Ashford Castle has been voted the world's number one hotel by Virtuoso, an international network of luxury travel agencies. The announcement was made on Wednesday night at the Best of the Best awards at the annual Virtuoso Travel Week event, a luxury travel show which is taking place in Las Vegas. The annual competition recognises the travel industry’s top properties and hoteliers. This was the first time ever that an Irish hotel was nominated.
Congratulating Ashford Castle on being voted the Best of the Best hotel, Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland’s head of North America, said: “Congratulations to Ashford Castle on this truly well-deserved award. Given that there are almost 1,100 five star, luxury properties in the Virtuoso hotel and resorts portfolio, Ashford’s nomination – and subsequent win last night – is a wonderful achievement indeed. It is a well-deserved recognition of the hard work of general manager Niall Rochford and his team, in building Ashford as an iconic brand in North America over many years.
“The award also helps to raise the profile of Ireland in general, in the high end, luxury travel category in North America – an important segment for tourism to the island of Ireland. It gives us another hook to showcase our superb luxury tourism product, including our castles, luxury resorts and boutique hotels, our rich culture and heritage, and not forgetting our world-class golf. We look forward to continuing to work closely with Ashford Castle, to welcome many more American visitors in 2015 and beyond.”
