Just across the Clare River from the historic Claregalway Abbey, this popular small hotel is owned and operated by the Dunleavy family. It makes a great base for exploring Connemara and the West and is busy throughout the summer with tourists and business travellers - and, thanks to its relaxed atmosphere and welcoming staff, it is also a regular all-year haunt for locals, ensuring business through the winter months.
The rooms are modern and varied in size, offering everything from a single to a triple or family room, and all have good amenties including workspace and complimentary wifi. But, unlike many hotels where the food is secondary to the accommodation, here it is firmly placed first - The Arches is not so much a hotel, it's more of a restaurant that happens to have rooms.
The day begins early, with a good breakfast including a full Irish cooked breakfast, cereals and pastries, available from 7am. Pancakes can be stuffed with Nutella, lemon & sugar or bananas; brioche French toast is served with bacon & maple syrup, porridge arrives with a choice of mixed nuts, fruit or honey. Poached eggs come with toast or brown bread, omelettes with a large choice of fillings and there's a good range of hot drinks.
During the day the bar and restaurant is a hub of activity. With comfortable seating in a startling shade of blue and great service, it is the place to meet friends or colleagues for a coffee or to enjoy lunch - starters can range from traditional garlic mushrooms to the more exotic Thai chicken salad, while mains ranges from roasts to steak to fish and chips, all very competitively priced.
By night the atmosphere is fun and relaxed, a place to enjoy unpretentious good food and drink. The evening menu is a variation on lunch, listing traditional favourites including steak, but there are some more interesting dishes for the adventurous eater such as a tasty vegetarian roulade with butternut squash, spinach and feta. A tasty pan fried fillet of salmon may be served with mashed potatoes, pea purée & citrus beurre blanc, while a cajun chicken burger comes on a toasted brioche bap with chips and plenty of salad. Desserts include favourites like apple pie and profiteroles, prettily presented and all priced just under €5.
The Arches has a well earned reputation as a quality, value for money establishment; portions are very generous and the prices competitive, another reason for its popularity with the locals. They do sleeping, meeting, dining and relaxing well and mix these things with an enthusiastic, personable staff - who clearly enjoy what they do.
This is a great local bar and restaurant which - having recognised that focusing on customer service, choice and value will ensure people keep coming back - has become firmly rooted in the community, A very welcoming retreat with competent, uncomplicated cooking and Irish hospitality.
