One of the main reasons that people like to come to Ireland on holidays is the welcome they receive. As parents holidaying at home, the last place we want to end up on holidays somewhere where kids aren't really welcome. From our arrival at Westwood, it was clear that this was not the case and that kids were welcomed with open arms.
Check-in was very warm and friendly. When we arrived, we were given a choice of activities that we could participate in for free for the whole family: a cruise on the Corrib river with the Corrib Princess, a pass to Bridgit's Gardens, a pass to Kylemore Abbey, or a pass to the Galway Aquarium. We chose to take the cruise and, although we have been to Galway a few times, we saw a part of Galway that we had never seen before which was really nice. The Corrib Princess departs from Wood Quay - very close to the city centre - and afterwards we retired to the famous Taaffes Bar on Shop Street for a little drink and an afternoon 'seisíun'.
The Westwood House Hotel itself is situated about 5 to 10 mins outside the city centre - you do need a car in practice. The hotel has lots of areas where you can bring the kids and sit down and you can get lunch or drinks without being in a bar area as such. There is also a pub area which serves carvery during the day and seems very popular with the locals - always a good sign. The hotel provides an unsupervised room with games and toys in it which is another useful distraction. A couple more touches that really make a difference with the kids: every night, you can order free milk and cookies to the room for them (and yes, they are brought up by room service!) ... also, kids movies on the TV are free, so you can pay-per-view all you want for the kids and you won't get charged. That makes a big difference when you want to get some quiet time or when the weather is bad. We worked our way through some recent movies like Tangled, Frango and Hop which are all recent releases.
We dined in the hotel one evening for dinner and had breakfast every morning. There were enough other kids around so that we felt at ease with having kids there ourselves. The meal was great on the night we ate there and the kids had a good menu choice too. The breakfast is a typical buffet but of good quality with cooked items like toast, eggs, 'Full Irish' and pancakes being made to order and brought to the table. You won't leave hungry.
The Westwood House Hotel doesn't have a pool, we were wondering how we'd get on - rule no.1 on our holidaying list is to make sure we have access to a pool: this gives mum a rest in the afternoon when dad takes the kids swimming and gets them refreshed before dinner (plus keeping them active and getting them a little tired) The Westwood House doesn't have a pool of its own, but it more than makes up for children in other areas.
For those who really want a swim, less than 10 mins drive away is the Kingfisher Club - a gym/pool complex which can be accessed for a charge - we didn't use it in the end. Instead, we used a family pass that the hotel gave us for Leisureland in Salthill. The kids really loved it - they had a ball - but we thought it was a bit chilly (Leisureland itself has seen better days....) although we did retire to BB's for hot chocolate and muffins afterwards which more than took the chill away. Adjacent to Leisureland during the summer was a fairground which is great for kids aged up to around 10 or so. We had a ball there - we managed to drop a good few euro by the time the kids were done and by the time it sunk in with himself that he was NOT going to win the Hello Kitty Alarm Clock (total value of clock: €4.99 - total amount spent trying to win it: €20).
We spent a few wonderful afternoons exploring including a wonderful visit to Atlantaquaria the local aquarium, walks along Salthill and a drive out to Spiddal. All in all we found the Westwood House Hotel to be a great base from which to explore Galway and the west and we'd highly recommend a visit.
View their family packages here or read the reviews of their hotel on Trip Advisor.
