Great Southern Killarney upgraded to five‑star status after two‑year revamp

The Great Southern hotel in Killarney has been re‑rated as a five‑star property following a two‑year refurbishment.

The hotel, originally opened as the Railway Hotel in 1854 and owned by the Scally family since 2014, was a four‑star establishment when the family purchased it. After restoring the historic Great Southern name in 2018, the owners set a goal of achieving five‑star status, which was confirmed in June after extensive upgrades.

General manager Jamie Power, who has previously worked at Mount Juliet and New York’s Waldorf Astoria, said the transformation involved more than cosmetic changes. Staff facilities such as canteens and changing rooms were renovated, and new, individually tailored uniforms were introduced to boost morale.

Power highlighted that “you can have the best, you can upgrade the bar and the restaurant and everything else, but if the team aren’t a part of it, it’s not going to work.” The hotel’s guest experience scores have reportedly never been higher.

In a recent anecdote, breakfast supervisor Kathleen Bhuiyan reunited a German guest with a chef he had worked with 60 years earlier, illustrating the personalised service the hotel aims to provide.

Maria O’Meara, director of rooms, emphasised the importance of quality, saying “quality means doing it right when no one is looking.”

Source: Irish Examiner. Photo: Abdel Achkouk / Pexels.