Queer travel expert Jack Kenworthy turns 250+ city adventures into your guide for safe, vibrant, and inclusively fabulous global journeys.
Dublin! Known internationally as the heart of all of Europe’s tech businesses, a bustling metropolis, and the EU’s foothold in the British Isles, the capital city of the Republic of Ireland may be relatively small, but its influence is wide, its outlook is fast-changing and progressing, and – most importantly for this list – it is an incredible location to find a gay hotel.
Ireland was one of the first countries in Europe to legalize gay marriage back in 2015, when – at the time – it had an openly gay head of state. Both of these events were major steps forward in the state of the region’s queer representation, and their influence continues to show today how forward Ireland is along the process of queer normalization compared to its neighbors.
Dublin’s queer hotspot comes from Temple Bar Street and the general district. Here one can find a long list of lively, exotic clubs and bars and an amazing art and cultural scene that makes the location worth visiting regardless of whether you’re gay or not. It is, therefore, unsurprising that many of the best gay hotels in Dublin are located a stone’s throw from here.
Some generally appealing travel and tourist destinations in the city include the amazing Botanical Gardens, the ancient central Dublin Castle, and the incredibly wide range of other historical points of importance that it houses.
Dublin is a very old and time-hardened city, and this sophisticated and well-aged energy fuses amazingly well with the new energy that modern days have brought to its streets and people.
Once one has arrived and gotten a good feel for what Dublin is like, it is easy to see why the city is one of the continent’s most important economic centers and why tourists love coming here so much. Ireland’s capital has a quality that is absent in the entire rest of the British Isles, making it one of the world’s best cities for queer travel and holidaying.
Despite the wide-ranging benefits that gay travelers coming to Dublin can expect to enjoy, however, the reality is still that traveling amenities are, for the most part, generalized rather than specifically queer-targeted. As such, there aren’t going to be many hotels in Dublin marketed directly towards gay people or queer people in general.
We know that, and therefore we’d like to note that the hotels on this list follow the same logic. Most of them have been listed as accommodating, friendly, and unjudgmental to, for, and by queer people in general, as well as being highly rated in general.
So, with that quick disclaimer out of the way and with two eyes firmly fixed on the opportunities of the future, much like the city itself, it’s time for us to buckle down for the top eight gay hotels in Dublin! The Irish capital has more than a few pleasant surprises still in the bank, and it’s up to us to help you unlock the city’s hotspots and must-see locations!
In this article we will cover...
Leonardo Hotel Dublin Christchurch
Our first hotel in Dublin is a kind middle ground for people of all spending persuasions – a good all-rounder gay hotel in Dublin and a critically successful gateway to the city’s crown jewel locations. Formerly known as Jury’s Inn in a nod to the name of its surrounding district, this queer-friendly hotel is located right in the middle of Dublin’s center and has four stars and a top-shelf service reputation to its name.
The famous Christ Church Cathedral is within eyeshot of the vast majority of rooms in the Leonardo Hotel and only a two-minute walk away on foot, which makes this hotel the perfect location for you if you’re looking to springboard into the historical center of Dublin and its more traditional offerings.
The rooms of the Leonardo Hotel are big, clean, well-maintained, and serviced 24/7 for laundry and food. It is always amazing to have a reliable, comfortable base to come back to while you’re trying to get energy back from the strains of adventuring through a new city or partying in the night, and that is the hole in the holiday plans of guests that this hotel seeks to fill.
The Leonardo Hotel is also well known for its in-house cuisine, catered by its very own restaurant, and this means that you needn’t even leave the hotel for an evening if you don’t feel like it.
Although – as we described – the Leonardo is a middle ground in many ways, that doesn’t stop it from showing deep care for its guests and queer rights, and the hotel has the advantage of being explicitly marked as LGBTQ+ friendly online. Gay traveling sites around the net highly commend this location, and we are happy to add our voice to the mix!
The Westin Dublin
Although we’re barely on to our second entry in this list of gay hotels in Dublin, it’s already time for our first five-star luxury location!
The Westin name is one almost synonymous with exquisite accommodation practices, much like the Hilton, Hyatt, and Warwick brands, and as such, it comes as no surprise that this particular location is regaled as both an excellent point of access for holidayers looking to make the most of their time in Dublin and a transcendent experience all in itself.
Although it’s semi-standard in the hotels of most other cities, fitness centers aren’t as common in Dublin, and as such, the fact that the Westin has a gym center is a special benefit for those with daily regimes who would rather keep up with the grind rather than let it drop while on holiday.
No matter what your individual preferences are, and no matter what you like to focus on while on holiday, the Westin is here to keep you satisfied and armed with just about every amenity and service you could need to enhance your time in Dublin.
On top of all of these benefits, the Westin Dublin also doesn’t find itself too snobby to include all possible guests in its welcoming energy, and as such, joins the Leonardo in being explicitly marked as LGBTQ+ online.
