10 Best Hotels in The Northwest, Ireland

One of Ireland's most historic hotels, Bay View is well placed for seeing Donegal Bay and the nearby Slieve League Cliffs; its shiny guest rooms and lively bar and restaurant are all part of the scenic package. Soothing tones of beige carpets and curtains complement cream walls in the clutter-free rooms and pave the way for a relaxing stay at a hotel that is back at the top of its game after more than 300 years of trading. Luke's Restaurant serves steak, lamb, and Guinness-and-venison pie, while fishy delights include fillet of hake, monkfish, cod, and mixed seafood pappardelle. Carvery lunches are available in the Wheelhouse bar from noon to 3 pm, and bar food is served up to 9 pm. There's also live music in the bar on weekends. Famous Bay View residents of days gone by include Eamon de Valera and the soldier and statesman Michael Collins. Midweek or special weekend deals are available that include some meals.

Cosmopolitan modernists will love this funky, six-story riverside hotel. It elevates accommodations in Sligo to a brash new level: just take a look at the towering exterior, which has been designed to resemble a ship docked at the harbor. Inside, each of the floors has an alternating color scheme that may not be to everyone's taste: three floors bright orange, three floors lime green (with color-coordinated linens), and in the corridors a striped, gaudy carpet design that some find a little disconcerting. Public areas have a more sedate color scheme in the lobby and café-bar. The hotel also has three executive suites and a fitness room with an excellent workout area. Candlelit meals in the stylish kitchen restaurant include marinated Sligo lamb rack, grilled sirloin steak, or fillet of gilthead bream and surf clams. A one-man band performs each Friday and Saturday night from 9 pm in the hotel's View Bar. Some of the hotel's early sparkle may have worn off a little, but it's still worth a visit to breathe in the cutting-edge architecture and enhance your color senses.

If you want to watch the River Shannon cast its calming spell as you sip the best cocktails in Leitrim, head to this waterfront landmark where guest rooms are sleek, spacious, spotlessly well-appointed, and most have riverside views. All rooms feature wide-screen TVs. The elegant Boardwalk Café, which serves lunch and dinner, adds a funky feel to your stay. Aromas Café specializes in sandwiches, wraps, salads, and caffeine galore, and the luxurious Black Mint bar has a resident mixologist offering master classes in crafting concoctions. Look for special Sunday--Sleepover upgrades and deals.

High ceilings, marble fireplaces, and stained glass adorn the interior of this spacious Victorian manor house; bedrooms have superb views of the Donegal mountains, and some guest rooms overlook the garden. Parts of the interior and the coach house date from the 17th century. Bedrooms in the converted coach house are particularly spacious and come with small balconies. The 40-seat restaurant (where prices are usually in the $$$ range) uses burstingly fresh local ingredients in its French--Irish €42.50 prix-fixe menus; choose from slow-cooked Irish lamb, prime pedigree Angus beef, monkfish, cod, or a vegetarian dish. Desserts include crème brûlée or chocolate fondant. If you prefer a less formal (and less expensive) dining experience, choices include soup, goat cheese, pasta, oysters, and tiger prawns from 2 pm at the fully licensed lounge bar where a log fire enhances an ideal weekend getaway.

If there's a chill in the air, you can warm up at the roaring fires in the restaurant and residents' lounge of this large harborside Victorian hotel. The past surrounds you and nautical accents tout the history of the bay (three galleons of the Spanish Armada went aground at nearby Streedagh in September 1588). Enjoy wonderful views of the pier and the bay from the hotel bars, or tuck into the restaurant's acclaimed seafood menu. Try the favorites: Donegal Bay fisherman's pie or the classic fish-and-chips. In the Boatman's bar, renovated during 2019, you can snack on chicken burritos or enjoy fish chowders. Special packages such as excursions out to sea with local fishermen, or guided history and nature walks and horseback-riding activities are available.

With roots stretching back to 1794, this historic and convivial hotel enjoys a central location in the heart of Carrick. Leaning heavily on its past, the hotel showcases displays of its memorabilia, although it has undergone renovation. In 2017, the Michael Collins Room opened to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the republican revolutionary's stay in the hotel in 1917, when his movements were being monitored. The room comes with period-piece furniture, china cups and cookware, and an antique telephone. Guest rooms are comfortable and unfussy; ask for a modern room at the rear away from street noise. Lunchtime diners can enjoy hearty platefuls of roast beef, potatoes, and peas while soaking up a cross section of local Leitrim life. Special cruise and dinner packages are available in summer.

Formerly a Holiday Inn, this hotel has reinvented itself with flair, and the spacious entrance hall—with framed tweed pieces hung on walls, reflecting the area's connection to the industry—strikes a distinctive and welcoming note. Guest bedrooms in soft red and cream are well-appointed with unfussy fabrics. Dinner in the Aileach restaurant is served in attractive surroundings and the plush McGettigan's Irish Bar offers a lunch menu (noon–9:30) of comfort food such as seafood chowder, bangers and mash, or Irish stew, and dinner options (6–9) where steaks are the most popular dish. The hotel's strengths are its conference and leisure facilities that include a pool, gym, Jacuzzi, sauna, and beauty salon, although the sauna was closed during the Covid-19 pandemic, so it is helpful to check the website before visiting.

With the mountains on one side and the sea on the other, the Holyrood, part of the fabric of Bundoran for more than 60 years, is delightfully hemmed in and conveniently placed along Main Street. Well-appointed rooms, refurbished in 2017, are decorated in restful colors; there's a warm feeling even when the Atlantic is sweeping in and howling a gale around the doorways and windows. The Watermelon restaurant serves freshly cooked-to-order breakfasts as well as dinner. A grill menu is available in the Waterfront bar from 12:30 to 9 pm, and there's a seasonal carvery menu. This is seafood and steak country, but you'll also find turkey and ham, roast beef, and spring lamb on the menu alongside vegetarian dishes. In a separate building at the rear of the hotel, the Blue River Leisure Club boasts a gym, pool, Jacuzzi, and a sauna. The Escape Beauty and Spa rooms offer various treatments and seaweed baths.

Not a hotel per se—there isn't a bar, pool, or meal plan—Ionad Siúl has clean, comfortable, and spacious rooms, all en suite (bathroom included), with a handy kitchen for those who can whip up their own breakfasts. Before long, most guests want to pull on their walking boots and they can count on the owner Charlie McGuire to fill them in on the best guided tours of the region—a great way to explore the area's rich heritage and stunning landscape (prebooking is essential).

If you stay three nights or longer the room rate is cheaper.

With a 200-year-old pedigree, a recent refresh, and a legacy that spans six generations of the same family, this former mill, a rustic stone-front inn, is one of the few stops for sustenance near Lough Gill. A recent renovation added a new café offering lunches such as panini, soup, and "ploughman's lunch" (bread, cheese, salad, and pickles), while dinner steps up a notch with a more substantial local bounty of steak, pork, chicken, and fish. Traditional music sessions are held most weekends. Includes a self-catering cottage.