No. 1 Pery Square

It’s all the way the other side of Ireland from Dublin, but the boutique townhouse hotel No. 1 Pery Square could, in a pinch, serve as a setting for a film of Joyce’s “The Dead.” Originally built in 1830 and restored with great precision, the hotel gets the aesthetic just right, from the ornate marble hearth to the gilt-framed mirrors. It never verges on rococo, but if the common areas feel a bit too vintage for your tastes, fifteen of the twenty guest rooms have been made over in a more modern, clubbier style.

The period-style rooms are hard to resist, however, with their suitably expansive sash windows overlooking the garden — it’s here that the natural grace and elegance of the style asserts itself. Even in the regional gloom, there’s a light freshness to the rooms that’s enhanced by their spaciousness. The single Townhouse Suite offers an intriguing combination of old and new, with multiple flatscreen televisions, a private bar, and top-floor views of Limerick and surrounding mountains of Clare.

The hotel stresses its townhouse origins, with the personalized attention of a bed and breakfast that also feels like a neighborhood focal point. This makes the restaurants, the casual Long Room and the cozy Sash, at once upscale and congenial. Tasting nights, guest chefs, and wine flights are all part of the experience, while the drawing room offers classic afternoon tea. The basement is given over to the spa, which is exactly as a boutique spa should be: soothing, candlelit, and lined with exposed brick.