• The Shelbourne will employ 300 people from all over the world. Marriott had 10,000 applicants for the jobs at modern-day "hiring fairs".
• The hotel was last refurbished from to top to bottom in the 1860s, when the largely forgotten architect John McCurdy designed its pillared entrance and elegant staircase.
• From February to May 1922 the Shelbourne was the setting for one of the defining episodes in Irish history: the drafting of the Constitution under the chairmanship of Michael Collins. Room 112, the Constitution Room, has been completely restored in Edwardian style and now houses the original table and chairs, and a copy of Bunreacht na hÉireann.
• During the 1950s the Shelbourne's guest list read like a cast list from Hollywood: James Cagney, Maureen O'Hara (the first person to request a doggy bag from the restaurant), John Wayne, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rock Hudson, Orson Welles, Rita Hayworth and, of course, Grace Kelly, who had a suite named after her.
• In 1958 John and Jacqueline Kennedy stayed in the Tonga Suite, named after the country's queen, who had needed a custom-built bed when she stayed there five years earlier, to accommodate her tremendous weight.
• The actor Peter O'Toole, who was a regular at the hotel, is reputed to have once bathed in champagne while staying there.
• In 1976 a bomb exploded on the hotel's mezzanine level, injuring the duty manager, Dennis Friel.
• The Chieftains were formed after Seán Ó Riada suggested it to Paddy Moloney in the Horseshoe Bar.