A SKIBBEREEN company which boasts the country’s first treehouses is on top of the world after receiving a major industry accolade.
Peter and Anna Warburton, proprietors of Cottages for Couples, were awarded a ‘Best of the Best’ award by Tripadvisor for 2021. This was on foot of receiving 11 successive certificates of excellence from 2011 to 2021.
To be awarded a Certificate of Excellence means that you are in the top 10% of hotels/tourism establishments in the world. The Best of Best Award by Tripadvisor now elevates Cottages for Couples into the top 1% of all hotels/tourism establishments in the world.
‘It took us a while to grasp the fact that we are now one of the top tourism establishments in the world. We all know that West Cork is a world-beating tourist destination and now it has a company that has been judged to be right up there with the elite establishments worldwide,’ said Peter.
Cottages for Couples currently has 12 properties around Skibbereen, including three treehouses – the first in Ireland. In 2019, the company brought over 4,000 people to stay in Skibbereen worth an estimated €1.2m to the local economy.
The company’s latest project, at planning stage, is the Newbridge project, the creation of three eco lodges on land sloping down to the River Ilen. Each lodge will be powered by totally renewable energy, and will be built from sustainable materials and covered by a ‘green’ roof.
West Cork TD Christopher O’Sullivan, who presented the firm with the Tripadvisor award recently, said the project was a great example of eco-tourism with significant ‘green credentials’.
‘Cottages for Couples is being assisted by the government’s Credit Guarantee Scheme which provides low interest finance for qualifying projects and the company anticipates that the project will create two to three permanent jobs and be worth an estimated €1-2m to the local economy,’ he said.
