TripAdvisor Reveals Ireland's Best Hotels For 2012

LONDON, January 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Castlewood Hotel named Ireland's best hotel; world's 6th best

TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP), the world's largest travel website, today unveils Ireland's best hotels in the tenth annual Travellers' Choice Hotel Awards, often dubbed the 'Oscars of the hotel world'.  For the first time ever, the awards this year include a list of Ireland's best hotels.

The awards recognise the world's and Ireland's best properties across several categories including best hotels, best B&Bs, best luxury hotels and more. Unlike any other hotel honours, TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice winners are based on millions of valuable reviews and opinions from travellers around the world.

Castlewood Hotel in County Kerry was named Ireland's best hotel and also ranked as Europe's second best and the world's sixth best.  Runner-up for Ireland's best hotel is Loch Lein Country House, also in County Kerry, while third place goes to Strandhill Lodge and Suites Hotel in County Sligo.

"These awards celebrate the best hotels in Ireland and beyond according to those that really matter, travellers themselves," commented Emma Shaw, TripAdvisor spokesperson.  "Ireland performed extraordinarily well this year, laying claim to three of world's top 25 hotels, including two top ten finishers."

Ireland's best hotels

Castlewood Hotel in County Kerry has been named Ireland's best hotel.  With a five-star traveller rating on TripAdvisor, visitors to the hotel have called it "excellent all around", "the best place we stayed in Ireland", and "absolutely first class".    

Brian and Helen Heaton, owners of Castlewood House Dingle said: "We are so honoured to be recognised by TripAdvisor as a 2012 Travellers' Choice award-winning hotel. We strive to provide the utmost in service and customer care to our guests and would like to take this opportunity to thank our guests for helping us to receive this award."

County Kerry shines

County Kerry performed remarkably well in the TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice Hotel Awards, laying claim to the top hotel in Ireland and five of the top ten. Castlewood Hotel took the top spot, followed by Loch Lein Country House (2nd), The Killarney Park Hotel (5th), The Ross (6th), Heaton's Guesthouse (7th).

Irish hotels amongst world's best

While no Irish hotels featured in last year's 'Top 25 Hotels in the World' list, this year three Irish properties made the cut: County Kerry's Castlewood House and Lock Lein Country House took 6th and 8th places respectively, while County Sligo's Strandhill Lodge and Suites Hotel took 13th place.

For the complete 2012 Travellers' Choice Hotels list and more reviews, opinions and candid holiday photographs, go to http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/TravelersChoice-Hotels (please note this link will be live with 2012 results on Wednesday 18th January).

Notes to Editors

Awards selection:

The winners are based on the more than 60 million reviews and opinions from travellers on TripAdvisor, including traveller ratings for specific categories.  Reviews and opinions were analysed using an algorithm similar to that used by TripAdvisor's Popularity Index taking into account the property's quality overall and for a particular category, according to traveller reviews and opinions, as well as the quantity and recency of content written on TripAdvisor.

2012 TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice Awards Highlights:

TOP 25 IRISH HOTELS

1.    Castlewood House, County Kerry

2.    Loch Lein Country House, County Kerry

3.    Strandhill Lodge and Suites Hotel, County Sligo

4.    Harvey's Point, Donegal Town

5.    The Killarney Park Hotel, County Kerry

6.    The Ross, County Kerry

7.    Heaton's Guest House, County Kerry

8.    Westport Plaza Hotel, County Mayo

9.    Vaughan Lodge, County Clare

10.    The Westbury Hotel, Dublin

11.    Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort, County Limerick

12.    Ballinalacken Castle Country House, County Clare

13.    Killarney Royal, County Kerry

14.    Four Seasons Hotel Dublin, Dublin

15.    The Croke Park Hotel, Dublin

16.    Brooke Lane Hotel, County Kerry

17.    Harbour Mill, County Mayo

18.    Sneem Hotel, County Kerry

19.    Lough Eske Castle, Donegal Town

20.    Lake Hotel, County Kerry

21.    The Castlecourt Hotel, County Mayo

22.    Fitzwilliam Hotel Dublin, Dublin

23.    Number 31, Dublin

24.    Cahernane House, County Kerry

25.    Sheedy's Country House Hotel, County Clare

TOP 25 HOTELS IN WORLD

6.    Castlewood House, County Kerry

8.    Loch Lein House Hotel, County Kerry

13.    Strandhill Lodge and Suites Hotel, County Sligo

About TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor® is the world's largest travel site, enabling travelers to plan and have the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from real travelers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features with seamless links to booking tools. TripAdvisor-branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, with more than 50 million unique monthly visitors*, and over 60 million reviews and opinions. The sites operate in 30 countries worldwide, including China under daodao.com. TripAdvisor also includes TripAdvisor for Business, a dedicated division that provides the tourism industry access to TripAdvisor's millions of monthly visitors.

TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) manages and operates websites under 18 other travel media brands, and together the sites attract more than 65 million unique monthly visitors**.  TripAdvisor's travel media brands include: http://www.airfarewatchdog.com, http://www.bookingbuddy.com, http://www.cruisecritic.com, http://www.familyvacationcritic.com, http://www.flipkey.com, http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk, http://www.independenttraveler.com, http://www.onetime.com, http://www.seatguru.com, http://www.sniqueaway.com, http://www.smartertravel.com, http://www.travelpod.com, http://www.virtualtourist.com and http://www.kuxun.cn.

*Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Sites, Worldwide, August 2011

**Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Inc. and its subsidiaries, Worldwide, August 2011

©2012 TripAdvisor, Inc. All rights reserved.

SOURCE TripAdvisor, Inc.