Central Hotel

Central Hotel review Rate it

This comfortable, 187-year-old hotel is unique in that it's a prime piece of real estate (right off Dame Street near Temple Bar) that the designers haven't yet got their hands on. This, you can't help but think, is how all hotels here used to look: floral fabrics and busy carpet patterns everywhere, the furniture likely to have battered edges - and a real sense of quirky independence.

The spacious rooms are a bit tired (and somebody renovate those bathrooms, please), but they have wonderful architectural touches and big, old sash windows. The cosy Library Bar is a haven of civility with its leather armchairs, blazing fires, wood panelling and books: it's the thinking Dubliner's trendy hangout. The restaurant is attractive and particularly pleasant early in the morning, when light streams through its huge windows.