RiverHouse Hotel
For a cheaper night in Dublin City, RiverHouse Hotel in Temple Bar keeps costs down while staying within reach of Traditional Irish Music Session in Temple Bar.
From here, Dublin City’s main attractions — including Traditional Irish Music Session in Temple Bar — are an easy walk or short ride away, so you spend less time in transit and more time exploring.
Rates shift with the season and with demand, so the live price on the booking page is always the one to trust — tap through for tonight’s or your dates' real availability.
Key facts
What’s included
Around Temple Bar
The Dublin booking trap: Temple Bar is not the whole city
The trap is booking a hotel in Temple Bar because it is the only Dublin area you have heard of, then discovering that a pint there costs €7.50–€8.50 and the street outside your window is loud until 2.30am. Temple Bar is a 10-minute walk from Trinity College and Grafton Street, but so are the Liberties and Smithfield, where the same mid-range room costs €40–€60 less a night and the pubs on Meath Street or King Street North charge €5.50 a pint.
The area people wrongly skip is Georgian Dublin around Merrion Square and Fitzwilliam Square: it is quiet, has the National Gallery and the Little Museum of Dublin, and is 12 minutes on foot from Grafton Street. The season nobody expects is late September and October, when the Dublin Theatre Festival runs and the summer crowds have gone but the rain has not yet set in — hotel rates drop 20–30% from August while the city remains fully open.
Where to stay in Dublin City
Temple Bar suits people who want the nightlife on the doorstep and will accept noise until 2am; rooms here run €180–€260 a night at weekends. Grafton Street and St Stephen’s Green are quieter and central, with doubles from €200–€320, while the Trinity College Area mixes both and adds proximity to the Dart at Pearse. O’Connell Street is the budget end of the centre: expect €120–€180 for a basic double, with more traffic and fewer restaurants than the south side.
The Liberties and Smithfield are the value picks within walking distance of the centre — €110–€170 a night — and Smithfield has the Luas Red Line plus the Jameson Bow St. distillery and the Light House Cinema. Georgian Dublin around Merrion Square is the most expensive residential-feeling area, at €220–€350. Rathmines and Ranelagh are for repeat visitors who want village restaurants and a 20-minute walk or short bus ride to Grafton Street; Ballsbridge and the Docklands suit business travellers and anyone using the Aviva Stadium or the Convention Centre.
Best time to visit Dublin City
May, June and September are the best months: daylight runs to 10pm in June, the weather is at its driest, and hotel prices sit around €160–€240 for a mid-range double. July and August are the peak — rates climb to €220–€320 and Temple Bar properties sell out weeks ahead — but the city is at its liveliest, with the Dublin Pride parade in June and the Dublin Horse Show at the RDS in August.
January and February are the cheapest months, with mid-range rooms at €90–€150, though some restaurants close on Mondays and the weather is wet and dark by 4.30pm. March brings St Patrick’s Day on 17 March, when prices spike for the parade weekend and rooms near O’Connell Street are booked six months out. October and November are a good compromise: €130–€190, the Dublin Theatre Festival in late September and early October, and the city’s pubs at their best without the summer crowds.