N0318 White Sands Hotel

Tamangos! Where the gang goes!, said the ad that everyone living anywhere near Dublin the 90s and early 00s probably heard multiple times a day.

It was pretty much the norm for a hotel to have a nightclub in that era, and while nearly all of them are now gone (excepting on Harcourt Street, where most remain); Tamango - the s has gone missing - was one of the last ones standing. But it hasn't opened regularly since 2020; although it does open for specific performances, underage nights and fundraisers.

The hotel bar, however, is still very much open. I visited on a warm end-of-Summer/early Autumn evening, and sat outside as the bar was pretty close to full. With the nearly-local Hope on tap, this is definitely a nice place to spend a bit of time. It'd be even nicer if they could make the carpark vanish to improve the view, somehow

One of the nicer pint vistas in Dublin, but it does suffer a lot when you sit down and the carpark becomes your eyeline pic.twitter.com/6Am9dRJEii

— Cian Duffy (@cian_duffy) August 30, 2024

RetroReview: S0366 Johnnie Foxes

Dinner, a show, and an argument about whether this is actually the highest pub in Ireland. What more could anyone want?

This is somewhere else I attended due to work, but did actually imbibe (a half, as far as I remember) - shortly after some major yet careful refurbishments, which upgraded electrical and safety systems but left the pub looking almost identical to before, I did the tech ops for a breakfast show outside broadcast from here.

The pub is not the highest in Ireland, but uses the terms "famed as" or "reputed as" to make the statement seem like someone else's fault. It is, I am quite sure, the highest in Dublin and is also the furthest South in Dublin by a reasonable amount (I direct those who believe that Little Bray is still in Dublin to look at the 1898 boundary changes - The Coach Inn is in Wicklow)

It is twee, but if you stay away from the main show hall there are nice niches in the bar to bury yourself in, amongst the huge amount of greebling. My memory is that the food is quite good.

N0317 Grand Hotel Malahide

I entered this, well, Grand sized hotel through the door closest to the road entrance, which brought me in right beside a relatively small bar that appeared to have been dropped out of the 1980s - dark wood, dark carpets, chandeliers, and a limited range of drinks but with lots of fortified wines - a nice nostalgia trip.

But as I later found out, this is not the only bar in this hotel; and indeed might actually be intended to be the Residents Bar - the website describes it - the Griffon Bar - as being open for special occasions, or for residents at night. It was early evening and not a special occasion when I dropped in, so perhaps it opens when the hotel is busier too.

The Matt Ryan Bar is the main one in the hotel, which is rather more modern; but I'd made my tick before realising it existed.

RetroReview: S3221 Drury Court Hotel / Caribou (when PMacs)

Dark. Drippy candles. Monster Munch. 

You know what to expect in a Cassidys setup, but unfortunately there's now only two of them left; this not being one of them

You also know what to expect in an Animal Collective place - mid-century modern furniture, pizza - and I'm fairly sure this is what's available here now.

1020397 Motel One

This isn't my first trip to *a* Motel One; having gone to the rooftop cocktail bar in the Leipzig Post branch of the chain before. So I thought I knew what to expect - cocktail heavy, with a signature cocktail on the menu.

Instead its gin-heavy here; and the rest of the setup appears to have been decided on by looking at what people report as their likes from traditional Dublin pubs. They sell Guinness - just Guinness - on draught; and the only food is toasties.

For the entire hotel. Residents are told they can order takeaway to their rooms.

So there's a vast bar, on a busy shopping street, where you can only get draught Guinness, or a few other beer options - Irish independent products featuring heavily, thankfully for me - in bottle. I would not be surprised if this changes over time, as the potential to make money here on busier weekends has to be quite high.

RetroReview: S3214 Shelbourne Park Greyhound Stadium

I had one evening here in the posh seats, a very long time ago, with table service for both booze (employer paid for) and betting (unfortunately not employer paid for, but I did leave with a few quid more than I went with).

I wouldn't go back these days, as I've no interest in supporting the greyhound industry.

1021092 Clink i Lár

There is something odd about international chains thinking that Irish is in more common use than it actually is; and using it in signage or names here. At least this time it's something substantial, and not Homebase putting up mangled translations for every aisle in the shop...

Dublin now has a number of fully pub licenced hostels, and this is far and away the biggest, with 628 beds. On opening, it made an obvious impact to the price of a hostel night, which had been around what a hotel room cost anywhere else prior to opening.

A small-ish bar sits to the rear of the ground floor of the hostel, beyond the check-in terminals and seating areas; and offers a limited enough range of drinks - but featuring some Irish independent products. 

Some of the decor may be more suited to an Irish bar abroad; but it is likely what the mainly tourist customer base of a hostel expects to see 

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Said customer base also may expect different drinks, as there was someone rather surprised to find they didn't sell Fireball cinnamon liqueur (it isn't strong enough to be called whiskey in the EU).