The Top 27 Hotels Near Square
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A five-room guesthouse in the County Down hills where the beds are handmade and dressed in silk cashmere, and dinner is candlelit with produce from the property's own walled kitchen garden. The couple behind it met in Swiss finance, which explains the combination of Irish hospitality and very precise attention to detail. Small enough that you'll probably end up chatting with the owners, which, in this case, is a genuine draw.
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The Mountains of Mourne rise right outside the windows, which is reason enough to book a room at this grand Victorian hotel on the County Down coast. It has been around forever, and a recent renovation refreshed the lobby and guest rooms without stripping the old bones. Four restaurants keep you fed without venturing out, though the golf courses and coastal walks will pull you outside regardless.
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A thousand countryside acres in County Monaghan, a family that traces itself back to Attila the Hun, and the oldest plumbed bath in Ireland: Castle Leslie Estate sets its stall out early. The castle rooms skip the minibar and the telly on purpose, nudging you toward the Blue Room's lake views instead. The Lodge runs more contemporary but still has roll-top tubs. Horses, gardens, a spa, and a quiet library keep the weekend full.
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The old locomotive workshop is now a carriage house of guest rooms, which tells you everything about how this family-owned boutique hotel came to be. Set in the Boyne Valley village of Kilmessan, it's under an hour from Dublin and works equally well for a city escape or a longer stay. The main house keeps its period bones while the interiors lean into contemporary country-house comfort, and the Signal Restaurant pulls ingredients from the valley on most nights.
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Four Georgian townhouses, knocked through and turned into a luxury hotel on Merrion Street, which means the rooms feel like rooms rather than hotel rooms. Fresh flowers on the tables, art on every wall, and a fireplace doing actual work. The Forbes Four Star rating sits quietly on the shelf. The Irish government buildings are next door, so the neighborhood has a certain gravity to it, and the hotel leans into that without getting stiff about it.
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A hotel tucked just off Grafton Street, The Westbury sits at the seam of Dublin's shopping and arts quarters, which means you're never far from anything. The lobby floral arrangements come from local suppliers, the martini at The Sidecar is shaken tableside, and afternoon tea in The Gallery tends to riff on whatever Dublin is doing at the moment. It wears the city rather than just existing in it.
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One of the original copies of the Irish Constitution lives in a suite here, which tells you most of what you need to know about The Shelbourne's place in Dublin life. This grande dame hotel on St Stephen's Green has been around forever, all marble floors, chandelier light, and rooms overlooking the park. The Horseshoe Bar, a 1957 Sam Stephenson design of brass and low ceilings, is worth the visit on its own.
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A Palladian mansion set on 1,100 acres of Kildare parkland, Carton House is a Fairmont-managed country house hotel where the original library has been converted entirely into a whiskey room, which tells you something about the priorities here. Staterooms come with William Morris-style wallpapers and gold-upholstered beds; the newer wing runs more contemporary. A Michelin-starred restaurant, a gastropub, and a wine room round out the estate.
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A luxury boutique hotel sitting right next to the Grand Opera House, with a stately facade that gives little away. Inside, the rooms go dark and moody, then cut the gloom with sharp yellows and greens, a pragmatic move given Belfast's weather. Rain showers, deep soaking tubs, and proper entertainment systems keep things feeling indulgent. The restaurant leans on Northern Irish produce and keeps the tone easy. Exactly where you'd want to land if style is non-negotiable.
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Northern Ireland's first "hometel" sits on Queen Street, splitting the difference between a serviced apartment and a city hotel across 175 rooms. The 24-hour room policy means you get the full day, not the usual noon-or-never panic. Kitchenette studios, blackout Sleepwell rooms, and family lofts with bunk beds cover most situations. Winnie's café and bar draws locals in every evening with live music, which keeps the place from feeling like a transit lounge.
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Two Victorian warehouses in the heart of Belfast, converted into a 64-room boutique hotel that leans hard into dark, candlelit atmosphere: black velvet, porthole windows, and a brasserie where the tables are hidden behind solid partitions so you can actually talk. The rooms run to rich reds and brown leather, nothing avant-garde, just very comfortable beds and generous rain showers. The Samson suite throws in a billiard table, presumably for the mornings.
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A listed Victorian landmark in the center of Belfast, the Merchant is a boutique hotel that went full opulent rather than the wry-furniture-and-exposed-brick route its peers can't resist. Classic interiors, everything sparkling underneath the grandeur. The Great Room handles formal dining, the Cloth Ear runs pub-casual, and Bert's Jazz Bar accounts for at least one late night you hadn't planned on. Location is as central as Belfast gets.
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The lobby here was a bank vault once, and the columns and vaulted cellar bar make sure you don't forget it. Three joined 19th-century buildings opposite Trinity College now form a sleek modern hotel, with rooms that keep the compact footprint of the original architecture but hide all the expected comforts underneath. Rooms facing the college have the better view, and Temple Bar is close enough to visit but far enough to sleep through.
