The Armada Hotel, at the top of the beach in beautiful Spanish Point, is currently the only hotel in Ireland to have achieved B Corp certification.Ten years ago I visited Copenhagen for the first time. Our hotel was carbon-neutral thanks to a giant wind turbine in the car park. Our five-year-old son viewed the city from the front of a cargo bike as we navigated the extensive cycle lanes and cycle bridges of what was the greenest capital city in the world back then.
Take That in Dublin review: ‘Whose idea was it to have stairs?’ puffs Gary Barlow as the band roll back the years with dazzling show Lunch awaits in Aileen’s Restaurant. A wraparound wall of glass perfectly frames the endless view of the Atlantic. The room, with its adjacent Ocean Bar, has to be one of the most glamorous dining spaces in Ireland. It would be a shame not to try the hotel’s own Mist + Moss gin created with juniper berries from the Burren and locally foraged botanicals.Low-impact seafood is a well established feature of the restaurant menu.
There’s no single-use plastic in our room and I fill our jug at a water station in the hallway. Coffee is made with compostable pods and I manage to convince my sleeping family to join me for an early morning swim as the beach is tantalisingly close. No chlorinated pool can compete with the thrill of a cold plunge into the ocean from a West of Ireland beach. A seaweed bath back in our room soon has us warm again and ready for the day.
He points me towards Moyhill Farm, just over the hill, where organic produce will be sourced for their school.