Galway Bay, Ireland

The Hawthorn by Galway Bay

Price per night from$393.93

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (inclusive of taxes and fees) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (EUR350.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

The Hawthorn by Galway Bay Photos

Style

Peacefully-pitched retreat

Setting

Galway’s surf and turf

Explore

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Outside Oranmore, coastal escape The Hawthorn by Galway Bay is so much more than a golf hotel. Beyond its 18 holes, tee up spells in the two-storey spa, with its outdoor copper baths; linger over afternoon tea, or head to an oyster farm for freshly shucked tastings. Dining is a stand-out experience, from fire-led, seasonal Irish cuisine to finessed Japanese fare spun with Atlantic catch. The Hawthorn even has its own resident chocolatier. 

Free Smith Extra

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A signature cocktail each at the bar

Facilities

Photos The Hawthorn by Galway Bay facilities

Need to know

Rooms

114, including 64 suites. 

Check–Out

Noon and check-in is at 3pm. Both are flexible, on request and subject to availability. 

More details

Rates at The Hawthorn by Galway Bay include an à la carte breakfast, served at The Skylark. 

Also

Six Classic rooms with step-free access have widened entryways and modified bathrooms for wheelchair users. Communal spaces, including bathrooms, are accessible, too.

At the hotel

Sun terrace, library, 18-hole golf course, concierge, charged laundry service and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: TV, air-conditioning, steamer, coffee- and tea-making kit, free mini bar with still/sparkling water, milk and orange juice, bathrobes, slippers and Maison Caulières bath products.

Our favourite rooms

A coffee-and-cream palette, marble accents and brushed brass details bring pared-back polish to all rooms — light-filled and bathed in bay or garden views. Junior Suites are a sizeable step up, doubling the space of Classic rooms. For a special occasion, choose the Penthouse Balcony Suite, which tops the podium for its spectacular vistas.

Poolside

There are two pools — one indoor, one outdoor, both heated for year-round swimming. A vista-wrapped hot tub sits beside the alfresco pool.

Spa

Perhaps it’s the pull of its Galway Bay backdrop, but the two-storey glass-fronted spa is awash in Atlantic-inspired wellness. The healing power of water is yours to dip into in the hydrotherapy pool, traditional sauna, steam room or cold plunge ‘snow room’ (there’s an infra-red sauna, too). Perhaps a Tata Harper therapy or Maison Caulières ritual in one of five treatment rooms will float your boat, but we’re taken with the six outdoor copper baths. Arranged in pairs, they allow you and your fellow Smith to enjoy a private seaweed bath side by side, soaking in the scenery.

Packing tips

Embrace the rural code of your surroundings with tailored tweed, waxed jackets and handmade knits (plus fours, optional).

Also

Workout views don’t get much better than the green-and-blue Galway screensaver on show at The Hawthorn’s gym, set aloft on the second floor of the spa.

Pet‐friendly

The Hawthorn by Galway Bay does not allow pets. See more pet-friendly hotels in Galway Bay.

Children

Welcome, but The Hawthorn is better suited to grown-up getaways. The spa, thermal pool and gym are for over-16s only. Free baby cots can be added to rooms, and Junior Suites sleep up to two kids on a fold-down double bed.

Sustainability efforts

The hotel sources produce from local farmers and fishers, where possible, and promotes seasonal cuisine. Rooftop solar panels and light sensors in offices aim to reduce electricity use. The bathrooms feature refillable bath products and water bottles are recycled. Compostable waste is separated from recycling.

Food and Drink

Photos The Hawthorn by Galway Bay food and drink

Top Table

Nab a table directly overlooking the open kitchen at The Skylark for dinner with a side of theatre. At The Oystercatcher, graze on seafood and sip fizz in a prime sunset-spying spot.

Dress Code

Casual by day, but evening calls for a sense of occasion at The Skylark or The Oystercatcher: fine knits, flowing trousers and statement blouses all get the nod.

Hotel restaurant

Breakfast à la carte and evening meals of seafood, steaks and seasonal sharing plates are served in The Skylark Restaurant. A large hawthorn tree in the centre and open live-fire kitchen bring the drama. Masterminded by chef Takashi MIyazaki (of Ichigo Ichie in Cork), The Oystercatcher serves sushi and sashimi, featherlight tempura and Wagyu beef tataki. A daytime spot on the terrace overlooking Galway Bay adds to its appeal. For afternoon tea, The Aviary is a sunlit lounge overlooking the gardens. Post-golf bites such as burger and chips and club sandwiches are dished at The 2 Iron. Linger over a coffee or hot chocolate in The Warren, a cosy retreat and library. The Chocolate Nest is where you can watch the hotel’s master chocolatier at work — and hopefully sample some of it, too.  

