A five-star in Co Laois, a “reimagined pub” in Naas, and the Brennan Brothers of RTÉ’s At Your Service are among the winners in Georgina Campbell’s hospitality awards for this year.
The food and hospitality writer’s eagerly anticipated annual awards, announced today, highlighted Ballyfin in Co Laois as Ireland’s best five-star hotel, Clandeboye Lodge in Co Down as best four-star, and Casey’s of Baltimore as best three-star.
Ms Campbell described Ballyfin as “a luxurious – yet surprisingly homely – small hotel” where “the down-to-earth feeling of real Irish hospitality may be unexpected”.
B&B rates at the five-star start from €750 a night this month, but Ballyfin is cited as a shining example “of high prices adding up to good value”.
Value is a strong theme in the awards, which are known for Ms Campbell’s accompanying notes and analysis on the state of Irish hospitality, and she didn’t shirk from calling out “some unexpected disappointments” elsewhere.
Tasting menus priced at €150 and over, for example, “can indicate that respect for customers who are coping with the cost-of-living crisis appears to be missing,” she said. “Menus at that level seem to say more about ego and personal ambition than hospitality.”
“Yet there are those, including several of our award-winners, who manage to combine top level fine dining with more community-friendly and family-friendly options, and that is a very welcome development,” she added.
Source: Irish Independent
