It’s not the first place you’d look for a hotel like this. Which, one imagines, is pretty much the point of the place. Inis Meáin is just a speck of a place, a tiny island in Galway Bay on the Atlantic side of Ireland, home to just 200 people. But two of those 200 are your hosts, a chef and his hotelier wife, who, with the help of one of Ireland’s leading architects, are responsible for the Inis Meáin Restaurant & Suites.
The island’s topography is unique, crisscrossed with low limestone walls, and the hotel building blends in with the house style, constructed as it is from these same local limestone rocks. That’s the hotel’s philosophy in a nutshell, and it carries over into the restaurant, where just about everything is local, from shellfish caught by island fishermen to potatoes and vegetables grown on-site.
A big hotel could easily double the island’s population. So this is not a big hotel. Three suites seems about right for Inis Meáin’s size, and each one is soothingly spare, almost religiously so — clean lines, simple spaces, and huge framed views of the island and the bay. This is the kind of pared-down modern luxury that would be inspiring enough in the city — in such a unique setting as Inis Meáin, it’s downright unforgettable.
author watson@mouselink.net, source www.tablethotels.com