Although the hotel is truly amazing, one of the strongest points about the Westin is its location – set directly along the River Liffey that runs at the very core of the city and on out to the Muir Éireann between Ireland and Wales. It truly doesn’t get more central than that, so if you’re looking to pick up an exquisite hotel that is just as practical as it is visually appealing, this is the one.
Hard Rock Hotel Dublin
The positive points start adding up from the very start for this hotel, most importantly with its chic, restored 19th-century façade.
We all know the Hard Rock brand for its world-spanning set of restaurants and – suitably – cafes, but we bet you’ve never heard of a Hard Rock hotel before! Just as the food-related side of the franchise is known for its label-standard quality and flamboyancy, the same can be said for this particular accommodation location, its stainless reputation with its guests of the past, and how it handles itself with queer guests.
Another aspect of the quality and comfort that the Hard Rock Hotel presents is its air of calm and relaxation. If you aren’t looking to be bothered by the noise of the street, and if you value keeping your privacy and peace between days or nights out on the town, then this hotel is the perfect oasis for you to forget about all of your worries while you soak in Dublin’s unique energy.
Not only is the Hard Rock Hotel serviced by its trademark meu, but it is also home to the independent but still in-house Zampas Bar & Restaurant, which has garnered its very own reputation through its unique atmosphere and comfortable sitting areas.
The Hard Rock Hotel is modern, amazingly positioned within Dublin, and – overall – a wonderful place for guests to treasure both their spirit and the city’s spirit in equal measure.
No matter where you’re coming from, where you’re going to, or what form of traveling group you’re in – as a couple, a family or moving alone – you can be sure that you’ll be respected and given a perfect spot to put up your feet in well-designed, practical luxury that isn’t all talk.
Academy Plaza Hotel
Kitted out with four stars and an official LGBTQ+ friendly badge, the Academy Plaza Hotel is convenient, popular, and not at all too expensive for its useful and polished approach to management.
The Rotunda district that the Academy Plaza Hotel is perfect for people who love strolls and walks amongst historical streets and nature, but that isn’t to say that the hotel doesn’t have an appeal for those who like a little more energy in their accommodation experience and time spent holidaying.
The individual rooms of this hotel are in top shape and look smashing for its price range, and just about everything else about the holiday checks out with this quality as well. Some on-paper benefits of staying at the Academy Plaza Hotel include the location’s impressive culinary amenities, which include a daily breakfast and an in-house restaurant -both of which are almost standard for hotels in Dublin.
Although it’s not five-star or attached to a massive brand like some of the other hotels on this list, the services offered by the Academy Plaza nonetheless march it up to the top shelf of accommodation and bring it to rival even the best that Dublin has to offer when it comes to hospitality.
Besides all of that, and on top of what we said earlier about the Rotunda district and its general appeal for day trips and relaxing exploration, if you’re looking for something a little more energetic, then you’ll be happy to know that the city center and the vibrant O’Connell Street are just around the corner from the Academy Plaza hotel, which means that you’re covered on both ends of the spectrum when it comes to the level of activity or relaxation that you’re looking to fill your holiday days with.
Generator Hostel Dublin
We know that hostels aren’t exactly popular when one thinks about accommodation, especially while going on holiday instead of just looking to be somewhere for practical purposes, and as such, it is only with the highest recommendation that we include the Generator on this list.
This charming, uniquely decorated location is the absolute pinnacle of classy staying when it comes to hostels and includes a vast amount of resources to make your trip to Dublin easier, cheaper, and more comfortable. Some of the services and opportunities that the Generator offers include kitchenettes in some rooms, a breakfast bar every morning, and much more.
If culinary itches are your thing, and if finding something good to eat for an afternoon or a night is high up on your list of priorities, then you’ll be happy to know that there is also a highly-rated and full-service hotel and bar ensemble here to fill your stomach to the very top.
Although it is unfortunately not explicitly marked as queer-friendly, the Generator Dublin has a sterling reputation with gay travelers worldwide and is known for its respect for customers and privacy in general. The Generator is also pet-friendly, which is unusual for both a hotel in Dublin and a hostel, so take advantage of that if you’re traveling with a furry companion!
There’s even a hot tub and relaxation area to let down your hair and enjoy your holiday time! Just like we said earlier, the Generator is hardly what one expects from a hostel anywhere on the map, and it certainly makes for the perfect budget gay hotel in Dublin to allow you to experience the queer brilliance of the city and all of the tourist hotspots that it has to offer!
The Clarence Dublin
Much like when it came to the Westin earlier on this list, we’ve reviewed a few Clarence hotels in the past, and their reputation precedes them even further than this location’s mere inclusion on this list.
