Humble guest house is top hotel

A seven-bedroom B&B located on the edge of Oranmore village has seen off the challenge of such marquee venues like Glenlo Abbey, Ballynahinch Castle, The Lodge at Ashford Castle, to be named as the ‘top hotel’ in Connacht for 2015.

Oranhill Lodge, which is located just off the N18 on the old Limerick Road in Oranmore, has been named by hotel search website Trivago.ie as the best-rated hotel in Connacht for 2015. The website used aggregated online user ratings to compile its top 20, and Oranhill Lodge came out on top in Connacht with a rating of 94.59, which also put it eighth in the whole of Ireland.

The award-winning B&B has been operated by Anne and Michael O’Neill for the past seven years, and Ann says they are both surprised and delighted to have won the award.

Owners Anne and Michael O’Neill.

“We have a good rating for Galway on the likes of TripAdvisor, but this came as a bit of a surprise. Naturally we are delighted with the award, and the fact that it is a result of ratings by people who have stayed with us makes it all the more valuable.

“The website used an algorithm to work out the overall ratings, so it gives a real authentic feel to the award that it was based on the views and votes of customers,” Ann told the Connacht Tribune this week.

Oranhill Lodge has operated as a B&B since 2001, with Ann and Michael and family taking over seven years ago.

“It is wonderful to be acknowledged for the hard work we put in and we thank our guests very much for rating us so highly. It is truly humbling to achieve this accolade when you consider the level of competition within the region,” said Michael.

They say that 2015 has been a particularly busy year, and credits the likes of the strength of sterling and the dollar against the euro, and the marking of the Wild Atlantic Way, as major boosts to tourism in Ireland this year.

“People who come to Ireland, they certainly don’t come for the weather,” Ann said. “The likes of the Wild Atlantic Way have given tourism a major boost, and we are right on that route.

“We enjoy what we do, but you would have to as it can be very stressful. We operate for ten and a half months of the year, and it is great to get recognition like this, especially when you consider other places that featured in the list,” she said.

The overall national winner was Harvey’s Point just outside Donegal town, which had a rating of 96.44; followed in second by the Killarney Park Hotel (95.56); and Heaton’s Guesthouse in Dingle in third (95.53). The top three in Connacht were Oranhill Lodge, boutique hotel the Waterfront House in Enniscrone in Sligo (93.88); and the serviced apartments, Jameson Court in Salthill, in third (93.71).

“It is really pleasing to see such a range of accommodation in our top 50, and it is fascinating that B&Bs are rated as highly as four and five-star hotels. It appears that holidaymakers in Ireland are attracted to the family-run nature and personalised service of B&Bs,” said David Lintott of Trivago.