It’s hard to believe that this boutique hotel, in a Grade 1 listed town house, at the corner of one of Ireland’s most perfectly preserved Georgian terraces, was once a youth hostel. Now owned by Patricia Roberts, it is home to period pieces, chandeliers and elegant decor. You can take afternoon tea in the drawing room overlooking the Victorian People’s Park with its bandstand and gazebos. Upstairs, instead of dormitories, there are four bedrooms with tall sash windows, antiques, a roll-top bath and monsoon shower. At the top of the house there is a two-bedroom suite with a lounge and kitchenette. Smaller, contemporary bedrooms, with a monsoon shower, plus a basement spa, are around the corner in a purpose-built block, linked via former rates offices. First-floor Sash restaurant will provide guests with ‘a fine dinner’; classic dishes with a twist showcase local and kitchen-garden ingredients. For example, stout-glazed beef, parsnip mash, sticky dates and braised leeks. Brunch and an all-day menu of soups, small plates, platters, salads, fish and burgers are served in the Long Room bar/lounge.