First four-star opens in the southeast

The first four-star hotel in the south-east opens for business next week. Six miles from Waterford city, Faithlegg House Hotel has 82 bedrooms and is situated beside an 18-hole championship golf course along the banks of the River Suir.

Tower Hotel Group is leasing the hotel, at a rent below £200,000 a year, with an option to purchase after seven years. The group also acquired a 50 per cent interest in the Faithlegg Golf Club late last year, enabling it to make the course readily available to hotel guests.

King Henry II granted Faithlegg to the Aylward family in 1171 and the Bolton family succeeded to the ownership during the Cromwellian plantation. It was they who built the present country manor house in the late 18th century.

The Power family, Catholic merchants from Waterford, purchased the house in 1820 and later sold it to the De La Salle order which used the property as a novitiate until 20 years ago.

The property remained vacant until recently when it was restored and extended under the guidance of architects Niall D Brennan & Associates.

Faithlegg's foyer maintains its original stone floor and includes a classical fireplace and a chandelier commissioned from Waterford Crystal. The hotel's restaurant spans three interconnecting rooms, two of which are the drawingrooms from the original house.

Other features from the old house have been incorporated, including a snooker hall with wood-panelled walls, original oak-beamed ceiling, leather chairs and a full-size snooker table.

Original ornate ceilings have been preserved and two ceilings were re-created by the Old Mould Company in keeping with the house's original craftsmanship.

Fourteen of the bedrooms are deemed "superior" with four-poster beds - others have king-size beds - but all have views of the golf course or river estuary.

A new wing has been added to the country manor. It has 68 modern bedrooms and houses the hotel's banqueting and conference facilities in a sylvan setting with woodland and garden views.

Faithlegg's main conference room seats 180 people for dinner, its boardroom seats 16 and other meeting rooms can accommodate up to 60 theatre-style.

The hotel also has a health and beauty centre providing a range of treatments, and a 20 sq. m jacuzzi, sauna, steam room and gym. Golf is a major attraction. County Waterford has nine 18-hole courses. The Waterford Castle course is nearby and the championship course at Mount Juliet is just 20 miles away.

Faithlegg's course, which was designed by Patrick Merrigan, opened five years ago and is a par 72. Its closing three holes are said to be among the most difficult in Ireland. The hotel bar overlooks the golf course and Faithlegg House provides an attractive backdrop to the 18th green.

The Tower Hotel Group already operates the Tower Hotel & Leisure Centre in Waterford, Tower Hotel, Sligo, Castlerosse Hotel & Leisure Centre, Killarney, and the Temple Bar Hotel in Dublin.

McInerney Construction Ltd plans to build 45 luxury houses and 53 self-catering holiday homes on land surrounding the golf course. Work is due to begin shortly.