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20th December 2016
12:10am GMT
Afternoon tea is quickly becoming a massively popular hen party activity.
Granted it may not quite as physical as zorbing or as creative as making your own nipple tassels – but you’re quaffing champagne, having heated debates about the consistency of the scones and trying out ‘mad’ sandwich fillings.
And on top of all that you get to get dressed up during the day, eat lots and lots of cakes AND enjoy the perfect environment to chat, have the craic and play hen games.
Here are our faves.
The Westin on College Green is famed for its afternoon tea – and with the title ‘A Most Peculiar Afternoon Tea’ is it any wonder?
Served in the hotel’s fab Atrium Lounge it comes with a Hendricks’s Victorian Mojito (served in a teapot mind you) and unreal delectations like popping vanilla marshmallows and popcorn panna cotta with toffee popcorn crumble. Drool.
And for those who are of the ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ persuasion they also serve a cracking traditional afternoon tea too.
For understated luxury, The Westbury Hotel is your man. And isn’t that no less than you deserve? A bit of the old understated luxury?
A traditional or champagne afternoon tea is served to hens from an elevated view of Grafton Street in the Gallery, a room decked out with over €1m of Irish art acquisitions on display. Birra class.
Ariel House in Ballsbridge is the place to go for a proper Victorian Afternoon Tea experience. It’s very quaint altogether – the tea is served on delicate Royal Albert china cups, plates and teapots and the dining room overlooks the house’s pretty Victorian city garden.
Old school treats on offer include banana bread, scones and strawberry shortcake, and because you probably want to get a bit pissed there’s champagne, sparkling wine and chilled white wine to wash it down.
It's technically in Wicklow, but the glorious five-star Powerscourt Hotel in Enniskerry is only a short drive from Dublin city – so we think we just about get away with it.
This is afternoon tea with a serious view. Hens can ‘take tea’ (it’s the posh way to say it doncha know) in the Sugar Loaf Lounge which looks out onto the hotel’s stunning grounds and the nearby Sugar Loaf mountains. Just gorgeous.
If you want to go in for the full whack The Beacon Hotel in Sandyford is offering a Vintage Tea Party package for a minimum group of 10 with an afternoon tea party, a vintage makeup tutorial, a two-course meal in their Thai restaurant, overnight accommodation and brekkie the next day.
If you fancy having your afternoon tea hen at home, out the back garden or even in the park, SocialBee provides a mobile afternoon tea service in Dublin with all the accoutrements – perfect if you’re worried you’ll get a bit too raucous in any of the above respected establishments.
It’s like ordering a takeaway but instead of a grotty foil tray you get sandwiches, cakes, china, ornate table settings, a record player and a server in full vintage dress. Genius.
The five-star Merrion Hotel on Upper Merrion Street definitely gets points for creating the most lavish, visually impressive afternoon tea we've seen yet. The gorgeous goodies in the 'Merrion Hotel Art Tea' are actually based on 19th- and 20th-century works of art by the likes of JB Yeats, William Scott and Louis Le Brocquy.
Served in the hotel’s lush Drawing Room, this afternoon tea is just the job for culture vulture hens who are after something special.
