2023 Award Winners HOST OF THE YEAR 2023

John & Elizabeth Barrett - Bervie Guest Accommodation Achill Island Co Mayo

The Barrett family’s magical beachside house is a low, tucked-in kind of a place with a little wicket gate giving direct access to Keel beach, and an otherworldliness which is very rare these days. Since 1932, Bervie has been the ultimate escape for the many guests who have stayed here. Elizabeth was born here and, aside from the location and the charm of the house itself - which has style without being at all ‘decorated’ - it is the sense of continuity that makes it special. And, of course, she has the ‘hotelier’s gene’. Hospitality comes naturally to her and her husband John, and to all their delightful staff - which, together with comfortable, compact rooms, a cosy fire, great food (at both dinner and breakfast) - adds tremendously to the charm of this very special place. As Elizabeth says, “Hospitality is what we do, what Ireland is all about, and we must treasure it. Without it, what is the point?”