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Exposed brick and original period features run through this Docklands hotel, so the building has something to say before you even check in. Rooms pair heritage details with modern comforts, and Lotti's handles Irish food and cocktails on the ground floor. The bigger draw is the postcode: you're on the Northside, close to Capel Street's independent shops and galleries, in the part of Dublin that doesn't feel like it's performing for tourists.
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Archaeologists pulled Viking feast pits and medieval coins from this site before the Hoxton could break ground, which sets a certain tone. It's a design hotel on Exchequer Street, close enough to Dublin's nightlife that the front door functions as a starting gun. Rooms run rust and moss green on navy, graded from snug upward. The first-floor Library Bar, back after years away, does oysters and martinis under restored plasterwork.
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The building itself stops you: a geometric mass designed by Portuguese architect Aires Mateus to echo coastal rock formations eroding over time, which means the lobby, Dublin's largest, feels more cave than corridor. This luxury hotel in the Docklands has sleek rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows and marble soaking tubs, an enclosed rooftop bar with Irish Sea views that works year-round, and a spa with an infinity pool sensibly sheltered from the Dublin sky.
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A rock garden runs the full length of the ground-floor windows, with Dublin Castle's old brick wall just beyond, which sets the tone for this calm, design-conscious hotel off Aungier Street. Connemara marble and brushed gold carry through the common areas, each floor has a commissioned artwork, and rooms come with herringbone floors and automated curtains. The basement sauna, steam room, and whirlpool are complimentary, which at city-center prices is a genuine differentiator.
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The art deco detailing inside this 128-room hotel on Stephen's Street Lower nods to 1920s Dublin without becoming a costume. Warm lighting, geometric accents, and genuine old-city bones put it a short walk from Trinity and St Stephen's Green. The ground-floor bar, Bartley's, draws enough locals off the street to suggest the hotel isn't leaning on captive guests to keep the lights on, always a reassuring sign.
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A hotel on Fenian Street that splits the difference between Georgian grandeur and design-forward cool, with contemporary Irish art on the walls and rooms that lean boutique without pretending to be a hostel. It sits in that quiet pocket between Merrion Square and Trinity College, close to everything without feeling like it. The Carriage restaurant, the Secret Garden terrace bar, and the Steam Café have all built their own local followings.
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The neoclassical facade on Merrion Square stops people mid-stride: columns, carved stonework, a grand dome, all of it Georgian and unapologetic. Inside this city hotel, a Swarovski chandelier fills the atrium and upper rooms look out over rooftops. The National Gallery is three minutes away, and Sweny's Pharmacy from Ulysses is directly across the road, which is either a perk or a trivia trap depending on your company.
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The Harland & Wolff Drawing Offices, where the Titanic was actually designed, sat derelict for decades before becoming a hotel. Three-story barrel-vaulted ceilings set an extraordinary scale, and the bar is lined with Villeroy & Boch tiles identical to those in the ship's first-class bathrooms. Rooms run to Art Deco furniture and nautical detailing. Guests who read every caption will find plenty to read.
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Floor-to-ceiling color greets you at this contemporary hotel on St. Stephen's Green, designed in collaboration with Conran and Partners and since refreshed without retreating to the safe beige most luxury properties favor. Rooms run generous, and the all-day lounge holds its own against the fine-dining room downstairs. The Green itself is a short walk to everywhere Dublin considers central, which is a harder thing to find than it sounds.
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A nine-room hotel inside one of the Georgian townhouses that line the northern edge of St Stephen's Green, where the cast iron staircase and deep cornicing have been left alone and bold floral wallpaper fills the gaps. The Michelin Guide has it in their selected hotels. Downstairs there's a Japanese restaurant and a basement wine bar, but the room to book is the suite with the marble bath and fireplace looking straight onto the Green.
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A Damien Hirst hanging by reception sets the tone at this 55-room Ballsbridge boutique, where the design runs to Dalmatian-spotted carpets and mid-century shapes offset by work from over eighty Irish artists. Jean-Georges Vongerichten runs a rooftop restaurant upstairs, and The Collins Club handles cocktails below. Service is informal but attentive, and the Rico Suite is essentially a private apartment with Merrion Square at the end of the street.
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A hotel on the corner of St Stephen's Green, with Grafton Street a five-minute walk and the Iveagh Gardens practically outside the door. A recent refurbishment brought sage tones, blush pink walls, and terrazzo bathrooms into the mix. The atrium between the old townhouse and the modern extension is worth an hour of anyone's afternoon, and the cocktail bar, Pen and Player, runs a drinks program that holds its own against the city's independent bars, which for a hotel is saying something.