It feels as if it's in a peaceful backwater, yet this splendid Victorian building is just yards from one of Dublin's busiest city centre roads.
Arrival at the gates of Dylan is an experience in itself, especially in the evening, when it is magically lit by old fashioned lamps outside the main entrance, where doormen greet you.
A modern wing sits comfortably with the original building and the lobby offers a foretaste of the edgy design beyond: leather padded walls, over-sized floral motifs and tactile wallpaper along with ultra-modern seating and creative lighting are just some of the quirky elements that create an atmosphere of decadent elegance.
The Dublin hotels edgy look continues in the individually designed bedrooms, which are fitted to a very high specification. Standard rooms are laptop compatible and include a plasma screen TV, MP3 players, safes, cordless phones with voicemail and speakerphone, customised 7th Heaven Beds, Frette linen, air conditioning, under floor heated bathrooms, power showers, robes & slippers, Etro toiletries, mini bar and twice daily housekeeping.
Even the most demanding international traveller would be hard pressed to complain at this five star boutique hotel.
Not suitable for children. Business centre, secretarial services, free broadband wi/fi. Rooms 44 (6 suites, 38 executive, 15 shower only, 1 disabled, all no smoking); Lift; 24hr room service. Room rate from €199. Lifts. Non-smoking hotel. Open all year except 25-26 Dec.
Dylan Restaurant
Smartly liveried staff and striking floral displays provide a warm welcome to this boutique hotel in its quiet leafy setting just off busy Baggot Street.
The bar and restaurant are set to one side of the marble reception hall, with diners enjoying a light glassed area adjoining a stylishly furnished and parasoled terrace, a summertime mecca for aperitifs, afternoon tea or the all day bar foods.
In the dining room, the distractingly modernist furnishings have been considerably toned down although the lavish chandeliers remain, now softened with white silk shades.
With the arrival of new chef, Richard Carmody, who brings a stated commitment to traceability, seasonality and high quality ingredients, this Dublin restaurants menu too has been revised, and there is an emphasis on slow cooking and comfort food.
The half-a-dozen starters and main courses reflect the popular choices one expects to find in a hotel dining room - fillet of beef, roast lamb, duck and chicken – while seafood offerings might include Atlantic cod or sea bream served with a seafood sausage and beurre blanc.
An appetising list of vegetarian main courses includes savoy cabbage stuffed with goats cheese, served with caramelised beetroot while a glazed shallot and mushroom tartlet with Mount Cal1an cheddar comes with a white bean and herb mash.
Prices here reflect those of Dublin's topline restaurants - starters €8-12, main courses €24- 32. Lunchtime menus offer good choices at €20 for two courses, €25 for three, although the bill can be considerably increased with extras of wine and coffees.
The cheerfully furnished bar area is attracting a good buzz of customers with an all-day menu as well as their specialty cocktails. Food is served in the setteed front lounge, at high stooled tables near the bar or in the surrounding cosy niches from 12 noon until 11 pm.
A wide ranging menu runs from classic seafood chowder, salads and a superior sandwich selection served with french fries, to heartier fare such as cod and chips with mushy peas or a homemade Irish Hcreford beef burger with chunky chips.
Vegetarians are catered for with Portobello mushrooms on toast with garlic butter and melted cheese or wild mushroom penne with pine nuts and shaved Gabriel cheese. Sharing platters are popular with the après-work crowd, with selections like a seafood platter featuring smoked salmon and mackerel, deep-fried calimari, prawns and crab claws with assorted dips and brown bread.
The Dylan claims to have Ireland's most extensive cocktail menu, ranging from classics like the dry martini and cosmopolitan to mixologists' fantasies of tobacco old fashioneds or smoky mapletinis.
Connoisseurs will find a wide selection of gins, vodkas and spirits, while a directory-sized wine list runs from well selected wines by the glass to venerable bottles for those with very deep pockets.
Restaurant: Seats 44 (private room, 12, outdoors, 20); air conditioning; L daily, 12.30-2.30pm, D daily 6-10.30pm ( to 11pm Thu-Sat); set 3 course L €38, also a la carte L&D. Average starter €21, main courses €35, desserts €15. Tasting Menu of 8 courses €110. House wine from €20.95. SC discretionary. Amex, Mastercard, Visa, Laser.
