This was my third stay at The Gibson in Dublin, I like this hotel, it has the right touch of creativity without being too contrived, its staff are friendly without trying to be too cool and its rooms are contemporary in design but functional and comfortable.
Themed around music â€" it’s located right next to the 3Arena, the main concert venue in Dublin â€" its signature mural is a giant painting of U2’s frontman Bono and guitarist The Edge.
During my first stay in 2014, it was a work in creation â€" I saw the artist finnbar dac at work and had a conversation â€" and so somehow I feel a connection to it.
Finnba dac at work on the mural in 2014
It reminds me of what Town Hall Hotel & Apartment in Bethnal Green, East London, did when it opened six years ago.
A former town hall bought by Singaporean hotelier Loh Lik Peng, known for his eye for picking up historic properties in up-and-coming neighbourhoods and converting them into boutique hotels under his Unlisted Collection, it invited over the course of its opening hundreds of local artists to create works of art around its spaces.
And so when guests came, they almost always saw artists at work. “It’s not often people get to meet with artists and talk to them about what inspires them,” said manager Marie Baxter.
She tells me the two most popular pieces are of the Persian Bear and the Moose Head, created by artist Debbie Lawson.
Read the full story here.
