The Merriman Hotel a 5 Star Experience in Tranquil Kinvara, County Galway.
Situated in the heart of the Wild Atlantic Way The Merriman Hotel blends seamlessly into the tranquil town of Kinvara. It’s a 3 Star, 32 bedroom hotel which boosts the largest thatched roof structure in Ireland. It’s warm and cosy and ideal for a family break or a girl’s mid week relaxing get away!
Kinvara itself is just 29 kilometers from Galway City and 62 kilometers from Shannon airport. It’s location at the gateway to the Burren, famous for its unique limestone, flora, fauna and dolmen structures, makes it a perfect location to stay if you want to explore the many attractions that this area has to offer.
As part of a collaboration with The Irish Blogger Agency I was invited to stay for a mid week break to celebrate their “Skip the School Run for Endless Fun” campaign. I arrived at the Merriman Hotel along with my fellow bloggers, Issie, Celine Charles, Erica Lynch at midday. The friendliness of the staff was apparent right from the start of our visit.
Lunch was organised for 1.00 pm and I choose the vegan salad (I am not vegan but love tasty vegan food!) and it filled me up nicely before we headed off with our personal driver Gerry, a local taxi man, for an afternoon of fun and laughs.
The hotel treated us to two visits to local attractions. First stop was the beautiful Burren Perfumery, who produce perfumes and cosmetics using natural and organic ingredients. They take inspiration for the products from the landscape of the Burren. Everything is made by hand, on site.
They have 50,000 visitors per year visiting their shop and coffee shop and loyal customers can have their products shipped to them wherever they are, see website for more details on that.
Cate our guide brought us on a tour and showed us how and where the products are made. We got to see where 14,000 bars of soap are produced each year. She explained the different ingredients that went into each of the soaps and how they are inspired by the local landscape. There is most definitely a scent for everyone’s taste.
She also gave us a tour of the shop and we got to smell the various perfumes available, they range from the delicate floral fragrance of the Summer Harvest, to the fresh aromatic notes of the Spring Harvest and the deep woody notes of the Autumn Harvest.
Beautiful perfumes
All made at the Burren Perfumery.
En route to our next destination Gerry stopped to let us gaze at the beautiful landscape that is the Burren.
The Burren Nature Sanctuary which comprises 50 acres of wildflowers, fairy woodland, limestone and a disappearing lake, is a wonderful place for all the family. Mary, the owner brought us on a tour of the farm which has a selection of animals and is very interactive for children. You get to not alone feed the animals but you can also get to walk Emilia the fairy pig!!! Check out their website for schedule of walks and feeding times. They also have a fab playground and coffee shop.
We also got to see a unique Burren flower, the bee orchid which had just blossomed. Plus my children’s fairy books are for sale here too!
Back to the hotel for dinner then and lots of laughs with my fellow bloggers. I chose the Seafood Platter, the vegetarian curry with chunky chips and Eaton Mess for dessert! All scrumptious and all served with a smile!
We all met again for breakfast the following morning after a very comfortable stay in our rooms. Breakfast is one my favourite parts of a hotel stay and I wasn’t disappointed here at the Merriman Hotel.
It was a fantastic and extremely enjoyable experience and I would be happy to recommend a stay at the Merriman Hotel in Kinvara to anyone!
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