3 Best Hotels in Longford Town, The Midlands

Barry Keenan is the fifth generation of his family since 1838 to run this first-rate hotel overlooking the Shannon, with a quality restaurant perfectly capable of challenging the Purple Onion next door for culinary polish and panache. It's a popular stop off for river cruisers so there's a constant, convivial vibe in season. The bar is a mini museum filled with memorabilia and a "Wall of Fame" featuring some well-known celebrity visitors over the years. Bedrooms are painted in calming beige and cream, with black curtains, and dark-wood furnishings, and were given a makeover in 2019.

Ask for a room where you can watch sunrise over the Shannon from your small flower-filled balcony—an ideal spot to gaze at the river and listen to birdsong.

Rising out of the flat bogland and forest, Center Parcs is a huge new family-friendly resort that may have been developed for the Irish family travel market, but its wide variety of accommodations, amenities, and more than 100 activities make it a great option for visiting families with children who might want a break from the typical castles-and-cliffs Irish vacation. Putting the Midlands on the map as a family-friendly destination, Center Parcs offers accommodation for 2,500 guests spread over a staggering 466 self-catering lodges and 30 hotel-style apartments. Most come with log burners and private patios, while the more expensive options are equipped with saunas, hot tubs, steam rooms, and a games room. There is no shortage of activities with mini tennis, ziplines, and laser combat as well as cycling, painting, pottery-making, and the revitalizing Aqua Sana spa. Underneath the weatherproof dome is a subtropical swimming paradise, a vast indoor swimming pool made up of a lazy river, slides and rides, rapids, a whirlpool, and a wave pool. The minimum stay is a weekend break of three nights, a four-night midweek break, or a seven-night stay. Huck's American Bar & Grill has established itself as a popular venue with an all-you-can-eat children's buffet.

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The exquisite 400-year-old house, once owned by the Earl of Longford, has been restored to its former charm; the bedrooms are full of character and have impressive period wallpapers and antique mahogany wardrobes and beds. Breakfast is served in a vaulted room cheerily painted in Wedgwood blue. Try the Viewmount Boxty Benedict of smoked bacon, poached egg, and tomato. The 4 acres of grounds that surround the house are a gardener's paradise with an old orchard, a formal garden, and a Japanese garden complete with full-size pagoda. VM Restaurant, in a converted stable block, serves flavor-filled delights such as quail with smoked potato and apple, pork belly with lentils and potato mousseline, or pan-roasted halibut, all prepared by the restaurant's new Dutch chef, Marcio Laan. At €60, the five-course dinner menu is a great value; even better is the three-course early-bird (6:30 to 7:30) dinner at €35 served Wednesday--Friday.