The Dean Hotel in Galway took a little longer to arrive on the scene due to the pandemic, but it was worth the wait. The location is a five-minute walk from Eyre Square on Prospect Hill. It is an imposing stone-grey clad building, only three floors, but it seems more imposing. It has 100 rooms, a penthouse, two restaurants, Sophies and Elephant & Castle, a bar, Dime coffee counter, Powergym, and a swimming pool.
A Night in The Dean Hotel Galway
This hotel is a great addition to Galway and judging by the number of people dining here last week, it is already a popular place. Like all Pressup properties it is stylish, full of art, has elegant black-clad staff but is not snooty. The staff are charming and helpful to guests and diners.
Atmosphere at The Dean
When you stay in a Dean Hotel, think dark with splashes of colour. This is the style of these hotels, dark corridors with subdued lighting. Deep blues and greens in the rooms, but the public areas, restaurants, lobby and café are full of light and colour.
The upholstery is striking, colourful in an Asian style, walls are clad in wood and the ceilings in Sophies are exposed rafters. In Dean Galway there are 250 pieces of art by local artists spread around the hotel, in the public areas, up the stairs, in the rooms. It is worth taking time to explore the gallery of interesting pieces.
Hard to Leave Bedroom
This is a room that you will not want to leave, it is so comfortable and has so many temptations that you could easily miss dinner. Who doesn’t want to spin a few discs, eat sweets and loll around. There a shelf of Munchies, that includes Tayto, M&Ms, Malteasers, Manhatten peanuts, Snickers, Skelligs chocolates, Haribos and more. There’s also some Rennies if you over-indulge.
Other temptations include record-player, sound system, a Marshall amp, a stocked Smeg fridge and selection of drinks openly displayed. Lps and guitars are available from Reception. If you have to work, there is a comfortable desk and chair.
The beds were super comfortable with high-thread count cotton sheets and fluffy duvets, lots of pillows, perfect for a good sleep. The bathrooms have unusual bamboo effect circular basins and brass fittings. Our room had a walk-in shower and was beautifully tiled. If you are going to stay here. I recommend checking in as early as possible to enjoy all the treats.
Dinner in Sophies
Sophies on the top floor of Dean Galway has the best view of the city, capitalising on the height of Prospect Hill you can see for miles. There are also the famous swings to try before dinner. It is a big restaurant, with a wraparound outdoor terrace, and very busy on a Tuesday night when we dined.
In such a stylish place, you would have to start with a cocktail. We tried the Rated R and it was almost like drinking lemon meringue pie, delicious. The menu has a good variety of Mediterranean style cooking with meats, fish, seafood, and vegetarian dishes.
For starters we had the scallops with bacon and the tempura prawns. Both were delicious; however, the tempura prawns were the lightest and freshest one I have tasted. For mains we had the sirloin with Aligot potatoes and a gritty peppercorn sauce, and the pan-fried hake with miso sauce. We cleaned the plates. We shared the Chocolate Délice, honeycomb, vanilla ice cream, with caramel sauce for dessert. The menu also includes a range of traditional Italian pizzas and sides.
Breakfast With a View
There is nothing nicer than have breakfast served to you at the table especially in the lovely sun-filled Sophies. It beats walking around the buffet counter trying to find what you like. We both opted for the fresh fruit medley and the Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon and spinach. I would go back just for the eggs, it was a delicious dish, perfectly cooked.
Overall, the visit to the Dean Galway was perfect, the well-trained staff were friendly and very efficient. The Dean Galway is a great asset to one of Ireland’s busiest cities, book well in advance, it has already become quite the place to be seen in Galway.
Read my interview with Cian O Broin General Manager of The Dean Galway here.