experience the ‘craic’ of a genuine Irish pub then Doheny & Nesbitt’s on Baggot Street Lower is a good bet and only a 10-minute walk from the hotel: good food and great live music most nights.
If shopping and café culture are more your things, head for Wicklow Street (a must-try is Parisian cakeshop Ladurée on the corner with William Street) and Drury Street where the wonderful Irish Design Store has locally made gifts. The hotel itself has a well-equipped gym and spa facilities including a sauna and steam room.
The Restaurants and Bars
The Leinster has two dining options: Jean-Georges restaurant on the rooftop and The Collins Club on the ground floor. The restaurant is a partnership with French Michelin-starred chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten who has eateries across the globe, including Curiosa in Doha and L’Italien and L’Asiatique in Marrakech.
I had just flown in from two weeks in the South of France and instantly felt at home, as if Jean-Georges had been modelled on a Niçoise bistro. Sunlight poured in through large windows, sending prisms of refracted light through the wine glasses hanging above the marble-topped bar.
Along one glass wall were round tables and horseshoe banquettes separated by the gnarly trunks of live olive trees sitting in vast blue-green glazed pots. On the other side of the room were private, diner-style booths.
I had hoped the breakfast menu might be slightly more imaginative but the granola with fresh berries was at least super-healthy and the eggs royale with smoked salmon, crispy potatoes, tomato and basil was delicious.
Also, as a tea fanatic, I can’t remember tasting such aromatic Earl Grey anywhere and shamelessly ordered a second pot. They source it from Dublin store Wall&Keogh.
My evening meal began with a truly knock-out Jean-Georges signature dish: egg toast with caviar and herbs. The spice-crusted Castletown scallops with celeriac and wasabi were incredible but I couldn’t help mixing and matching it with the ginger marinade on the tuna tartare, which was out of this world.
These were followed by stonebass with carrots, lemon-leek emulsion and smoked Ballymakenny potatoes, grown about half an hour north of Dublin. I’ve never been a dessert fan but the perfectly balanced explosion of flavours in the citrus pavlova with blood orange sorbet showed me the error of my ways.
I just had space for a nightcap and headed to The Collins Club off the lobby. It is a cross between an elegant tea-room and a 1920s speakeasy. Velvet chairs and marble-top tables inhabit the space, along with green ferns, a jet-black piano, tropical paintings and a pink neon ‘Cha Cha’ sign over the serving hatch. As mentioned earlier, don’t check out without trying the St Tola goat cheese, beetroot, walnut and pomegranate dish.
Why Stay?
The Leinster is a unique hotel with stunning design elements and fabulous food but it’s also something new and unusual for Dublin. It’s an oasis of Provençal glamour and chic plus a touch of whimsy in the middle of this sometimes grey northern city.
The Essentials
- Rates: Rooms start at €328 (US$357) per night, including taxes and breakfast.
- Phone number: +353 1 233 6000
- Website: theleinster.ie
- Address: 7 Mount Street Lower, Dublin 2, D02 WK33, Ireland
