The Downhill House Hotel brought gold home to Ballina, winning one of the most prestigious awards in Irish hospitality - the Hotel and Catering Review Gold Medal Award for Best Three Star in Ireland, sponsored by Tourism Ireland.
Celebrating 78 years in business this year which in itself is an amazing achievement, the Downhill House Hotel was awarded the coveted title in Dublin’s Burlington Hotel last week.
Run by leading hospitality industry magazine, Hotel and Catering Review, and judged by an independent jury of experienced hospitality practitioners, the Gold Medal Awards are widely regarded as the most prestigious and coveted awards in the business.
A total of 17 category awards were presented at this year's blacktie ceremony, which was attended by more than 400 leading hoteliers, restaurateurs, and caterers from across Ireland.
Sarah Grennan, editor of Hotel and Catering Review and chairperson of the Gold Medal Awards jury, explained why Downhill House Hotel impressed the Gold Medal judges: “This family-run hotel is one of the gems of the Irish hotel industry. Operated by three generations of the Moylett family, the hotel is a standard-bearer for great Irish hospitality, providing a warm and welcoming service to locals and visitors to Ballina.
“We last selected Downhill House Hotel as a finalist in 2010 and we were delighted to see the team go one step further this year and win the title. It is a win that is richly deserved.” Running for 24 years, the Hotel and Catering Review Gold Medal Awards are intensely competitive, drawing entries from hundreds of hotels, restaurants, guesthouses, clubs, spas, and catering businesses every year.
Each entrant is rigorously assessed by members of the Gold Medal Awards jury who travelled some 20,000 kilometres across the island this summer to search for the Ireland’s greatest purveyors of hospitality.
Rachael Moylett, director of sales and marketing said: “We are thrilled with the award, for our long standing members of staff, our customers, and businesses that have supported the Downhill House Hotel down through the years. The Downhill House Hotel is a third generation family run and managed hotel, and offers a warm Irish welcome to all its guests, so unique in the current climate of corporate chains and sterile hotels.”
