The transformation of 22 St Stephen's Green from "a tired but structurally sound" Friendly Brothers of St Patrick club to a plush, elegant restaurant and boutique hotel took time. Crammed with objets d'art and luxurious fabrics from all over Europe, it took longer in fact than it normally takes to build a 200-bed hotel on a greenfield site, says the owner of Brownes Brasserie and Townhouse, Barry Canny.
Canny was involved in the purchase of Number 22 through Trinity Estates, which advertised the lease in the mid-1990s. According to Canny, anyone who could "boil a kettle" wanted it but "they were not suitable financially". In late 1996, he decided to take the project on himself. Two years and £1.75 million in refurbishment costs later, Brownes Brasserie and Townhouse opened to the public.
Its two short years in operation have proved to be something of a baptism of fire. In December, Gilbeys gave it the Gold Medal for excellence in catering (Myrtle Allen of Ballymaloe Country House was a previous winner). Other awards last year include Best Restaurant presentation of the year, sponsored by Irish Distillers, and the AA Five Diamonds.
He was told it would never work. He would be a small man competing in a big man's world - the hotel element has just 12 bedrooms. He was reminded that restaurants in hotels rarely succeed because the focus is more on getting bodies into rooms than on fine cuisine.
To prove them wrong, when Brownes Brasserie opened in December 1998, Canny waited four months before opening the hotel part of the business. The emphasis is on country house, cosy elegance. A listed building, the fine ceilings and fireplaces of Number 22 are complemented by antiques from Prague and Paris and sumptuous decor, giving it an old world ambience.
He says Brownes provides an alternative to the vast "faceless operations with faceless staff". Although a small hotel, Brownes is a relatively big operation with over 30 staff. Canny refers to it as a "five-star operation at three-star prices". The 12 luxury rooms come in different shapes and sizes - some with four poster beds facing on to St Stephen's Green - and cost from £120 per night. The average cost of a room is £155 to £160 per night and the Grand Suite - where Jack Nicholson and Joan Collins have (separately) spent the night - costs over £300 a night. Prices include breakfast.
"The price points must be right. If we get a certain margin we are happy with it. The beds win out in terms of profit; the restaurant is very expensive to run."
The Marilyn Monroe bed in the Grand Suite was bought at a London auction as a "pile of bric-a-brac" and was reconstructed by craftsmen here. Decor-wise, the ethos of Brownes is maximalism. "I've not much faith in minimalism. Trends change so fast, it's better to stick with timeless pieces." Holding on to staff has been one of the secrets of Brownes success. "You have to be generous to staff, it is part of the investment. Most of the people who work here now have been with us since the beginning."
He is reluctant to name the German chef behind the restaurant. "We have had problems with new fancy hotels on big budgets trying to pinch staff."
As number 22 is a listed building, there is little scope for expansion. "There is really nowhere for us to go. Brownes has become very much a branded entity and we have had an approach from a hotel to run our food and beverage operation and another approach to open a Brownes in Belfast. We have so far resisted."
