Grand Canal Quay Penthouse
Grand Canal Quay Penthouse is a solid 4-star pick in Georgian Dublin (Merrion Square), Dublin City — comfortable rooms and a base that keeps central Georgian Dublin (Merrion Square) close.
Guests typically choose Georgian Dublin (Merrion Square) for its balance of location and price; Grand Canal Quay Penthouse is a good fit if you want to be near the action in Dublin City.
Because pricing is set live by the hotel and its suppliers, the figure shown here is a recent snapshot; check the current rate for your exact dates before booking.
Key facts
What’s included
Around Georgian Dublin (Merrion Square)
How many nights should you stay in Dublin City
Three nights is the right length for a first visit to Dublin City. That gives you one day for Trinity College, the Book of Kells and Dublin Castle, one for the Guinness Storehouse and Kilmainham Gaol, and one for Grafton Street, Merrion Square and the National Museum of Ireland — plus two evenings in Temple Bar or Smithfield. Two nights is enough if you are on a city break from Britain and only want the centre; five nights lets you add a day trip to Howth on the Dart or Glendalough by bus.
A sensible first-timer shape: arrive, walk O’Connell Street to the GPO and Trinity College, eat in the Liberties. Day two, book the Guinness Storehouse for 10am (€18.50 online), then Kilmainham Gaol in the afternoon (€8) and Smithfield for dinner. Day three, the National Gallery and Merrion Square, lunch on Grafton Street, and a evening in Temple Bar. Book the Gaol and the Storehouse online at least a week ahead in July and August — both sell out.
What accommodation actually costs in Dublin City
Budget rooms in Dublin City mean €80–€130 a night: a small double in a guesthouse in Rathmines or a bunk in a Smithfield hostel, usually with a shared bathroom and a 15–25 minute walk to the centre. Mid-range is €150–€230 and gets you a private room in a three- or four-star hotel in the Liberties, the Docklands or near O’Connell Street, with breakfast extra at €12–€18. Top-end is €280–€450 and buys a room at a five-star on Merrion Square or St Stephen’s Green, with a proper restaurant and a doorman.
Rates spike hardest on St Patrick’s weekend in March, when central doubles hit €350, and during the Dublin Horse Show in August and any Aviva Stadium concert — Taylor Swift fans pushed Ballsbridge rooms past €400 in 2024. New Year’s Eve on Temple Bar is another €300-plus night. Book six to eight weeks ahead for summer and you will pay nearer the lower end of each range; walk in on the day and you will pay the top.
The Dublin booking trap: Temple Bar is not the whole city
The trap is booking a hotel in Temple Bar because it is the only Dublin area you have heard of, then discovering that a pint there costs €7.50–€8.50 and the street outside your window is loud until 2.30am. Temple Bar is a 10-minute walk from Trinity College and Grafton Street, but so are the Liberties and Smithfield, where the same mid-range room costs €40–€60 less a night and the pubs on Meath Street or King Street North charge €5.50 a pint.
The area people wrongly skip is Georgian Dublin around Merrion Square and Fitzwilliam Square: it is quiet, has the National Gallery and the Little Museum of Dublin, and is 12 minutes on foot from Grafton Street. The season nobody expects is late September and October, when the Dublin Theatre Festival runs and the summer crowds have gone but the rain has not yet set in — hotel rates drop 20–30% from August while the city remains fully open.