News Blog - Hotel and Catering Review

Irish-Based Chefs in Running for Global Award

The road to the S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2018 Grand Finale is still long, but 10 semi-finalists from each of the 21 regions worldwide are now one step closer. They have been selected from thousands of applications submitted by young chefs from over 90 countries, all of them looking for their chance to be part of S.Pellegrino’s global talent search for the world’s best young chef. Ireland/UK’s [...]

Hastings Celebrates 50 Years of Culloden

Northern Ireland’s Hastings Hotels is celebrating 50 years of ownership of the Culloden Estate & Spa. Hastings Hotels purchased the luxurious property in June 1967, and over the course of the last 50 years, under the direction of Sir William Hastings, has transformed the Culloden in size and luxury. “I purchased the Culloden in 1967 for £100,000, when it was a 13-bedroom boutique hotel with a [...]

Chevalier Award for Margot Slattery

Margot Slattery, Country President of Sodexo Ireland, was named Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite by Jean-Pierre Thébault, the French Ambassador to Ireland, at a ceremony at the French Residence on Ailesbury Road on June 8th. It is bestowed to reward distinguished civil and other achievements by French citizens and other nationalities. Margot’s role in promoting diversity and inclusion, as well as promoting the role of [...]

Growing Tourism from the US and Germany

Tourism industry leaders from around the island of Ireland joined Tourism Ireland in Dublin on May 24th to take part in two workshops looking at ways to maximise growth from the US and German markets for Irish tourism over the coming years. Tourism revenue from the US grew by +72% and visitors by +48% over the period 2010 to 2015. Over one in 10 American travellers [...]

Integrated Payment Service for Irish Hospitality

BOI Payment Acceptance (BOIPA) has partnered with hospitality software and system provider Captiva POS to provide integrated payment solutions to its clients. Captiva POS is used for order and payments processing by over 1,000 hospitality outlets in Ireland, including Munchies, Hillbilly’s, Kanoodle, Ramen Thai, Thunders Bakery, Romayos and Sbarro Pizza. Now, with full support for BOIPA’s payment technology included in Captiva Software, Captiva clients will be [...]

Musgrave Supports Future Chefs

Musgrave MarketPlace recently announced a 2250,000 culinary arts support programme with DIT Grangegorman that will see the development of a new training restaurant and annual scholarship fund for the college’s School of Culinary Arts & Food Technology. The Musgrave MarketPlace training restaurant will serve as a state-of–the-art teaching space in the heart of the new DIT campus at Grangegorman. The restaurant will provide training facilities for [...]

Glenview Wins Business Excellence Award

The Glenview Hotel and Leisure Club, Wicklow has been awarded the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Award and becomes only the third company in Ireland to reach the internationally recognised business excellence model’s Recognised for Excellence Four Star Standard. EFQM provides a framework for companies seeking to deliver added value to their customers while improving their overall operational and business performance. “At the Glenview we pride [...]

AA Rosettes for Lyrath Estate

La Perla restaurant at the Lyrath Estate Hotel in Kilkenny was recently awarded two AA rosettes. The chief architect behind La Perla’s recognition as an AA Rosette winning restaurant is Executive Head Chef Gary Rogers, who has almost 20 years’ experience in the industry from a variety of destinations all over the world. During his four years in Australia, Gary worked his way up from his [...]

Dublin Champions Enlighten Visitors

Over 40 front line tourism representatives from across the city and county were honoured as ‘Dublin Champions’ at a recent ceremony organised by Fáilte Ireland in The National Maritime Museum of Ireland in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin. The group are now fully armed to help visitors uncover some of Dublin’s hidden stories and experiences.

Local Sourcing for Sports Stadium

Compass Group Ireland, the chosen foodservice provider for Páirc Uí Chaoimh, has committed to sourcing as much food produce as possible from Cork and Munster suppliers for the newly redeveloped sports stadium. The company, which is also the food partner for Dublin’s Aviva Stadium, secured the catering contract for the new multi-purpose facility when it re-opened on July 22nd. Local suppliers both in Cork and across [...]

Promoting Ireland in Tokyo

Club Tourism Inc, one of the leading travel agencies in Japan, will bring the first direct flight from Asia to Ireland this August, with 240 Japanese flying to Dublin on a charter flight operated by Japan Airlines. Senior representatives of Club Tourism Inc and Tourism Ireland attended an event in Tokyo on June 23rd, hosted by the Irish Ambassador to Japan, Anne Barrington. Tourism Ireland CEO [...]

Sodexo Helps to ‘Disrupt’ the Gender Gap

Tech-intensive industries are being decimated by an exodus of female role models at all levels due to the prevailing cultural issues around lifestyle. That’s according to Margot Slattery, Country President for Sodexo Ireland, who was speaking at the ‘Disrupt the Default - Closing the Gender Gap for Women in Tech’ event organised by Sodexo Ireland and global non-profit organisation Catalyst at the Bord Bia Thinkhouse in [...]

