Structure And Stillness
You don’t visit Dublin for the weather. It rained – consistently, determinedly – for the duration of our stay. But as it turns out, a soggy weekend in the Irish capital has its perks, especially when you’re checking in at The Marker, where even grey skies seem to shimmer a little brighter.
Set in the regenerated Docklands, the hotel is all clean lines and confident angles – a contemporary counterpoint to the surrounding Georgian rhythm of the city. From the polished monochrome lobby to the expansive rooftop views (grey skies, cranes in motion, historic architecture in the background), it’s a hotel that knows exactly what it’s doing: smart, discreet, and quietly in step with its setting.
There’s a subtle tilt towards the business traveller here, but the mood is far from corporate. It’s easy to settle in. Our room echoes that same sense of calm: all muted tones and soft textures, the inclement weather making it all the more cosy – despite its seriously generous scale. Here, we’re perfectly positioned to gaze out of vast windows at the Liffey below – and today the river is giving us all the drama. Munching on delicious complementary macarons as we take in the view, we’re more than happy to be holed up indoors.
Dinner at Forbes Street by Gareth Mullins is refined, seasonal and entirely unpretentious, with a menu that leans heavily into provenance without overexplaining it. A delicate ceviche of Irish scallop is a standout, followed by a roast hake that melts like butter, complete with hearty Parmentier potatoes, peas and samphire. It’s a pescatarian’s dream here, but meat-eaters are more than catered for too, with a farm-to-fork offering, crafted with genuine love and care.
The rain is relentless, giving us the perfect excuse the next morning to head straight to the hotel’s subterranean spa, which feels more like a luxury wellness studio. The eucalyptus steam and warm hydrotherapy pool set the tone, and the massage that follows is quietly brilliant: intuitive, grounding, and just the right level of pressure to fully relax in delicious half-sleep.
Afternoon tea brings a change of pace. Poetry and Places is a new concept from the hotel’s pastry team, and one that’s far more thoughtful than your average three-tier affair, drawing on Ireland’s literary and natural landscapes. It could have veered into novelty, but instead it’s neatly layered and delicately constructed. There’s a tart inspired by Seamus Heaney’s Blackberry-Picking; a swan-shaped choux nodding to Yeats. Served with a comprehensive menu of fragrant loose-leaf teas in the elegant Marker Bar, the experience is sensory treat all-round.
There’s a palpable rhythm to this part of Dublin – a city still in the thick of transformation, where glass and steel meet cobbled streets. A guided walk through the Docklands with Derek Brennan, the hotel’s guest experience manager (read: captivating storyteller), offers an intimate lens on the city’s rich and layered history, and the experience slips between anecdote and archive with ease. It proves a welcome counterpoint to the architectural sheen, and it also proves that, with Anantara’s sturdy branded brollies in hand, we can indeed brave the weather.
Walking along the banks of the Liffey is a great way to see the city’s sprawling landscape, and we’re glad we’re not experiencing this from the gloomy back of a cab. We spend a few soggy hours exploring Grafton Street, and Kildare Street, nipping in and out of high-end shops and independent cafés; we make a pilgrimage to the historic Trinity College where various family members once sat in the grand halls, and we stumble across the famous New York-Dublin Portal, through which those on the Big Apple side naturally flex over their glorious weather. We end the day – as all tourists do – with a rude-not-to Guinness in the bustling Temple Bar area, and honestly, we couldn’t be happier.
We savour breakfast the next morning – eggs Benedict, pancakes, life-giving coffee – allowing us one last opportunity to linger before check-out. We have a family wedding down in Wicklow to get to, and with perfect comedy timing, the sun decides to poke through the clouds as we leave. But The Marker has certainly left a mark in our hearts: this is a hotel that mirrors the city’s quiet evolution – shaped by context, and stronger for it.
