The Five AA Red Star Hotel and Resort, The K Club in Co. Kildare has won the award for the world’s Best Luxury Country House at the recent World Luxury Hotel Awards. The awards were established in 2006 and recognise excellence in facilities and services and are presented to luxury hotels in different categories on a country and global basis. The awards were held earlier this month at the Indigo Pearl Resort in Phuket, Thailand and were attended by some of the world’s top hoteliers and leading decision makers. On hearing the news, Michael Davern CEO and GM of The K Club said, “This is great news and it’s a further testament to the professionalism and dedication of our team and the commitment of our owner Dr Smurfit. We are really thrilled and honoured to receive this award and want to thank everyone who voted for us.”
Over 1,000 hotels from 87 countries were nominated and The K Club is certainly in good company as other global winners include world famous properties such as the Burj Al Arab, Dubai and The Harbour Grand in Hong Kong. Winners are purely judged on service delivery and effective management voted for by international tour operators, travel agents and hotel guests who get the opportunity to cast their valuable votes annually, making the process fair and unbiased.
The K Club is owned by Dr. Michael Smurfit, its founder who bought the property outright in 2012. Since purchasing the property a renovation programme has been underway which has included laying new Connemara handmade carpets in many of the public areas, refurbishing bedrooms, building new tennis courts, installation of all-weather bays for the driving range and completely resurfacing the entrance avenue.
The Luxury Hotel Award is the latest accolade won by The K Club this year and joins several other awards in 2013 including; Ireland’s Best Five Star Hotel - Hotel and Catering Review Gold Medal Award, Best Hotel Restaurant in Kildare - The Restaurant Association of Ireland and Best Wine Experience in Leinster awarded by The Restaurant Association of Ireland. . The K Club also won ‘Ireland’s Best Golf Course’ and ‘Ireland’s Best Hotel/Resort’ as voted by the readers of the prestigious UK golfing title, Today’s Golfer. Earlier in the year The K Club’s Executive Chef, Finbar Higgins was awarded the title of Best Chef in Leinster by the Good Eating Guide while the property is also a recipient of the 2013 Hospitality Ireland Best Wine Experience Award.
The K Club is home to two Championship Golf Courses both designed by Arnold Palmer and has been the venue for the historic 2006 Ryder Cup and host venue for several European Opens. Aside from the luxury hotel other facilities include a resort spa, health club and swimming pool, several restaurants and bars, tennis courts and there is fly fishing on the grounds along the winding stretch of River Liffey that flows through the gardens and grounds. For more information call (01) 6017200 email sales@kclub.ie or log on to www.kclub.ie