So the Story Goes
That Bono and his mate The Edge from U2 used to stay at the Clarence when it was a faded Olde Worlde haunt of young Irish trendies hanging rough in the Temple Bar area of Dublin. That fond memories (of drunken nights and one-night-stands) caused them to invest in the hotel in 1992, knock it to pieces and build a place they'd like to stay in now they were rich and could afford it.

It's a likely story when you see the hotel - classic boutique-style, trendy enough for a pop star but clean and tidy enough for a 48-year-old crooner who's just been honoured with a knighthood. Plenty of electronics in the bedrooms plus some expensive internet connections and a large minibar.

And on the top floors, the celebrity suite - presumably for Bono's mates? It's a two-bedroom extravaganza of a suite with balconies, a hot tub, good views and pink champagne on arrival. For the price (see below), you could probably buy up a whole shop's worth of pink champagne, but we guess that's not the point.

Grub
Hang on which country are we in? The place reeks Olde-Englishness. It has a 'Tea Room' (actually a restaurant) and 'The Study' (with a full bar and food service it's unlikely much studying goes on there) and, in a style reminiscent of those old English churches and cathedrals with their painted domed roofs, an 'Octagon Bar'.

Thankfully there's some Irishness in the menus - only Irish meat is used, and they try to source veg and fruit locally as well. Not sure about the sushi.

You can tell where Bono likes to eat, from the attention paid to the 24-hour room service.

Dublin's premier boutique hotel?
Word on the street, though, is that the rooms are small, the facilities often don't work, and there have been some grumbles about the price. Dublin's been booming as a tourist destination in the last few years, and new hotels are popping up all over the shop that might offer better value for money if not celebrity status. To top it all off, prices have been booming in the notorious Temple Bar area of Dublin (renowned for pub-crawl madness) and the 'edgy' places to be seen are now moving further out.

The Clarence will have to work a bit harder if it wants to win its self-proclaimed status as 'Dublin's premier boutique hotel.'

Rates
Rates from $490 per double room per night for the lowest class of room, up to $3640 for the penthouse suite. Try to get a special deal (or just pop in for a drink and stay somewhere else).

[Photo: Informatique]

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