ALONGSIDE the Cliffs of Moher being named the country’s best visitor attraction in the Irish Independent Reader Travel Awards, there was further good news for Clare.
Bunratty Castle and Folk Park was also in the top ten, while Hotel Woodstock was ninth in the best hotels category.
Sean Lally of Hotel Woodstock said that he was thrilled to be included. “Head over heels! We’re the only Clare hotel listed in it and since we got it over the weekend the phones have been ringing off the hook in terms of bookings and enquiries and website bookings are well up on what they normally would be for this time of year.
“It’s a busy time for web bookings anyway, but they’re well ahead and you can see the spike in terms of traffic to our website. It has really been exceptional. We didn’t see this coming!”
He feels that the use of social media, which the hotel has become famous for, helped.
“We won an award last year, but it was in a different category, but to be in the top ten hotels in Ireland, we are absolutely thrilled and over the moon. We’re very humbled by it.
“I think a lot of it is down to our social media and the route we went down with the funny videos, that has got us huge profile.”
The success of the Cliffs and Bunratty will have a wider impact, he feels.
“We’re lucky we are in Clare, the Cliffs of Moher won the best tourist attraction and Bunratty was also included in the top ten. It’s easy to sell Clare when you have those types of facilities on your doorstep. We’re very lucky to be in the location we are in.”
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.