The Alex

Style

Co-working cool

Setting

Majestic Merrion Square

The Alex in Dublin has everything you want in a city hotel – fresh, contemporary design, a peerlessly convenient location, and all the ultra-fast WiFi you could ever need. Locals join guests at the mirror-backed bar and salad-specialist restaurant, while the tech-set mingles in the laptop-friendly lounge. Upstairs, you’ll find light-flooded rooms lined with original Irish artworks – style-cues are taken from the 1920s (think tan leather, green velvet and Edison light bulbs), mixed with sleek mid-century furniture and Anglepoise lamps. The storied Merrion Square is just around the corner, and cobblestone streets lead you through the capital’s core.

Facilities

Rooms

103, including five suites.

Checkout

Noon. Earliest check-in, 3pm.

More Details

Rates don’t include breakfast, but you can pig out on the full Irish buffet for €25 a person.

Also

The common areas are wheelchair-accessible.

Hotel Closed

The Alex is closed from 21 December until 26 December every year.

Fitness Center

Free Internet Access

Laundry

On-Site Restaurant

Room Service

At the Hotel

Gym, free WiFi. In rooms: Smart TV with Chromecast, Roberts radio, minibar, Paul Costelloe bath products, free bottled water, tea and coffee. Executive rooms and suites have a Nespresso coffee machine.

Our Favourite Rooms

Upgrade to an Executive King Room – it comes with extra space of course, and you can hang out in the Executive Lounge.

Spa

Gym bunnies and fit flexers, rejoice (or high five) – the Alex boasts a seriously high-spec gym and a mind-boggling array of equipment, weights, machines and accoutrements for the actively inclined.

Packing Tips

A copy of James Joyce’s Dubliners, and a notepad for your own stream of consciousness.

Children

All ages welcome. Travel cots with linen can be added to all rooms, and an extra bed for three to 16 year olds can be added to the Alex Suite and Junior Suite for €40 a night.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

Pick a burgundy velvet booth, which are well poised for people-watching and cosy enough for intimate conversation.

Dress Code

Handbags and gladrags for a night on the town, or Veja trainers to keep it casual.

Hotel Restaurant

The Carriage is the social hub of the hotel, where guests and locals gather in a light-flooded lounge lined with velvet booths and contemporary design. Salads are the stars of the menu – choose a combo of superfoods and ancient grains, then add extras including sun-dried tomato tapenade, panko tiger prawns and piri piri turkey. There’s a ‘Sambo Section’ of tapas, too, and a dessert menu rocking a homemade brownie with coconut sorbet and mixed berries. For a quick cuppa go to Steam, the ground-floor espresso bar brewing beans from Dublin’s own Cloud Picker Coffee Roasters.

Hotel Bar

The mirror-backed bar is loaded with local craft beers and artisan spirits – make your first cocktail the Alex, a gin-based house specialty shaken with basil, mint and elderflower liqueur.

Last Orders

The breakfast buffet is open from 7am until 10.30am, lunch is from noon until 3pm, and dinner is from 3pm until 10pm.

Room Service

Any time the restaurant is open, you can order anything from the menu to your room. After that, choose from a handful of hearty sandwiches.

Planes

You can fly into Dublin International from around the UK (it’s just over an hour from London), Europe and North America. The airport is 13km from the hotel; the journey takes around half an hour in a taxi.

Trains

The city tram runs right past the front door – follow the tracks to the nearest stop, just up the road. For longer journeys, Pearse station is a short walk from the hotel; from there, you can take the intercity service to Belfast (two hours and 40 minutes), or head down the coast to Bray (one hour) and Wexford (two and a half hours).

Automobiles

Hire a car from the airport if you’re planning to explore the rural riches of Emerald Isle. While you’re in Dublin, store it at the car park 100m from the hotel (€18 a day). There are also eight electric-vehicle charging points.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

At the hotel itself, head down to the espresso bar for a coffee and a sweet treat, hit the high-tech gym (it has every machine and accessory you can imagine… and a lot you didn't know existed) and refuel with a health-food salad at the restaurant. If you’re staying in an Executive Room or a suite, you’ve got access to the swish Executive Lounge, which has its own bar for snacks and drinks throughout the day – and don’t worry, there’s super-fast WiFi too.

Then head out into Dublin – you’re in the heart of the Georgian district. Browse the big-name shops along Grafton Street, then mooch around Merrion Square, the townhouse-fringed park that was once home to Oscar Wilde and W.B. Yeats among other distinguished Dubliners. On its western edge, you’ll find the National Gallery, filled with blockbuster baroque paintings, work by the Dutch masters, and finest collection of Irish art in the country. Trinity College is Ireland’s most prestigious university – and its cobblestone grounds make it a lovely spot for a stroll, or a picnic on the lawn. Don't forget to take a gander at the extraordinarily well-preserved, 9th-century Book of Kells. After all that roaming and romance, it’s only right to pop by the shrine of St. Valentine (at the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel), and pay your respects to the patron saint of lurve.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .