Luxury hotel is a hidden gem in city famous for its hospitality

Scottish Sun

2 days ago

You can fit a lot into a short trip to the city with a stay at The Leinster
DUBLIN DOWN Luxury hotel is a hidden gem in city famous for its hospitality
YOU can fit a hell of a lot of Dublin into 36 hours.
Learn to pour a pint of Guinness and get the certificate to prove it. Make your own jewellery over a glass of prosecco.
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Bridge over the River Liffey, Dublin
Credit: Getty - Contributor
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The Leinster has lovely rooms, a fabulous restaurant and cracking cocktail bar
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It also has hi-tech loos
Stroll around St Stephen's Green checking out the pavement artists, window shop on Grafton Street serenaded by a festival of buskers.
There's a mass of museums and libraries and churches to ogle, a castle to explore, endless green spaces to stroll around and sunbathe in, gigs to see, statues to selfie with.
Or, alternatively, you could stay in your room and be captivated by your new favourite toy. An electronic toilet.
This was my dilemma on a flying visit to The Leinster, a wonderful, welcoming hotel in the heart of the Irish capital's Georgian district.
Because trust me, for all there's a spectacular restaurant on the roof, a top-notch gym in the basement and a stunning cocktail bar in between, you really could get so hooked on this this piece of lavatorial magnificence that next thing half your weekend's disappeared down the U-bend of time.
No? Is it just me? Surely not
THIRTY SIX HOURS IN DUBLIN
GO: DUBLIN
For the best rate on rooms at the 4* The Leinster see theleinster.ie
Actually, I'd judge anyone who DIDN'T get excited, when their first step into a bathroom automatically made the loo's lid swish up, especially when they then spied a remote control on the wall that pre-heats the seat, freshens you up with a little scoosh of water, then wafts warm air to gently dry off one's nether regions.
However, let's be honest here. That judgement wouldn't be half as harsh as the one meted out on the visitor who DID sit there all weekend, rather than wringing every bit of enjoyment out of a hotel that is a gem of an addition to one of my favourite cities on earth.
From the moment East Kilbride-born general manager Melanie Nocher met us at the front door with smiles and hugs on a sunny Friday morning, it felt like home.
Ten minutes later, ordering breakfast in that rooftop Jean-Georges restaurant (with Ireland's deputy prime minister Simon Harris, no less, having his poached eggs at the next table) the feeling of relaxation was all-consuming.
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Beautiful interiors of the Jean-Georges restaurant
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Lively Grafton Street in Dublin
Credit: Getty
And so began a stay that was all too brief but oh so much fun.
I love walking in Dublin, so after exploring the room – and, yes, faffing fascinatedly with the lavvy for half an hour – it was off along Fitzwilliam Street, Merrion Square, St Stephen's and down to Grafton, resisting the magnetic temptation of O'Donaghues and Foley's and Bruxelles and so many bars besides in the knowledge that on my return we'd be heading to the Temple Of Stout.
First time I went to the Guinness Storehouse, twenty-odd years back, it was pretty much just a working brewery you could tour then get a fresh pint from before leaving.
Now, it's this multi-storeyed, multi-coloured, snaking-queued, interactive theme park with two panoramic bars on its roof, a full afternoon out from which we re-emerged into the sunlight clutching proof of our ability to create a masterpiece of the Black Stuff (though, trivia buffs, it's technically ruby red) and just enough of a taste to want some more.
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Guinness storehouse Dublin
Credit: Alamy
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The Collins Club at the Leinster
Cue a visit to The Leinster's pride and joy…The Collins Club.
Named in tribute to Dublin-born architect David Collins, it's a classy, relaxed bar and diner, drenched in crimson light, with the grand piano tinkling by day and a DJ on the decks into the small hours.
It's also where they have some unique and bafflingly scientific takes on preparing cocktails; let's just say the movie wouldn't so much star Tom Cruise as Professor Brian Cox.
A couple of quite extraordinarily good Negronis later, we were back on the rooftop for dinner à la Jean-George, an experience excellent enough for the food alone.
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Bill and pals dine outdoors at the rooftop restaurant at The Leinster
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Gorgeous food at hotel's Jean- Georges Rooftop Restaurant
My octopus starter followed by paccheri pasta with meatballs were outstanding – but one which goes to a whole new level on an evening when the sun bleeds into the horizon beyond your table as if the maitre d' himself had ordered it.
Nightcap back in the Collins anyone? Don't mind if we do.
Next morning, after an hour on a bike in the gym followed by breakfast back on the roof, we went down to Silver Works, a craft studio where we did something I never thought would be added to my CV - we made our own rings!
Apart from the soldering, done by an in-house grown-up, you do the lot, from measuring your finger to cutting a strip of silver to fit, bending it into a C-shape, knocking it into something close to a circle ready for the ends to be welded together, then rinsing and cooling and hammering until it's the right size and you're ready to add a final pattern that makes you think "I might have a wee side hustle going here".
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The ring Bill made
There's a real joy in creating something you can keep forever, in doing something you never thought you'd be able to, a proper sense of achievement.
So much that you really do owe yourself a celebratory Guinness on the way back to base, followed by a cocktail or two in the Collins Club before uber-grudgingly jumping in a cab to the airport for the last flight home.
Though not before one last play with your very own robot toilet from the future.
Santa, if you're reading this…