Rick recommended the Grafton Capital Hotel in Dublin in his latest tour guide. When our air BNB reservation fell through, we called and reserved 5 nights at this hotel. It was as described in the book - furniture in the rooms was a little older and well loved, but the beds were soft and comfortable and the bathroom was clean with good shower water pressure. As he suggested, we reserved a room on the 5th floor on the back side of the hotel to minimize disturbance from outside noises from the popular restaurant/bar on the first floor. Our trip was in July and the room was not air conditioned (which we knew in advance) so we found we needed to keep the windows open to stay comfortable at night, thus offsetting somewhat the benefit of the room location. Another poster wisely suggested that we should have requested an electric fan at the desk - that was an oversight on our part. Also, we were there during the World Cup, so there was a crowd watching the outdoor screen every evening, thus adding to the usual activity at street level.
The location was wonderful - just off Grafton Street, so it was within quick walking distance of the places we wanted to see as well as the bus stops for destinations farther out, but a few doors down from pubs and late-night places so the evening noise was minimized. There is a newsstand across the street where we picked up water bottles and muffins for in-room refreshments. Coffee and tea were provided in the room with an electric kettle. There is also a really good short-order cafe called Zariah's across the street where we had inexpensive curry rice and chicken. (Wish we had discovered it the first day - we would have had supper there every night.) On the corner across the street is a tiny drugstore where you could pick up shampoo, etc. to replenish any used up supplies. The hotel has a little courtyard at the entrance with tables and chairs for the evening pub crowd but it is also a nice place to sit and drink morning coffee before heading out for sightseeing. There is an ATM just at the entrance to the courtyard from the street.
There was free wi-fi on the 2nd floor in the lounge area. The lounge in the photos on the hotel web site is just outside the elevators on the 2nd floor, but around the corner at the entrance to the restaurant is a better wi-fi connection. We did not eat in the restaurant so I can't comment on the food.
Everyone on the desk staff was very friendly and helpful. They cheerfully answered our questions about how to get to different locations and provided maps every time we asked for them. When we arrived on a Saturday and found that we needed one more bath towel in our room, within 5 minutes of our call to the front desk there was a staff member at our door with our requested towel as well as a housekeeping cart in case we needed other items.
We are Americans and are not very good recyclers, so the small wastebaskets in the room filled up quickly with our wrappers and other trash. Our trash was not emptied by housekeeping until Monday afternoon, although in retrospect I am sure we could have called and requested this but just did not think of it.
I don't know how the price compares to other similar hotels in Dublin, but we were 3 ladies traveling together and splitting the cost 3 ways so I had a nice, comfortable, safe place to sleep in Dublin for about $55 a night. I would agree with Rick's description and recommendation.