Athy hotel marks 20th anniversary & award 

ATHY hotel, Clanard Court, has been celebrating a number of achievements this month, with awards, country-wide recognition and the marking of their 20th anniversary.

One big achievement for the four-star hotel putting Athy on the map in the TripAdvisor ‘Best of the Best’ awards, which is based solely on authentic guest reviews over a 12-month period.

The hotel, which has long held the number one spot in County Kildare in the TripAdvisor Traveller’s Awards, ranked fourth in all of Ireland – the highest its ever placed and the only Kildare hotel to make the top 25.

Marketing Manager at Clanard Court Hotel, Anna Wood, said: “To be ranked number four is an incredible achievement.” “We’ve had a really good awards season, but this one was kind of the icing on the cake” Not only does the award give recognition to the great service and guest experience provided at the hotel, but it also promotes Athy as a tourist destination and goes hand-in-hand with efforts to enhance the town.

Anna explained: "It’s great for the region as well… there’s lots of things happening in the Athy area — big development plans, Shackleton Museum — it’s all coming together quite nicely."

As well as meeting customer satisfaction, the hotel also recently received certification under the Great Place to Work awards, which showed that 87% of its employees ranked it as a great place to work compared to 60% at a typical Ireland based company.

Anna credited Clanard Court hotel owners, the Fennin family, for this, and said:

"They’re a brilliant hotel, brilliant family for local employment and all the things that they do. All credit to them."

Clanard Court couldn’t have gotten its flowers at a better time as it celebrated its 20th birthday over the weekend, with a party hosted by the Fennin’s on Saturday, May 17 as well as a gathering on the hotel’s official anniversary on Monday, May 19, with staff, corporate contacts and local stakeholders.