1. February 21 2013 BUSINESS PROFILE 47
Enjoy a truly Galway experience
at the Park House Hotel
BY MARTINA NEE
Nostalgia, traditional hospitality, and
the assurance of top quality wholesome
cuisine - these are just some of the
wonderful qualities that keep
customers coming back week after
week, year after year, to the Park House
Hotel, a luxury four star hotel at the
heart of Galway city.
With its central location and
reputation with customers near and far
the Park House Hotel is truly a Galway
brand to be proud off. There may have
been many changes in Forster Street
over the years but one thing that has
remained is the high standard of
accommodation, friendly and
experienced service, and of course
delicious Irish cuisine at the Park
House Hotel.
There is a lot of history in the
building itself which dates back 160
years and first served as a farmers’ co-
operative and granary. Corn was not the
only thing that locals flocked to the
building for, as the first floor was also
used as a dance hall on Sunday nights
as well as being the meeting place of
Inghinidhe na nÉireann (Daughters of
Ireland) - the Irish women’s political
and social organisation founded by
Maud Gonne in April 1900. The building
continued to play a part in Galway in
the following years, being used for
many purposes as the changing times
demanded. Then in 1988 the building,
which was known at the time as
Powell’s Hardware Store was purchased
by Eamonn Doyle and Kitty Carr and
together they set about transforming it
into the hotel and restaurant business
that it is today.
Eamonn and Kitty first began the
business in the form of the Eyre House
Restaurant which opened at 10 Eyre
Square in 1975. The Park House
Restaurant was then opened in 1986
next door to the current hotel building
on Forster Street. Then the two
restaurants were amalagamated into
the one building, developing into the
Park House Hotel by 1996 with 57
bedrooms. With care taken to retain the
original stone appearance on the street
front the hotel has undergone extensive
refurbishment with the result that the
hotel now boasts 84 bedrooms in total,
employs 120 staff, and is a number one
hotel on travel review website
Tripadvisor. Many of the staff have been
with the business for a long time,
including John Connaughton who has
been restaurant manager since 1977,
Eileen MacMahon has also been
providing great quality service since
1977, Bob O’Keefe - head chef since 1986,
Martin Keane - second head chef since
1993, and PJ Forde - sous chef since 1990.
While we sit having coffee in the
resplendent and relaxing lobby, hotel
director Anne Marie Dowd explains:
“The hotel is unique in that it’s a
Galway home grown business. The
people that used to go to Eyre House for
Communions and birthdays are now
bringing their children for those events.
We have the same guests coming back
year after year. It is the service that
makes Park House Hotel special,
because of the fact that people know
what they are getting when they come
here. We’re very consistent and the
quality is always good. The restaurant
serve traditional Irish cuisine.
Customers know there is something to
suit everybody. Our customers still
want the old reliables. If you asked most
people what their favourite meal is, it is
not going to be foie gras, it is something
like fillet steak with red wine.
Customers want to know they get
something good for their money.
“Between 600 and 700 people rated
this hotel as excellent on Tripadvisor.
We get a lot of feedback online. Most of
the comments are about the staff being
so friendly, helpful, and warm. That is
something that we can’t control. A lot of
people go online these days to read
reviews, we are sold through those
channels. The positive feedback is
genuine and it really helps our
business. When visitors come to stay
they get good service from staff who are
welcoming and are excellent in giving
information on Galway. We pride
ourselves on the Irish hospitality, that
our staff are mannered, speak to people,
and do as much as they can for them.”
The Park House Hotel staff have
always prided themselves on providing
consistently high quality customer care
and service. Whether you have
travelled from near or far, it is the wish
of Park House that customers will have
many wonderful memories, offering
them a ‘home away from home’ during
their stay, where the personal touch is
not lost, and a place to which they will
return. And return they do, particularly
for events such as the Galway Races
when the Park House Hotel welcomes
many high profile names and trainers
through its doors, making it the ideal
place for racing enthusiasts, not only
because of the atmosphere but also due
to the hotel’s deep connection with one
big star of the sport, Go Native.
Referring to a section of the hotel
lobby which is dedicated to the great
achievements of Go Native, Ms Dowd
reflects on what he meant to everyone:
“Go Native’s connections with the Park
House Hotel brought great excitement
and anticipation before big races.
Tactics, jockey choice, odds, and the
competition would be thrashed out by
customers and staff, everyone having
an opinion but all united in hoping he
would be first past the post. Go Native
achieved great success in his career,
winning on nine occasions including
three grade one races in the UK - the
Supreme Novices Hurdle at
Cheltenham, the Fighting Fifth Hurdle
at Newcastle, and the Christmas Hurdle
at Kempton. He was favourite to win the
Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham in
2010 but was injured during the race. He
returned from injury in October 2012
after a lay-off of 939 days and looked to
be back to his best with great plans for
the 2013 season. Sadly he was injured
while training in November 2012 and
had to be put down. The shock and hurt
of Go Native’s passing was felt by all at
the Park House but the great fondness
for him and the memories of his great
success will remain.”
This united connection to Go Native
and to Galway as a whole is part of what
makes the Park House Hotel so unique.
It is not part of a chain so customers
really do get the ‘Galway experience’,
getting the chance to mingle with local
customers and be in such an excellent
city centre location. While the decor of
the hotel is warm and comfortable the
rooms themselves are even more
impressive, with more than enough
space - there is the option of the
superior room, the de luxe room, as well
as the much larger junior suites. There
is also complimentary WiFi available
throughout the hotel, all rooms are
individually air conditioned, and the
standard of housekeeping is
consistently high.
Adding another element to what
makes Park House Hotel that little bit
different is the artwork, by Derrick
Biddulph, which is displayed
throughout the restaurant.
Commissioned by Eamonn Doyle in
1979 these oil paintings are a window
into the past, showing various scenes of
Galway including Shop Street, Kirwan’s
Lane, The Claddagh, The Small Crane,
Spanish Arch, and Connemara
landscapes. In many ways, the Park
House Hotel truly is a Galway business
continuing to provide its customers, old
and new, with top quality food and
service.
For more information and to make
reservations phone 091 564924, email
reservations@parkhousehotel.ie, or
log onto www.parkhousehotel.ie
Head chef Bob O'Keeffe with assistants Isavella Kowalik and Sacha Tiernan at
Park House Restaurant and Hotel, Forster Street. Photo:-Mike Shaughnessy
Park House restaurant manager John Connaughton with his team (l-r) Marie
Hayes, Deirdre Swail, Caroline Rutledge, Jacinta Fleming, Sulwia Baltaza and
Cathy Barrett at Park House Restaurant and Hotel, Forster Street. Photo:-
Mike Shaughnessy
in association with the
www.advertiser.ie
Park House Restaurant and Hotel, Forster Street. Photo:-Mike Shaughnessy