Just got back from my weekend in Dublin and had a blast.

Stayed at the Four Seasons, which was nice, but a solid 30 minute walk from downtown. I got the room for $112 total through the crazy Amex 50% off sale (now dead), so I can't complain, but if I had to do it again, I would definitely stay at the Westin, which is very central and gets great reviews from locals and travelers alike. Cab to/from the airport was about 25 Euros.

Lunch: After walking around for hours, we ate at the Brazen Head and got great Irish / beef and Guinness stews. Its officially "Irelands oldest pub", but it wasn't packed at all and we got a great corner table, so it was a great place to relax and take in some beers after a transatlantic flight.

Dinner:
We ended up eating at the Mercantile Bar & Grill at the Mercantile Hotel, which was fantastic. Great ambiance and traditional Irish fare. Entrees were around 15 Euros. We ate on the second level, the first floor is a lounge which was pretty packed and played great music.

Nightlife:
Did after dinner drinks at the Front Lounge, which really heated up around 11. Drinks were about 6 euros and they take credit card. We met some great people there who invited us out later in the evening and we had a blast until the wee hours of the morning.

Second stop was The George, which was a younger (but still mixed) crowd. Downstairs stage/dancefloor and upstairs that looked down on the dancefloor. Cover was 10 euros when we went around midnight and coat check was 2. We met a unique group of people, including popper huffing drag queens and Irish lumberjack bears- among a lot of other really fun Dubliners.

After The George our friends who we met at Front Lounge told us to meet them at a straight Club Dandelion. This was around 130/2 and the bouncer told us the bar was closing. I talked our way in (told him I had to close out an open tab at the bar) and we found ourselves going down steps into a full-blown undergound club that was nowhere near winding down. We met up with our friends and hung there until 330ish when we decided we should go home and get some sleep before our 1045am flight back to JFK.

Overall, I had a great time. People were extremely friendly and the energy all around the city was great. You would have never known they were going through an economic crisis- most people just rolled their eyes and blamed corrupt politicians when the subject came up. The gay scene was surprisingly packed and our new Irish friends wanted us to change our flight to Monday so we could do the popular Sunday half priced drinks at Panti Bar.

Overall, good times and I wish we had planned to stay for more than a night!