I haven't stayed at the hotel, but I have been in the area. This hotel is relatively close to the Dublin Clarion IFSC, where I've stayed on several occasions in the last couple of years. You'll actually be right around the corner from the O2 arena if you're interested in a show or a concert. I walked a fair number of places from the Clarion, but the Luas light rail is a viable option from the Gibson.

I think you're more likely to find vehicle rather than pedestrian traffic in this area (it's just off the road that leads to the Dublin Port Tunnel road and the airport). I don't think there are any safety concerns about the surrounding area, but as you work eastward from the Custom House, I think the neighborhood tends to become relatively sterile with lots of new office buildings and condos or conversions of older buildings to more modern facilities. It's an area that seems reclaimed from older buildings--and some of those older buildings, relics of a different maritime era in Dublin, remain. I suspect that this reclamation started during the Celtic Tiger boom and has not been fully realized as some of the condo buildings were only partially filled and a number of commercial properties have what appear to be longstanding vacancies. Nevertheless, this recent article will give you some idea of the type of development in the area: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/envir...oved-1.1587697.

Other than the hotel restaurants at the Gibson, I suspect you'll have to come back westward toward the IFSC or go across the Liffey to the area near the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre on the Grand Canal to find more restaurants. These restaurants are mostly sleek, modern places, not the prototypical pub that you're more likely to find as you continue to go west towards O'Connell Street.

The same group that runs the Clarion IFSC and the Clarion in Sligo operates the Gibson. I've had very good service at those two hotels so I suspect your experience at the Gibson would be equally good. I've found the staffs friendly, helpful, and professional.