FERNHILL House Hotel in Clonakilty has been invited to join the prestigious Blue Book.
The Blue Book was founded by Myrtle Allen of Ballymaloe in 1974 and is a collection of Ireland’s finest hotels featuring castles, estates, historic country houses and more. Fernhill will join other Cork Blue Book properties such Ballymaloe House, Hayfield Manor, Blairs Cove, Liss Ard House, Dunowen House and Perryville House in Kinsale.
Teresa O’Neill of Fernhill House said they were delighted to be included: ‘It has been a massive goal for us for many years to be asked to join as the Blue Book represents the cream of Irish hospitality, so we are over the moon!’
Michael O’Neill jnr added: ‘This is fantastic news for us, it represents a new level and we have worked very hard to improve standards at Fernhill. The process of joining was very tough as the Blue Book is so prestigious. You really must polish every aspect of your business and only then will you even be considered. After that there are a series of undercover inspections where everything must be perfect, especially the food as that is so vital to the Blue Book experience. It took a constant effort over a number of years so you can imagine how happy we are to hear that we will be part of this. It will be such a massive boost for everyone here.’
He said the Blue Book is held in ‘such high regard and gets so much attention that having another member in West Cork will hopefully bring more visitors to the area which will be great as tourism is so important for our region.’
The invitation to join the Blue Book has capped off a very successful year at Fernhill. The Clonakilty venue was named ‘Best Wedding Venue In Ireland’ at the Gold Medal Awards and was ranked as the seventh best hotel in Ireland on Tripadvisor in their annual rankings.
