On the Wild Atlantic Way, with views across the Burren to Galway Bay, ‘delightful’ Gregans Castle is ‘the epitome of understated country-house hotel luxury’, writes a Guide regular this year. Owned by Simon Haden and Frederieke McMurray, its mid-18th century interiors have been given an elegant contemporary spin with monogrammed carpets and charcoal-grey walls in the bar and dining room. The ‘big and individually decorated’ bedrooms, with uplifting splashes of colour, are filled with books and antique furniture from around the world. The staff are ‘unfailingly friendly and helpful’, and ‘little touches, including candles being lit in public spaces at dusk, exude style and comfort’. Chef Robbie McCauley took over the kitchen reins in 2018, offering such dishes as roasted Kilshanny lamb, wild garlic, morel, asparagus, Madeira jus. ‘The cooking is first rate: imaginative and elegant without being pretentious. I enjoyed smoked eel mousse and ceviche of scallops; and the grouse.’ Breakfast, showcasing local suppliers, includes grilled bacon and sausage with wild boar puddings and free-range eggs; fuel to walk across the Burren or cruise under the Cliffs of Moher. (Richard Parish)