Donal O'Regan, 31 Aug
LIMERICK people don’t have to travel far to check out the winner of
Hotel of the Year from the Travel and Hospitality Awards 2024 (THA).
Castletroy Park Hotel is the recipient of the accolade which is given
out based on the reviews of customers.
Caherline’s Cyril Laffan, general manager, said it is “all down to our
wonderful team” and “we are delighted to receive the award”.
Pat McDonagh, fresh from a successful weekend at Electric Picnic where
Supermac’s had a presence for the first time, said it was a wonderful
award to receive.
The Só Hotels owner, which includes the Castletroy Park Hotel, said
what made the honour special is that it is based on the reviews of
customers.
“It is all down to our superb staff, headed up by general manager Cyril
Laffan. And I want to publicly thank our staff for all their hard
work,” said Mr McDonagh.
He said the hospitality industry isn’t the most attractive to work in
with early mornings, late nights and weekend shifts.
“I don’t think they are thanked enough for all that they do and this
award from Travel and Hospitality is in recognition of their excellence
in the Castletroy Park Hotel,” said Mr McDonagh.
The entrepreneur was asked about calls from tourism and hospitality
groups on the Government to reinstate the 9% rate of VAT for
hospitality food service businesses.
“It's a difficult enough time for hospitality because there's a lot of
extra costs that have come into play since Covid.
“Normally, you have either food price increases or energy increases at
different times - now the whole lot has come together and the
reintroduction of the vat has added to that.
“It's a challenging time for a lot of hospitality, catering
industries,” said Mr McDonagh.
READ MORE: Green light for €80m high-quality Limerick development
The increased 13.5% VAT rate came into effect in September 2023.
The Galway man said if the Government introduced the vat at two stages,
two per cent now and two and a half percent in a year or twos time that
would have alleviated a certain amount of the costs and pressures on
the hospitality industry.
“It is a challenging time for anyone in the hospitality industry, or
indeed in retail because Covid has changed a lot of lifestyles across
the country, and even habits have changed.
“You go down the main street of any city and there's quite a few shops
closed unfortunately.
“That's probably due to various different reasons but online shopping
has become much more popular and that lessens the amount of football on
the streets. Then you have extra costs on top of that.
“And let's be honest about it, there is a bit of a change in spending
power out there. Whether it is a semi-recession that's coming or
whatever but there is tightening of belts going on.
“There isn't the same disposable income and that's really due to the
cost of living. The cost of living in all households has increased and
so therefore the disposable income is less to play with. What the
government does or doesn't do, that's a matter for them,” said Mr
McDonagh.