Dublin hotel recommendations

[Charlottapannacotta]

As the title says , pls can anyone recommend a hotel for me and my teen for 2 nights whistlestop tour. Well really not be there much as want to get out and about a lot. Any recommendations of quirky stuff to do too would be brilliant please.

Epic museum,
little museum of Dublin and then have a picnic in Stephens Green
Above all.get a photo with Phil Lynott statue outside Bruxelles
Alternative Dublin tour guides,
Catch a show in Bord Gais theatre (my fav place in Dublin),
if the sun is shining get a seat outside in Grogans and drink pints,
Ago to a trad music set in the Cobblestone
Eat a delicious meal in Darwins.

Have fun and get a photo with Phil Lynott. Ps i would rather eat glass than go to rapey mcgregors pub.

www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/travel/dublin-budget-travel.html?smid=url-share

Ooh brill let me have a read

The Wellington, temple bar. Lovely modern rooms. Our room over looked the river. Only a minutes walk into the main bars area (still nice to look at even if not using them). Pizza express almost next door to hotel, might be useful with a hungry teenager! Have fun!

Theres reviews for hostel rooms in there bit really mixed reviews so am keen to see where people have stated that they would recommend. The itinerary ideas are marvellous in that article so thanks @Chicaontour

We stayed in a family room at the Clayton Hotel John Rogerson Quay, me and 2 teen daughters in a triple room. It’s near the Bord Gais theatre, has some outdoor eateries, and is close enough to walk into town (Trinity, St Stephen’s Green, museums) but on the far side from the Guinness museum so had to cab to there). We got the dart out to Malahide one day from there too.

I’ve also heard good things about the Dean Hotel which is more central, a few colleagues/friends have stayed. Have fun

We stayed in the Grafton hotel which was lovely and really central - we could walk to everything from there

I live in Dublin. Avoid the hostels like the plague! Trying to remember the name of a newish hotel that my friend stayed in recently will update when it comes to me (brain fog). It was quite reasonable too.

@Hollyhobbi. Brain fog and a bit of ADHD here has me spiralling in whirl of indecision and panic. Booking flights with Ryan air isn’t for the faint hearted either

Riu plaza the grensham - it was lovely!

I think others had a better budget than me. Can’t quite stretch to £200 a night. Has anyone stayed at the Maldron ? Merriom square ?

If you're thinking of hostel or budget type accomodation, we stayed in the University halls, which were fine, in fact excellent for the money, found on booking.com. Hotels in Dublin seemed very expensive

If you haven't booked your flights, check to see if there are any major gigs on in the Bord Gais Theatre and/or the 3 Arena etc before you do. The hotel prices rocket if anything big is on in town!

Even allowing for that, hotels are v. expensive but no more than any other capital city really if you want to be central. Have a look at the Premier Inn and Staycity apartments. North of the Liffey can be a bit dodge at nighttime, so I'd stick to South of the river if at all possible. Try to be within walking distance of DART (local suburban) train or LUAS.

Buy a LEAP visitor card in the airport on arrival for cheap travel on all modes for a few days. Taxis are plentiful on Uber, Free Now, or Tap a Taxi. But not at busy times obv! There's an express bus from the airport to downtown, Dublin Express (via the tunnel, very quick), or Aircoach which serves city centre and some suburbs.

Ask away if you want any more info.

@maftan flights booked sadly so I need to find somewhere. It’s just hard not knowing the areas. I’ll look on the map now and try to find something !

If you choose a selection, name the street/area and I'll be able to say if it's dodge or ok. Even in dodgy areas as long as you're not falling home drunk at 2am they are not the worst either, lots of people stay there too and the city centre is never empty. Look at Camden Street/Harcourt Street. Close to the action and near public transport.

I'm originally from Dublin - and I bloody love the place!

We stayed at the StayCity Apparthotel on St Augustine St at Easter. 2 adults, 2 teens, 2 nights. Really good place to stay, walkable to everywhere central.

Stayed here with my teen OP, basic but lovely, clean, quirky, little bar downstairs, staff couldn’t do enough, right on the Luas line and was budget friendly when we stayed

https://www.hendrickdublin.ie/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=1729002843&gbraid=0AAAAAC00uamNt_wlwqWVlUu-QCl_8VUJv&gclid=CjwKCAjwn4vQBhBsEiwAq3hhN0rAUKvNkigCUdXM7wxPDQ9EFmzBLpWa7M1MMlegKezWcOOef5eLzRoCk4wQAvD_BwE

We stayed in one of these rooms and the bunk was a novelty for my teen! 😅

Oooh, I’ve also stayed in a Wetherspoons a number of times for work, was just there again recently. Clean, huge bathroom and the building is gorgeous, centrally located and budget friendly as well:

https://hotels.jdwetherspoon.com/hotels/keavans-port/

Do you mean the Maldron on Merrion Road @Charlottapannacotta?
It’s about 1.5 kilometres from Merrion Square.
It’s a really nice area and there are buses into the centre and it is near the Dart station with trains into the centre and beyond.

The Marlin.

Yes! Fgs do NOT STAY IN THE MALDRON PARNELL SQUARE! I hated it. The neighbourhood turns from cool to sketchy on the turn of a corner (depressing sights - 11 month pregnant woman smoking in her dressing gown outside the maternity hospital, and the burned out massage parlour opposite the hotel). Hotel itself is noisy and full of tourists groups. Cheap for a reason. Also not too expensive - the trinity hotel opposite trinity college (fantastic location, we had huge room) or the NYX Christchurch which had the nicest room of the three by a country mile. I got a great opodo deal for that. (Otherwise if you have money, of the smart hotels I like the merrion and the westbury. The marker if you’re going to a show in docklands)

stay south of the Liffey. Portobello / Camden / liberties are a bit more fun areas (there’s an Nyx portobello).

You you said merrion square! It might be less horrible but is there really a Maldron on merrion square?

Merrion Road? That's a lovely part of Dublin. A bit out of the centre but good transport - and very handy for visiting the south Dublin coast, which is the best part, I think.

I know the hotel from the outside but I don't know what it's like to stay in.

Thanks all will keep looking. The maldron was Pearce street one