Almost three years after its noisy opening, the whimsical Dylan Hotel in Dublin is still as hot as their signature Bloody Mary, says Andrew Copestake.
There will always be a debate about how to make a perfect Bloody Mary. David Wondrich, the esteemed cocktail historian at American Esquire magazine, reckons you should squeeze the juice out of the horseradish before mixing over crushed ice with all the other usual ingredients – tomato juice, vodka, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce et al…The quip about Harry’s Bar on the Ile de France in Paris, where they claim to have invented this particular cocktail in the 1920s, is that they often forget to include the vodka! And at the lobby bar at London’s One Aldwych they add a dash of red wine and a dash of dry sherry.
They foregoe the red wine at the Dylan Hotel, Dublin, but include a dram of sherry on the side. This provoked a debate of our own. One of my party thought the addition of sherry a travesty – a waste of both a good sherry and a good Bloody Mary; another that I should treat the sherry as a shot, downing it only after I’d fully imbibed the tomato-vodka mix; a third that I should alternate sips between the fortified wine and the cocktail. The bartender suggested I might like to drown the sherry in the Mary and give it a little swirl. Being a Bloody fanatic I tried all three methods; which might explain why I still can’t decide which is the best…
There is far less debate about how fabulous the Dylan Hotel is from a design aesthetic. When it opened its doors in September 2006, as the second Eire hotel in the Dylan Collection, it immediately garnered plaudits. ‘Hip,’ ‘Hot’ and ‘Cool’ were words that tripped off the critics’ keypads. They noted the brace of Maybachs and Bentleys parked outside; the fashion shoots taking place within; and how personable the staff were, decked out in their Leigh Tucker togs - in which they might have been expected to be aloof, in the way that only too-beautiful people can be. They got so heated about the fact that local boy Colin Farrell is often a prop at the bar; they forgot to get involved in that all-important Bloody Mary debate. And far too little was waxed about chef Padraic Hayden’s Still restaurant.
In what amounts to a whimsical Alice in Wonderland fantasy playground of pearl-toned, insanely high-backed chairs, Murano chandeliers and plush peacock-blue velvet stools, conceived by HDK and Spirit & Style as if they’d consulted novelist Angela Carter whilst she was high on absinthe, Padraic serves up hearty comfort foods like cauliflower soup and Irish Beef fillet by giving them a trendy twist. The beef comes with a pomme anna watercress purée and truffle hollandaise; the soup with Parmesan gnocchi. And whilst Ireland might reasonably claim to have the fast-track to all of the UK’s best locally sourced ingredients, quite how Padraic persuades a salmon to jump right out of the Liffey and into his frying pan is a mystery that will never be solved. But once it is there he slathers it in crème fraiche, watercress and avruga and hotfoots it to your banquet table. Come dessert you can twist the pear, that English staple, five ways; trust the Irish to teach us a lesson or five! Or you can feast on a croquette of melting dark chocolate with chocolate sauce, brownie crumble and gingerbread ice cream. Then wince as the achingly hip turns to expanding hips…
Just for once, the critics struggled to find a negative word to say about the Dylan. They were wrong. The Plasma TVs and iPod docks are now de rigueur in a five-star boutique (although the addition of downloaded Dublin walking tours on the in-room iPod is genius); complimentary WiFi shouldn’t even be boasted about these days. But the Bang & Olufsen phones are a sexy addition; and Frette linen and a memory foam mattress on the 7th Heaven queen beds are so special you can buy the bed to take home.
No. The kinks come in the marble bathrooms, which are on the cramped side and lack any decent storage shelf space – a serious omission for ladies and the kind of metrosexual men the Dylan attracts. Perhaps they are relying too much on the often unwashed-looking Mr Farrell as their blueprint guest. And whilst the addition of a TV screen above the bath is welcome, the poor reception isn’t. Only Hollyoaks improves with a sea of static.
These glitches aside, almost three years later nothing has emerged in Dublin to compare or seriously compete with the Dylan, except perhaps the refurbishment and recent rebranding of the historic Westbury. But with its muted tones of teal and TVs that interact with your blackberry, the Westbury is more geared-up for business; the Dylan remains a trip down the rabbit hole.
In the midst of a recession the Irish capital is suffering more than most. The Dylan doesn’t come cheap; that Bloody Mary alone costs €13.00. But the Dylan Experience Package, available until the end of December 2009 is reasonable value for a luxury treat. One night in a king-bedded Style room with an eight course tasting menu in Still and breakfast delivered to your room the next morning costs €425 per room based on two sharing – you wouldn’t want to do this alone.
Dylan
Eastmoreland Place,
off Baggot St, Dublin 4.