Almost fit for a princess at Shelbourne birthday
Celebrating the Shelbourne’s 200th year, Lucy White checked into the Princess Grace Suite to suss out its majesty
THE BACKSTORY
This Dublin five-star needs little intro. The Shelbourne opened as a hotel in 1824, made up of three townhouses overlooking St Stephen’s Green. The Irish constitution was drawn up here in 1922, it features in James Joyce’s Ulysses and The Chieftains formed in the Horseshoe Bar.
Archer Hotel Capital recently completed the sale on this 265room hotel from Kennedy Wilson, while Marriott International will continue to manage the property for now.
IMPOSTER SYNDROME RATING
High. As soon as I arrived at the opulent facade I encountered a pedestrianised traffic jam of bellhop trolleys festooned with designer shopping bags. Suddenly my Savida coat and Nordace backpack seemed a little downmarket... But I needn’t have worried. I was greeted warmly at check-in and shown to my suite with banter en route – including a compliment about my coat. Dunnes Stores for the win.
SUITE DREAMS – OR NIGHTMARES?
The Princess Grace Suite is in honour of the eponymous actress turned Monaco monarch who favoured this two-bed bolthole. On entering a hallway, a “secret” door leads to a stately dining room off which is a plush lounge in a restful palette of sage and pink that’s echoed in the master bedroom – including a large pink marble ensuite, abundant with Elemis toiletries. The smaller ensuite double room has a deeper colour palette, more like the oxblood tones of the dining area.
Large crystal chandeliers crown elegant, high ceilings while, in the living area, sash windows with built-in reading seats peer out on to St Stephen’s Green and original artworks and framed photographs of Grace Kelly stud walls and surfaces. It all feels more like a swanky pied-a-terre; the perfect balance of opulence and homeliness.
I set up shop at the presidential desk and wondered how I could ever go back to working from my scuffed dining table at home. And also where the sockets or USB ports were, to charge my laptop while working on it. This felt a bit of an oversight since the 1,530-square-foot suite was upgraded as recently as 2017 and there are USB ports beside the bed.
I was also surprised, given the hotel’s sustainability commitments, to see single-use UHT milk cartons instead of refridgerated fresh milk, and no in-room recycling bins.
FINE DINING – OR DOG’S DINNER?
I dialled not M for Murder but for room service [please no more Grace Kelly references – Ed] – or rather ordered a vegetarian club sandwich via a QR code. It wasn’t on the limited sandwich menu – only meat and fish options – so I requested a meat-free version in the app’s text box.
Alas, what appeared under a silver cloche 20 minutes later was more akin to something you might find in a service station in the 1980s: small triangles of dry, untoasted white pan, tasteless tomato and undressed lettuce. No smidge of butter, while skinny fries underwhelmed. Mayo and ketchup came in mini jars but the bread triangles were so small there was no way of lubricating them without total deconstruction. Needless to say I had the €24 charge withdrawn at check-out.
There I was also asked to put the complaint in an email to Guest Services, while the hotel’s PR issued the response: “They’re disappointed by the sad sandwich you received and will be reviewing in-room dining menus to ensure better options for all dietary requirements and staff training around this also.”
In contrast, vittles and libations at The Mayor’s Lounge, Saddle Room, 1824 Bar and the Horseshoe Bar remain exemplary, and a preview of the Laurent-Perrier and house caviar for the spring reopening of The Champagne Terrace was a blockbuster success.
CONCLUSION
With general manager JP Kavanagh as its current custodian, The Shelbourne’s future appears to be in safe hands.
It has provided a happy place for so many that the overall ambience is of celebration and anticipation, and with the discerning hospitality to match. You can’t check into the Grace Kelly Suite and not feel majestic. One sad sandwich isn’t enough to rain on its parade.
Despite The Shelbourne’s vintage, and her many nips and tucks to move with the times, this grand dame is nonetheless in rude health. Long may she reign.
The Shelbourne, St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2. shelbourne.com