Co. Clare's Dromoland Castle, Dublin's Merrion Hotel and Ballyfin of Co. Laois have all been included on Condé Nast Traveler's Gold List of "the best hotels in the world" for 2018.
As reported by The Irish Independent, Condé Nast refers to the venues that make up the list as "the ones we keep coming back to time and again. It's our love letter to the hotels that make us feel sexier, smarter, flirtier…that make us walk with a little more swagger and remind us who we want to be and how we want to live."
Dromoland Castle is described as an "outrageously beautiful" sixteenth century fortified castle on a 410-acre estate where guests are made to "feel like royalty".
In its assessment of Ballyfin, the American travel bible says, "If you've ever dreamed of summering at a country house, you couldn't do much better than this stately, 20-room Georgian home."
Meanwhile, when it comes to the Merrion Hotel, Condé Nast asserts, "From the grand marble lobby to the manicured garden, the hotel is a calming, peaceful sanctuary in the middle of [Dublin]."
