the g Hotel

the g Hotel Review

"G" is for glamour—or good grief (depending on your taste)—at this flamboyant player at the top end of Galway's hotel scene, whose architects worked with superstar hat designer Philip Treacy (a native of Galway) to create an interior that is every bit as extreme as Treacy's hats. The g opened in 2006 beside a busy roundabout, about 15 minutes' walk from Eyre Square in the Wellpark neighborhood-an oddly unhip location for a style icon. The reception area is in black glass and marble, lighted by a tank of sedately bobbing, Connemara-bred sea horses. Yes, sea horses. Black-and-white op-art whorls feature on the aptly named Vertigo carpet in the vivid Pink Room, where afternoon tea (€59 for two with a glass of pink champagne) is popular with the ladies. Dimly lighted corridors with pink carpet lead to rooms where the decor is thankfully more restrained. Massive, extremely comfortable beds are dressed in white linen, and graceful custom-made furniture has an Art Deco air. Windows look onto pebbled areas with greenery that distract from the mundane views. Seashell-theme bathrooms are luxurious havens of marble and fine porcelain. Perched on scallop-shaped purple velvet banquettes or gumdrop-bright chairs in the ordinary but expensive Matz at the g, you can order from a contemporary Irish menu. The ESPA spa takes pampering to serious extremes.