Arthaus Hotel Review: A new boutique hotel brings Bauhaus and female-led design to Dublin

Seeing a quote like that on a hotel website, I’d usually roll my eyes. With Arthaus Hotel, however — a new boutique stay behind Dublin’s Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre — I’ll make an exception.

The hotel has gone all-in on a concept look inspired by Bauhaus, the hugely influential school of art, design and architecture based in Germany from 1919 to 1933. The movement was about clean lines and geometric shapes. It sought to reconnect art with functionality and everyday life, and you could see its influence in everything from New York’s Seagram Building to Orla Kiely’s prints or the boxy, beautiful chairs in your Pinterest feed.

Approaching a night in this former Travelodge, I don’t know what to expect. Artistic win or marketing mischief? But the eye-catching works I see on the restaurant wall, painted onto elevator doors or dangling above reception, however, feel kind of fitting. Hotels are functional, after all. But design can lift them to another level.

The rating: 6/10

Arrival & location

Arthaus Hotel is a small, comfortable and ultra-central stay. It opened during the pandemic at the spot where Bow Lane meets Mercer Street, and I time it as a three-minute walk to the top of Grafton Street and Stephen’s Green. While Mercer Street itself isn’t very welcoming, it does represent a changing side of Dublin — another relatively new arrival, the 300-bed Marlin, sits just across the road.

The hotel’s exterior is unremarkable (you’d almost walk by without noticing it), but the Bauhaus chord strikes as soon as I step through the door.

As I look up to examine a swirling ceiling mural, general manager Seán O’Keefe gets a friendly check-in underway, issuing room key cards and tipping Saba or Pink on nearby South William Street as places to eat. It’s a tiny reception area, with stairs and lifts to the left, and bar and restaurant to the right. 7/10

Service & style

As well as bathing in Bauhaus, the hotel’s look and feel is female-led, with interiors by Yvonne Clarke of Clarke & Whiteman, and signature artworks by Fran Halpin and Deirdre McClorey that pay particular tribute to two now-iconic Irish artists who were contemporaries of Bauhaus, Mainie Jellett and Mary Swanzy.

At some points (the elevator doors, for example), I find the painting pops, but is ultimately a bit anodyne. At others, it feels genuinely fresh and engaging (McClorey’s St Stephen’s Green is a dramatic collage running the length of a restaurant wall and comprised of discarded objects like plastic bags and building waste from the hotel).

Some 100 artworks are spread throughout rooms, corridors and public spaces, also ranging from fun to forgettable.

Don’t expect an artistic immersion on a par with The Merrion or Kelly’s Resort in Rosslare, however. The theming here feels more like The Hendrick, a street-art-themed hotel in Smithfield, or the rock memorabilia and pop art of The Hard Rock Hotel — both also operated by Tifco in Dublin. It also reminds me of Press Up Group hotels like the Devlin and Dean, enlivened by new, playful Irish art. 7/10

The rooms

Forty-one bedrooms are compact in size and range from boutique (15-18sqm) to superior (20-23sqm) and executive (21-25sqm), with prices rising accordingly.

We stayed in an executive, with bold blues and geometric shapes running through headboards and soft furnishings (others feature light corals, or earthy greens). Detailing like walnut cabinetry elevates things, and the beds are good. Ironically, as a travel writer, I rarely sleep well in hotels. I did here.

The bathroom had a generous shower, and I liked seeing big dispensers of Irish company FieldDay’s products in place of single-use bottles. On the downside, street views are limited and dull, the desk impractically slim, and though there are compostable cups, the coffee machine is flanked by a pet peeve — UHT milk cartons. 7/10

Food & drink

Service at breakfast is lovely and warm, but the spread itself is disappointing — a very basic, continental-style buffet shoe-horned into a corner next to the bar. Generic paper signs like ‘white and brown bread’ and ‘brown flakes’ sit in front of items, parrying any hint of provenance.

The short à la carte menu is better, with options like a full Irish (€12), chorizo hash (€7.50) or a French toast (€9.50) that sees lovely toast laid under drizzlings of sweet maple syrup (above), but the bacon is hard and difficult to cut.

And that’s it. You’ll find a short cocktail menu (€8.95-€12) and friendly service at Laszlo’s (the bar and restaurant is named after a teacher from Bauhaus), and a private events space, but currently no lunch or dinner offerings. That’s down to the staffing issues affecting hospitality all over the country, I’m told. Dublin is crammed with dining options, but I hope one can develop here. 4/10

The bottom line

“What we’re trying to do is create a hotel that’s a little bit more unique,” Tifco’s David O’Connell tells me. “It’s not just a bedroom. There’s a story behind it.”

I admire that. I admire anyone who puts extra thought into hotel design and community outreach. Creativity involves more energy and outlay than throwing up generic blocks, but it makes hotels so much more memorable.

Arthaus has made an effort, feels inclusive, and though I don’t think it’s as layered or polished as similarly engaged new openings like Wren Urban Nest or Zanzibar Locke, there’s lots of potential... if it chooses to pursue it.

Insider tips

If you book direct on the hotel’s website, you can get €10 off per night (use the code DIRECT10).

Hang Tough Contemporary’s Páipéar group exhibition of works on paper is at Central Plaza, Dame Street, until August 28.

Rates

Room-only rates from €199 this autumn in a boutique queen room. Parking at the nearby Q-Park is extra. Pól was a guest of the hotel. Contact 01 255-5700 or arthausdublin.ie.