Daragh Keany took advantage of a short child-free trip to kick back at The Spencer in Dublin for some R’n’R
No kids for 24 hours, a luxurious pool in the basement, a dinner at their Thai-themed East restaurant and a chance to explore our hometown at Christmas without the constant demands of our offspring was like an early Christmas present.
Once we had farmed the kids off to pals for a sleepover, we did the seemingly unthinkable and headed for a mini break in our capital city.
The hotel itself is only 13km from our house but it could have been a different country.
The recently-renovated Spencer in Dublin’s IFSC was a hive of activity and it didn’t take long to realise that we weren’t the only ones escaping the humdrum of everyday life for a night away.
The Spencer Hotel
The Christmas lights were on and the fact that the Australia rugby match was also being played at the Aviva that afternoon meant the centrally-located hotel was operating at maximum capacity.
Not that you’d have any idea once you enter the lift and head to your room.
City centre hotels tend to be noisy, but The Spencer doesn’t suffer that problem at all. The bedrooms are all ultra-modern and spacious and once we had changed, we were ready to hit the town like tourists.
There is something special about being a tourist in your own town, especially in advance of Christmas time. It didn’t take long for us to hatch a plan to make this an annual tradition. Can you call it a tradition after only one year? Maybe not. But we live in hope.
The Spencer has comfy rooms
Pubs and shops were hit hard for a few hours before we returned to the hotel for our Asian-themed dinner at East.
Crispy pork croquettes and duck bao buns were devoured as our starters before we tucked into a Thai red curry and pad Thai.
The atmosphere was chilled and relaxed despite the food being of a much higher standard as couples, families and rugby fans toasted the start of Christmas. There were only a few tables free throughout the night so I reckon East is one of those restaurants that locals frequent and would rather I wasn’t here telling you about it.
The Spencer has a great restaurant
A stunning night’s sleep in one the hotel’s suites that had an Instagram-ready balcony overlooking the Liffey was enjoyed before we headed down to the pool.
As we headed for a 9am swim we knew it would be quiet enough while other patrons were eating their breakfast.
We didn’t quite have the pool to ourselves but it was definitely a clever tactic and before long we were back upstairs helping ourselves to a delicious buffet breakfast.
The brekkie is hosted in the other hotel restaurant and despite it being full the staff had the whole operation running like clockwork.
The Spencer’s pool
Once we checked out we headed to do a bit more child-free Christmas shopping before eventually collecting our kids and returning to normal life again.
It may not have required a passport and it wasn’t even 24 hours long. But a city break in our hometown was the perfect tonic to break the business and monotony of everyday life.
Will it become a tradition? I’ll report back in 11 months time.
Daragh was a guest of The Spencer Hotel in Dublin.
