For more than 25 years, John and Sally McKennas annual guide to the 100 Best Places to Stay in Ireland has focused on a simple truth about Irish hospitality: the people make the place.
Right from the publication of the first volume of the 100 Best Places to Stay, in 1992, and through to the 2016 edition, the McKennas Guides have always concentrated on the character of your hosts, and the generosity of the people who open their doors to welcome you into their hotel, their farmhouse, their B&B, or their country inn.
Star ratings and deep-pile carpets mean little or nothing in Irish hospitality. What determines whether you have a great time is the ability of the owners to make you feel welcome, to make you feel comfortable, to cook you delicious Irish foods, and to offer you sound and sage advice on what you need to know and where you need to go as you travel the country to get the best from a visit to Ireland.
So, whilst the book has always been called the 100 Best Places to Stay in Ireland, it could just as easily be known as The 100 Best Hosts in Ireland.
Whatever part of the island of Ireland you want to explore, the McKennas have gone there before you to find the best lodging, the best cooking, the best hospitality, the best hosts. With a reputation based on more than 25 years of painstaking research, the 100 Best Places to Stay in Ireland 2016 is regarded by travellers as the bible of authentic hospitality in Ireland.