The Gibson

There are many, many reasons to come to Dublin, but if a concert at 3Arena figures into your plans, then the Gibson Hotel is the place to stay. It’s practically next door to the venue after all, and hosts a rotating (and often returning) crowd of music-industry folk and creative types. In the hotel biz, that usually means a few things: modern lounge and meeting spaces, a rock-and-roll nightlife scene, and rooms where you can recover from the night before. In other words, thick walls, solid comforts, and enough outlets for charging a a dozen mobile devices while you sleep.

The idea being, of course, that the party (and the show, and the after-party) is happening elsewhere — even if that elsewhere is elsewhere in the hotel — and the hotel room itself is a place of refuge. At the Gibson, rooms and suites are spare and tranquil, smartly designed with ample natural light and a minimum of clutter. Think a hip, contemporary color palette of white, charcoal, hunter green and chocolate brown, floating shelves and bespoke strip lighting, Respa beds and sleek bathrooms stocked with organic products. Each room has practical features: a work area, a tea and coffee station, flat-screen TVs, complimentary wi-fi. Many open onto private courtyards; suites also have, as you’d expect, first-rate sound systems.

Downstairs, of course, the vibe is edgier, the lights lower, the volume louder. Coda is the hotel’s main restaurant, always opening earlier than usual on concert nights, while Hemi bar does fusion cuisine and cocktails on a third-floor terrace. The Gibson is modern but practical — understanding that sometimes you need to stay out till five in the morning, sleep all afternoon, or grab a bite before the show — so it makes sense that the Luas, Dublin’s light rail tram, stops right outside the front door, with easy connections to the city center.