West Clare Tourist Information Point Opens

The official opening took place in Kilrush on July 18th of a new Tourist Information Point for West Clare. Located at the former Lillis Travel Agency office in the town square and operational until the end of September, the new service is a rural development and tourism initiative of Clare County Council in the West Clare Municipal District and is supported by Kilrush Chamber of Commerce. [...]

Design and Craft Businesses Charm Visitors

Design and craft businesses throughout Ireland’s Ancient East gathered in the Pembroke Hotel in Kilkenny on July 6th to attend a Design and Craft in Tourism workshop, organised by Fáilte Ireland. Thirty craft businesses came together to consider how their craft experience can meet the needs of the visitor and how, by engaging with tourism, they can grow their businesses and fit into Fáilte Ireland’s new [...]

ABP Ireland Strike Gold at Quality Awards

ABP Ireland were quadruple winners at the prestigious annual International Taste and Quality Institute (iTQi) Awards. The Brussels-based institute is a leading global authority when it comes to testing and promoting superior food and drink products. The 135 judges are selected from leading European culinary and sommeliers associations. ABP Ireland received three golden star awards for its Tipperary Dry Aged Black Angus rib eye steak and [...]

Wild Atlantic Way Stars on Swedish TV

A popular Swedish TV show, called Go’kväll, has been filming in the West of Ireland. The TV crew was here to record three separate episodes, capturing some of the unique experiences that their Swedish viewers can enjoy on holiday in Ireland. They’ve been visiting as guests of Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland. Go’kväll is a daily lifestyle programme which airs on Sveriges Television, the national public broadcaster in [...]

Blooming Amazing Tea at The G

The g Hotel & Spa in Galway has been celebrating summer in style with its 2017 Floral Afternoon Tea. Served daily from 12pm to 6pm, afternoon tea at the g promises to infuse their customers’ days with colour and energy. Guests can indulge in delicate delights such as white chocolate hibiscus and pistachio brownie, saffron and vanilla verrine, macaroons, raspberry and lavender tartlets, and the miniature [...]

A Culinary Odyssey Awaits At Adare

The excitement is building as the team at Adare Manor prepare to open the hotel in the autumn following an 18-month renovation and expansion programme. Skilled professionals will provide best in class service and facilities, including innovative dining options for guests. Maev Martin reports. Loughlin Druhan was appointed as Director of Culinary at Adare Manor earlier this year, having lived abroad for over 15 [...]

Osprey Opens New Restaurant

The Osprey Hotel in Naas launched their new restaurant Herald & Devoy on July 13th with the help of architect and star of RTE’s Home of the Year, Hugh Wallace, Cian O’Neil, Kildare Football Manager, and Kildare County Manager, Peter Carey. The men met the team at The Osprey to enjoy a celebratory slice of cake to mark the opening of the hotel’s new 130-seater all [...]

Carton House For Sale

Nama put Carton House Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort in Maynooth, Co Kildare on sale this month on the international market. Joint selling agents Savills and CBRE are guiding f60m for the 668 acres for sale, which includes the newly restored 18th-century Palladian mansion, Carton House, as well as the separate five-star hotel, which has traded since 2006. The hotel has 165 bedrooms, including 18 suites [...]

McKeever Group Buys Dunadry Hotel

Co Antrim family business, McKeever Hotel Group has added to its portfolio of hotels with the acquisition of the Dunadry Hotel for an undisclosed sum. The addition of this 80 bedroom hotel with health, leisure and spa facilities now brings the company’s hotel collection to five as the McKeever Hotel Group owns and operates Corrs Corner Hotel, Newtownabbey, Dunsilly Hotel, Antrim, Adair Arms Hotel, Ballymena, and [...]

Montenotte Launches The Residence

Following the recent investment of f5m at the luxury four-star Montenotte Hotel in Cork city, the hotel recently announced the launch of The Residence, comprising 19 two-bedroom apartments in the grounds of the hotel for corporate and longer term stays. The Residence dwellers will be able to enjoy all of the Montenotte Hotel’s facilities and services, including screenings at the in-house cinema ‘The Cameo’, and a [...]

Celbridge Manor Celebrates €1.5m Refurb

Celbridge Manor, part of the Podium Hospitality portfolio, recently hosted a summer reception to celebrate phase one of the redevelopment of Celbridge Manor Hotel. The f1.5m refurbishment concentrated on the upgrading of the entire ground floor, the newly landscaped gardens, and the outdoor fountain. The second phase of the redevelopment will begin in the Autumn and will see further investment in the bedrooms, as well as [...]

The last straw for The Tavern

The Tavern Bar & Restaurant Murrisk, a small village near Westport, Co Mayo, has called time on its use of plastic straws. In a move which coincided with Valentine's Day, the restaurant is instead opting for environmentally responsible paper straws instead. Around 500 million straws are used in the US alone each day (175 billion per year) – used once and then binned though they never [...]