First Look: NYX Hotel Dublin opens with €99 rooms and ‘floating’ beds

"Nyx is the Greek goddess of the night,” explains manager Simone Villari. “The concept is about owning the night. It’s a lifestyle hotel.” Well, owning the night until 12.30am, at least. After that time from Thursdays through Sundays, the DJs and destination vibe will shut off in a changing neighbourhood whose residents have had their issues with late night noise.

As I arrive, staff are lining up for a photo. Builders are hammering and hosing away on the remodelled plaza outside. Just a handful of guests have checked in, but that will rise as the finishing touches are ironed out and the place gets up and running in earnest this week. Get in early, and you can bag rooms from €99-a-night (Sun-Thurs; or from €129 at weekends), the kind of rate I thought had long since vanished in the capital. The special offer ends on January 31.

The NYX brand has 13 hotels in cities like Madrid, Milan and London. The Dublin edition is owned and operated by Leonardo – of the former Jurys Inn - and peers right over the Grand Canal and new plaza at Portobello Harbour. It’s the result of a €31m investment, and brings to the inner suburb an open-plan lobby, bar and restaurant at street level. The first thing I notice is its vibrancy - the street art on its walls, columns and cushions; the LED screens showing stars or pulsing jellyfish behind reception. Jozef Puska’s partner and brothers to stand trial for withholding information in Ashling Murphy murder investigation | Independent.ie (2023-12-20T15:22:00Z)

First Look: NYX Hotel Dublin opens with €99 rooms and ‘floating’ beds

‘We want to give guests that bit of spark," Mr Villari says, showing me the brand's signature ceramic panthers and the black DJ booth where tunes will be spun Thursdays through Sundays. Arcade games and a photo booth will follow.

I also clock bird's-nest-style seating booths in the restaurant, a Press Up-style neon scrawl by reception (“You’re in the right place”), and charging points smartly inserted into the long wooden tables.

"We don’t want it to be a restaurant-restaurant,” he says of the mixed-use lobby. "We want to focus on the social, the drinking, the space to share.”

To my eye, in terms of look, feel and the lifestyle approach, NYX sits in a bracket with The Dean, The Marlin and perhaps The Moxy, Dublin’s Hard Rock Hotel or Bullitt in Belfast.

It’s a four-star, so those introductory rates could rocket. But there are ambitious aims for the service, and Mr Villari talks about it more on the level of a Hoxton than a budget lifestyle offering like The Hendrick, the street-art themed offering in Smithfield, for example.

Design is by Suzanne Garuda of Belfast’s Garuda Design, also responsible for NYX Holborn and The Courthouse in London. Bespoke artwork includes work from Irish artists like Shane Sutton, Janine Jordon and Art Loves – with more to come.

Rooms range from ‘Deluxe’ to ‘Superior’ and ‘Deluxe Space’. I’d favour those with views over the canal or plaza, and floor-to-ceiling glass is a smart touch – amplifying the impact of spaces that can feel a bit compact.

All come with something called ‘DREAM' beds by Ireland’s King Koil, and Mr Villari says that two weeks of “noise testing” was conducted with engineers to make sure the sound-proofing was up to spec. In another funky touch, the beds look cantilevered from walls, and are lit below the mattress frames, giving a ‘floating’ effect that adds oomph to the spaces. White Company toiletries, mini-fridges, Nespresso machines and 50-inch TVs with Chromecast are also standard. "I like where this is going" reads a papered slogan in one bathroom.

Downstairs, the aim is to create a “destination bar" that’s a draw for locals, post-work huddles and pre-dinner drinks as well as guests, the manager says. Expect lots of wines by the glass, “Insta-worthy” cocktails and an all-day menu with small bites for grazing or larger options ranging from a poke bowl (€16.50) to a rib-eye steak and sides (€42) and “flatties” – a choice of flatbreads cooked in its pizza oven (€12-€15).

There are tablet self-check-in options by reception, and NYX Hotel Dublin also has a small, "state-of-the-art gym”, a funky room tucked away off a ground-floor corridor. "NYX Hotel Dublin will redefine the concept of luxury accommodation, offering a unique and personalised experience to travellers who seek both comfort and adventure,” Mr Villari is quoted as saying in a press release. We’ll see what Dubliners and visitors think.

For more, see NYX-hotels.ie.