The Westgrove Hotel

Naas,
Kildare
The Westgrove Hotel enquiries
www.westgrovehotel.com

• Award winning chef, fabulous food and great choices.
• Super Spa with pampering treatments
• Spacious and elegantly designed hotel

We found the Westgrove Hotel & Conference Centre easily enough from the N7 out of Dublin. It is very accessible from the South and West of the country also, and yet is just half an hour from town, so we liked the location immediately. Parking was painless, welcome was warm, the hotel was elegant and yet quite unpretentious and our room was lovely. We were booked in to the Spa for some pampering treatments and we were looking forward to enjoying Chef Barry Hayden’s super cooking; so we were planning a relaxing, rejuvenating and fun visit. I was not disappointed, we had a really lovely time and to top it all we had an excellent dining experience.

ACCOMMODATION AT WESTGROVE HOTEL

We had a spacious suite, with flat screen television, large sitting area, working desk space and free broadband internet access, huge bed with lots of pillows and lovely linen and a bright spacious bathroom with separate bath and large power shower. We also had a balcony to enjoy the fresh evening air, and of course lovely toiletries and fluffy robes and slippers. All of the rooms are of a very high standard, we can see why it is so popular for weddings too, as space, comfort and excellent food are all high on the list at this hotel.

SPA HAVEN AT THE WESTGROVE HOTEL

The staff were gentle, friendly and very professional. Wrapped in fluffy robes we were soon ensconced in the relaxation room with a delicious platter of fresh fruit and cold drinks. The treatments we enjoyed included a back massage and feet papering for one of us, and a super hot-stone massage for the other. The spa menu is one of those that makes decisions difficult with a very good choice of treatments, each one sounding more pampering than the other. But in the end it is the whole spa experience that is the most important and most memorable aspect of the visit. Spa Haven delivered in lots of ways, the treatments, the ambiance, the lovely relaxation room with luxury products, magazines, comfy seating, and complimentary fruit and a selection of drinks.

DINING AT THE WESTGROVE HOTEL

Executive Chef Barry Hayden has won gold medals in major culinary competitions, including the prestigious Culinary World Cup. This I know, because I was in Luxemburg the year that his team wowed the international stage with their dishes. It was a day when we were all proud to be Irish!
Since then Barry Hayden has continued to impress with his talented cooking and we were delighted to find that he has been at the helm of the Westgrove Hotel kitchen for years now.
These days are more challenging than ever for a chef with people’s spending habits moving in one direction while their expectations move in the other. So how to create mouth-watering dishes using imagination and flair, appeal to all tastes and budgets and impress all around you? Chef Barry Hayden seems to have the recipe for just that. The Exchange Restaurant offers a contemporary menu in relaxed surrounds and Exchange Plus offers that and more (the evening specials are the business) in really funky cool ambiance. We loved the red and silver colours, the comfy blanquettes, the glittering chandeliers, the well spaced seating, the lighting and the private dining area. But most of all we loved the food. Chef Hayden really shows his strengths in the evening specials with fresh seasonal ingredients cooked with gentle herb flavours a light hand and great finesse. The Amuse Bouche of Tempura of Seared Scallop was heavenly, our starters were Tiger Prawns and Organic Salmon presented three ways. A real treat for fish lovers, these dishes were mouth-watering. Moving on to mains I stuck with fish with the irresistible Black Sole on the Bone, and our other choice was delicious Duck. Both were smoothly digested with a bottle of O’Leary Pinot Noir from Australia The wine list was very well priced with great wines starting at just €15 and €17. The food was artistically presented on large glass plates and the whole dining experience was just great.

BREAKFAST AT THE WESTGROVE

It is hard to believe that we actually had room for breakfast the next morning, but a quick swim in the leisure centre put us in the mood. It is served in The Exchange Restaurant and there is a hot and cold buffet and also menu choices. We both opted for Eggs Benedict, which I always feel is a great set-you-up for the day.
We had a really pleasant stay at The Westgrove and were in no hurry to leave. We were heading back to Dublin and it only took us a half hour to get to our destination.
It was the second time we had stayed at this hotel, the first was two years ago, and that time we were also well impressed with our visit. The staff are particularly friendly and helpful, and we felt very welcome and looked-after. Isn’t that the very essence of Irish hospitality at its best?
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