The Best Hotels Near Oar, by the Record
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Despite the name, there's no castle, no moat, no portcullis, just an old manor house overlooking Galway Bay and the strange lunar limestone of the Burren. It's a classic Irish country house hotel, with drawing rooms, libraries, and around twenty bedrooms that range from snug to sprawling. Evenings tend to migrate toward the Corkscrew Bar, which is exactly the kind of old-fashioned sociability that no one admits they were hoping for until it happens. Michelin has awarded it one Key.
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Suites at this boutique hotel on the Wild Atlantic Way come with Jacuzzis and record players stocked with vinyl, which sets the tone nicely. It sits in a tiny Gaelic-speaking village just outside Galway, named for the Twelve Bens peaks in Connemara, and the interiors have a polished urban edge that the windswept surroundings do nothing to discourage. The gastropub is a warm landing spot after a coastal walk, and the restaurant leans into updated Irish classics.
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Martin acoustic guitars in the suites set the tone for this riotously colorful design hotel on Prospect Hill, the long-awaited Galway follow-up to the Dublin original. Smeg fridges, Marshall sound systems, and Rega turntables mean the rooms do a lot of the entertaining before you've even found the rooftop. Sophie's up top has sweeping views over the city, and Elephant & Castle handles comfort food downstairs.
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Philip Treacy, the hat designer who makes headpieces that look like architecture, did the interiors here, and the lobby makes that very clear. This boutique hotel sits in a modern building on the edge of Galway City, deceptively plain outside and a vivid, mirror-lined spectacle within. Guest rooms are calmer, all oversized comfort and muted tones. Butlers serve every room, and the ESPA spa books up fast enough to warrant planning ahead.
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A restored 1830 Georgian townhouse in Limerick's handsome Pery Square, holding a Michelin Key, with period rooms whose tall sash windows overlook the garden and a candlelit basement spa. Fifteen rooms lean toward a clubbier modern feel, but the original-style ones are harder to shake. The Long Room restaurant and a bar doing bespoke cocktails round things out, with afternoon tea in the drawing room for anyone who needs a reason to sit still.
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Perched in the sand dunes beside the entrance to Ballybunion Golf Club, this boutique guesthouse in County Kerry is a natural base for anyone who booked a tee time months ago and a happy accident for those who didn't. Rooms are simple and calm, with earthy tones and golf course views. Breakfast runs early to catch the first tee, the bistro and wine bar carries the evening, and the cliffs and beaches are just a short walk in the other direction.