The Sligo Park Hotel may be celebrating becoming the top-rated Sligo hotel on travel website TripAdvisor but General Manager Gerard Moore insists his long-serving staff are not resting on their laurels.
Gerard credits the efforts of his “very loyal and committed” staff in implementing the hotel’s Stay Safe programme, which was designed to safeguard the health of guests during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as a multi-million euro programme of investment, with helping to push the Sligo Park Hotel into the top spot.
“It’s something we’re pleased about but obviously the rankings can be very fluid and, if you don’t stay on top of your game, you might not stay No1 for long,” he says.
“TripAdvisor is used by a lot of potential customers so getting to No1 is important in that regard. We had been No2 for a number of months but through our investment programme, which includes the more than €5million we’ve spent on hotel renovations, our investment in employee development and our Stay Safe programme, which was so important during the pandemic, we’ve been able to garner good reviews and add to the level of service and experience for people coming to stay with us.”
The hotel has undergone something of a facelift over the last five years, with €5million spent on renovating its 136 bedrooms, the bar and restaurant, lobby and leisure facilities, as well as the grounds, carpark and entrance.
“In essence, it’s a new Sligo Park Hotel,” says Gerard, adding that he is looking forward to a strong spring-summer season with a mix of both domestic and international visitors.
A ‘Stay With The Best’ campaign aims to leverage its place on the Wild Atlantic Way and capitalise on people’s renewed appreciation of the outdoors following two years of lockdowns and other public health restrictions.
“Our spring-summer campaign is ‘Explore Sligo, Stay With The Best’. People want to be on the Wild Atlantic Way, they want to experience the outdoors – that’s especially true as the pandemic begins to subside. Sligo has the beaches, mountains and lakes, which is why we say, ‘Explore Sligo, Stay With The Best’ – and the best is the Sligo Park Hotel,” says Gerard.
“When we reopened in the summer 2020, our customers were all domestic holidaymakers. Failte Ireland did a great marketing campaign and we’re very fortunate to be on the Wild Atlantic Way but we’re looking forward to getting our international guests back.
“We’re signed up to Failte Ireland Safety Charter, of course, but before that we created our Safe Stay policy which helped to reassure guests that they were safe and being looked after. That sense of reassurance remains very important to us.”
