9 Best Hotels in Merrion Square and Around, Dublin

The homemade preserves and oven-warm scones are reason enough to stay at this redbrick 1850 Victorian guesthouse, in one of Dublin's poshest tree-lined suburbs a 15-minute walk from St. Stephen's Green. Restored rooms in the main house are lovingly decorated with Georgian antiques, Victoriana, and period wallpaper and drapes. The 13 rooms at the back of the house are less luxurious, but all are immaculate. A Waterford-crystal chandelier hangs over the comfortable leather and mahogany furniture in the gracious, fireplace-warmed drawing room where afternoon tea is served.

Formerly a Victorian-era nurses' boardinghouse, then the dreary Hibernian Hotel, the Dylan, with a recent refurbishment of its previous vampy Victorian decor, has sharpened its style with a focus on contemporary Irish design rich in tones and textures that make this boutique property a more refined, opulent option. Bold colors and design choices in public areas and rooms are nicely balanced with calmer spaces and original details. The Ruby Room cocktail lounge features velvet walls, a bold palette of orange, red, and black, and silk lamps balanced with the original mahogany parquet flooring. The lighted exterior is especially enchanting at dusk and beckons you to enter, while the Edison restaurant's two terraces---one each at the front and back of the restaurant---encourage lingering. The Dylan Bar is a lively, prime people-watching spot.

Only a short distance from the city, this hotel nestled next to leafy Herbert Park and the doddering Dodder River feels pleasantly secluded—to maximize enjoyment, you'll want to secure a room overlooking the park, or go for one of the two suites with balconies. Relaxing shades of cream and white predominate in the spacious rooms, along with splashes of red. The hotel's large, light-filled lobby has floor-to-ceiling windows and a slanted glass roof. The bar, terrace lounge, and restaurant are Japanese-inspired minimalist in style.

Set within the show grounds of the Royal Dublin Society, this Victorian-Georgian hybrid—topped by gigantic eaves and a lovely cupola—has an impressive 4 acres of gardens; a big effort has been made to ensure that a bit of greenery can be seen from most rooms. It may look like the real McCoy but was in fact built during the boomtime excesses of the brash Celtic Tiger era. Once you enter the six-floor building, you see pre-20th-century design mixes luxuriously with modern glass and concrete and lends the place a warm touch. Guest rooms are spacious, with large windows that allow light to flood in. The lower-level antiques-adorned spa is one of the finest in the country, with a naturally lit lap pool.

Just a five-minute walk from St. Stephen's Green, this mid-19th-century terraced guesthouse, with its elegant white facade and cozy sitting-room fire, will welcome you home at the end of a long day's sightseeing. Some of the guest rooms are quite basic, in cream and beige, but they are all airy and bright, and the richly patterned wallpaper and carpets and orthopedic beds (rather rare in Dublin guesthouses) give them a touch of class.

Whether your lodging style is sublime Georgian elegance or cool modern, this one-in-a-million guesthouse, a short walk from St. Stephen's Green, serves up both—as well as the best made-to-order breakfast in town. Once the home of Sam Stephenson, Dublin's most highly controversial Modernist architect, the contemporary and Georgian houses that make up this B&B are connected via a small but beautiful garden. You'll feel right at home (if your home is supercool and comfy, that is) in the sunken living room, with its black-leather sectional sofa, roaring fireplace, and modern artwork, and you might never want to leave once ensconced in the period-style guest rooms, one of which (No. 21) has a ceiling lofty and corniced enough for a royal.

“Townhouse" does not do justice to the splendor of the place, but it does hint at the cozy, relaxed atmosphere of the Pembroke, a superb example of classic 18th-century grandeur. The fan-windowed front door leads into a stately reception area, complete with Grecian pillars. The bright, airy, high-ceiling rooms are all individually designed in a gentle clash of contemporary chic and Georgian symmetry. Nearly every wall bears a striking piece of contemporary Irish art. The hearty breakfast—including sautéed lamb's liver if desired—is served in the serene dining room.

Get a top-floor suite at this modernized Georgian town house just off St. Stephen's Green and lord it over the whole Southside. The suites, considerably larger than the average hotel room, include one or two bedrooms, a separate sitting room, a fully equipped kitchen, washing machine, and bath. You can request two single beds in one of the rooms, so this place is great for families.

Pardon the pun, but this converted Victorian parochial school just off the Grand Canal really is A-plus—set in a gorgeous example of 19th-century architecture complete with turrets and soaring nave (now the setting for the restaurant), this may be the most uniquely upcycled hotel in Ireland. The headliner here is the beautiful, light-filled former chapel, now home to the classy, modern-Irish Gastrobar complete with an iron-work chandelier. Guest rooms—each named for a famous Irish writer and hung with a corresponding portrait—are very old-school (again, excuse the pun) luxury, with thick rugs matching the quilted bedspreads, plus beautiful oak chairs and desks, and an array of historic edition wallpapers. Enjoy the in-room spa treatments to take the edge off after a hard day's shopping.