On top of an offered airport shuttle service, there’s also parking available, amazing air-conditioned, designer decorated, and excellently-maintained rooms, kitchens, laundry service, and – of course – amazing staff that is there to cater to just about any whim of the hotel’s esteemed guests.
Not only is the Clarence itself worth staying at, but the adjacent hotspots it houses are also nothing short of incredible. There’s the Tomahawk Steakhouse, the Cleaver East restaurant with high ratings and delicious menu options, the Workman’s Cellar live music venue if you’re interested in sitting in for a band or two, and – perhaps most interesting of all – The Curious Mister bar and lounge ensemble.
We spoke about scratching culinary itches when we reviewed and summarized the Generator Hostel, but while that location’s food is truly excellent for a hostel, Clarence’s services take a merely satisfactory set of opportunities and make food an incredibly important feature of its accommodation experience.
The Clarence may not be explicitly listed as LGBTQ+ friendly, but its rating both with general audiences online and on gay travel blogs and rating sites is extremely high, and as such, we feel that that is all the proof that we need to say that this hotel is just as good of a gay hotel as the rest of the entries on this list.
Holidaying and traveling without worrying about discrimination on behalf of your sexuality is a true wonder that many gay people search after seeing the world, and with The Clarence, all of your requirements for doing so in Dublin are filled.
Ashling Hotel
This gay hotel means business by bringing luxury to the table, and it shows right away from its shiny, modern façade. The Ashling Hotel Dublin is a four-star location with a supreme outlook over the industrial fraction of the city – a district treasured for its hip eateries and deep connections to the underground nightlife that the city houses.
Quite a few of the hotels on this list are known to excel in certain areas of their location or service, but when it comes to the Ashling, this hotel’s benefits are in no way limited to one direction, facet, or amenity.
Everything from Ashling’s dining experience of the evening, its breakfast bar of the morning, the quality of its rooms, its service, and its location are loved by guests, and this fact is nowhere more clear than in the hotel’s sky-high customer rating on all major platforms.
In tune with the general scape of central Dublin and the Rotunda district that we spoke about earlier, the region of the city that the Ashling Hotel finds itself in – the Stoneybatter neighborhood – is also well known for its immense quantity of eateries and trendy clubs, and, as one can imagine, this syncs well with the interests of gay travelers looking to live up a bit of that city energy and queer community.
If you’re not into diving into bars and hangout spots, however, and if you’d like to try out something a little closer to your temporary home and the comfort of your room, then there’s also the Iveagh Bar and the Chesterfields restaurant attached to the hotel to keep you occupied.
Both locations have strong ratings of their own and serve well to complement the already comprehensive and exquisite experience that staying at the Ashling offers.
Temple Bar Inn
This grassroots Inn may only have three stars, but if you’re a queer holidayer who picks places of accommodation based on what counts rather than on stars, then this won’t be a problem for a single moment.
As we said at the very beginning of this list, Temple Bar Street and its surrounding district are known throughout the entire city of Dublin for its openness to the LGBTQ+ community and its sizable number of gay bars, clubs, and hangouts, and as such, if you’re looking to fully immerse yourself in that scene, then the Temple Bar is the place for you.
The hotel is just a few steps away from the very core of the city’s nightlife and its queer atmosphere, which means that you’ll be saving on everything from time to money spent on public transport to get to where you want to be.
Is the nightlife not your thing, or are you simply looking to explore more than one aspect of the city while visiting Dublin? No problem! The Temple Bar Inn isn’t one-sided and serves to bring in the more traditional and internationally-visible side of the city just as well as it does for the queer side.
The Westmoreland tram station is within easy walking distance, and from there, guests can take a short trip into the city’s commercial heart and on to the nearby important touristic sites.
The sun continues shining in luck even when it comes to the hotel’s amenities. The Temple Bar Inn is fully kitted out with guest services, including an acclaimed dining experience thanks to its in-house restaurant, a breakfast bar like many of the other hotels on this list, and many comfortable sitting areas both in and out of the individual rooms.
Gay Hotel Map Of Dublin
Feeling a bit lost while planning your journey to Dublin? No worries, darling! Our detailed LGBTQ+ tailored map is here to guide you. We’ve pinpointed all the vibrant gay-friendly bars, exhilarating clubs, extravagant parties, cozy hotels, relaxing saunas, and soothing massage parlors to ensure you find the perfect spot.
And these aren’t just any spots; we’re talking about the creme de la creme of locations in the heart of the city’s vibrant gay scene. Think panoramic views, easy access to nightlife, and all the amenities to make your stay as comfortable and enjoyable as possible.
But hold on to your feather boas! These hot spots are fabulous; they vanish quicker than a drag queen’s five o’clock shadow. Don’t delay; book now to secure the best deals and locations. Remember, the early bird catches the best deals in Dublin! So, pack your rainbow flag, and get ready to experience the ultimate gay-friendly holiday in Dublin.