Hotel bar

Open by reservation only, The Nightjar is a discreet, speakeasy-style whiskey and wine cellar with rare vintages and premium spirits that can be set up for exclusive tastings. Or you can sip cocktails till midnight in the atmospheric Oystercatcher Bar, with its warm oak panels and soft lighting. For a casual pint, head to The 2 Iron, the hotel’s traditional 19th hole. 

Last orders

At The Skylark, breakfast is from 7.30am until 10.30am (11am at weekends); dinner from 6pm to 9pm. The Oystercatcher opens noon till midnight; for The Aviary, it’s 1pm to 3.30pm; the 2 Iron, 8.30am to 9pm; and for coffees at The Warren, 10.30am to 5pm.

Room service

Available around the clock.

Location

Photos The Hawthorn by Galway Bay location
Address
The Hawthorn by Galway Bay
Renville Village Rinville West
Oranmore
H91 YXR7
Ireland

You’ll find The Hawthorn by Galway Bay in Renville village in Oranmore, County Galway, with panoramic views across the bay. It’s around half an hour’s drive from Galway City.

Planes

You have three airports to choose from. Shannon airport is the closest, at around an hour’s drive from the hotel, and staff can arrange private transfers at extra cost on request. Dublin airport is roughly a two-hour 15-minute drive and Ireland West Airport Knock is around one hour 15 minutes away by car.

Trains

The closest stations to the hotel are Oranmore (an eight-minute taxi ride) and Galway Ceannt Station (a 20-minute taxi ride): both are served by direct services from Dublin.

Automobiles

County Galway’s surf-and-turf scenery is the stuff of car ads. If a road trip is on your agenda, there’s free parking at the hotel.

Other

For arrivals by helicopter, it’s possible to touch down in the hotel grounds by prior arrangement.

Worth getting out of bed for

Golfers may prefer to stay, chip and putt, but for the rest of us, the harbour city of Galway is a half-hour's drive from The Hawthorn. While away your Saturday afternoon in the cobble-laned Latin Quarter. Make a beeline for Kirwan’s Lane which is lined with independent shops and cafés. Take a guided dolphin and whale-watching tour along the Galway coast and get your camera at the ready. If you want to get right up close with the marine life, consider scuba diving, snorkelling or kayaking. You can also take a boat tour with local fisherman Ciarán Oliver, whose family has fished Galway Bay for generations.  

Gourmands will love the Oyster Farm Experience with Kelly Oysters, where you can hear the story of this family-run business, walk the oyster beds and taste oysters pulled fresh from the bay. If you’re feeling adventurous, go rafting on the River Corrib past historic ruins, old mills, castles and waterfalls. You can also go off-piste with brothers Pádraig and Aonghus Hernon, whose Land Rover Defender tour will take you past open fields and wild coastlines. Most of these trips can be arranged through The Hawthorn.   

Local restaurants

In Galway, head to Cava Bodega for Spanish food in a cosy, candlelit setting. Choose from over 70 different tapas dishes and head to the cellar for a more intimate dining spot. Check out evenings-only Kombu Ramen and Bao Bar for ramen, teriyaki, tempura and an imaginative range of bao buns, served in a cool, urban dining room lined with colourful graffiti. The Dough Bros is your evergreen stalwart for pizzas with a wide range of creative toppings; it’s walk-in only, so prepare to queue.  

Local cafés

Tea enthusiasts will love The Secret Garden, a family-owned tea shop in Galway, offering over 100 different varieties.  Set in a 400-year-old townhouse, Coffeewerk + Press in Galway’s Latin Quarter has a coffee shop on the ground floor, a design store selling homewares above and a top-floor art gallery. 

Local bars

The Crane Bar is famed for its traditional Irish music and weekly Celtic storyteller shows. For a calendar of live music and comedy acts (often Friday nights), check out The Roisin Dubh. 

Reviews

Photos The Hawthorn by Galway Bay reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this Irish coastal retreat and unpacked their swimming kit and hand-made chocolates, a full account of their wellness break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside The Hawthorn by Galway Bay… 

If wellness is about soothing scenery, restorative downtime and good food, The Hawthorn by Galway Bay scores a healing hat trick. Golf is the primary draw, with an 18-hole championship course bordering the hotel, but there’s plenty for non-golfers, too. A two-storey spa with a sauna and steam room offers ocean-inspired rituals. Our tip is a romantic, private seaweed bath in one of three pairs of outdoor copper tubs.  

Pared-back decor in light-filled, contemporary bedrooms lets your locale do the talking. It’s a simple aesthetic inspired by co-owner Paul’s travels around Asia — an influence you’ll find echoed in polished Japanese plates at The Oystercatcher. Fire-led seasonal fare at The Skylark, a book-lined warren and coffee bar, and a conservatory primed for afternoon tea extend the list of reasons to linger. Sign up for a chocolate workshop with the hotel’s master chocolatier, head into the countryside for a foraging tour, or line up whiskey and wine tasting in the hotel’s hidden cellar. What impresses here is the variety of ways to tee up a stay that’s well above par. 

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Price per night from $393.93