GEMMA TIPTONstays at the Maldron Hotel, Portlaoise
DRIVING IN IRELAND is not all that romantic. It’s true we have beautiful roads, like the Sky Road to Clifden, the Ring of Kerry and the stunning route over the mountains between Belfast and Derry. But I’m thinking of that particularly American romance of cars and freedom, of heading out on iconic highways and discovering life and adventure. I know this is a dream that’s contributing to global warming, and that it isn’t terribly sustainable, but there’s still a whiff of something special about the idea of a road adventure, stopping at motels along the way.
I stayed at one in Texas once, driving along Highway 10 beside the Rio Grande from El Paso. Stepping from my hire car into the heat haze, I was greeted by the spitting image of Jock Ewing, the quintessential cowboy, who raised his Stetson and said, “Howdy, ma’am,” and I thought, This is America.
For locals, doubtless, the experience would have been nothing out of the ordinary. For tourists like me, however, Highway 10 and Route 66, no matter what The Saw Doctors might sing, will always pack a more evocative punch than the N17.
So what are we to make of a hotel at the junction of the M7 and N8, on a wet winter evening in the midlands of Ireland. Romance? Adventure?
The Maldron at Midway Portlaoise (also known as the Togher interchange) was billed as Ireland’s first motorway hotel when it opened, initially as a Comfort Inn, in 2006. I have often driven past and thought it would be the kind of place you might go to if you were having an affair with a travelling salesman, but that’s probably because I’m not quite ready to give up the whole notion of roadside romance.
We don’t go in for motels in Ireland, perhaps because you can drive pretty much anywhere (except maybe from Schull to Malin Head) in one go, and also because motorways are such a relatively new thing here. But sometimes it’s nice to break a journey, and even though there are currently no travelling salesmen in my life, I decided to give the Maldron a go.
The hotel sits just back from the roadside, and I arrived to find it illuminated blue in the gathering darkness. There is a large car park, where buses pull into Midway FoodCourt (which includes an O’Briens sandwich bar, a Tapenade Healthy Bistro and a Subway), and a health club with swimming pool, to which guests of the hotel have complimentary access.
The reception area is clean and bright but not terribly intimate – there you go: I can’t seem to get romance out of my head – and the receptionist couldn’t have been nicer or more helpful.
The bedrooms are large: mine contained one double and one single bed. There is an enormous wardrobe, which made me wonder how many nights they were expecting guests to stay when it was designed, plus a desk, table and chairs and TV. There is also free internet access and some literature about the area, should you be in the mood for exploring further.
I had expected it to be depressing, but it isn’t. The windows only open a crack, but I pulled back the curtains and sat on the window sill (I had to, as I couldn’t get a signal on my mobile phone farther into the room), watching the rain sheeting in bright streaks against the tall motorway lights and listening to the cars swish by. It was all rather soothing.
I had a bath – you don’t get individual bath and shower goodies to steal; instead, there is a large bottle of Lux attached to the wall, and another of Dove by the sink.
After that I made a cup of tea, hopped into bed to watch Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall trying to make life better for battery chickens, then settled down for an unexpectedly excellent night’s sleep.
Breakfast is a buffet in Stir restaurant, which is grand though not that thrilling. Noticing a coffee machine behind the bar, I asked the waitress for an espresso instead of the filter stuff, and the coffee she brought was delicious.
As I left, people were arriving for a conference, the car park becoming populated with men in suits. No, not travelling salesmen, but people using the Midway for exactly what it is, a convenient stop at what the place’s developer, Sean Fitzpatrick, called (before he ended up in the news for other reasons) the crossroads of Ireland.
WhereMaldron Hotel, Midway, Portlaoise, Co Laois, 057-8695900, www.maldronhotels.com.
WhatThree-star motorway hotel.
Rooms90.
Best ratesFrom €63 per room per night, excluding breakfast. Two nights' bed and breakfast, with dinner one night, costs €89 per person sharing from May until August.
Restaurants and barsStir Restaurant. Midway FoodCourt is next door.
Child-friendlinessChildren welcome, but no particular facilities.
AccessWheelchair- accessible rooms available.
AmenitiesSwimming pool, gym, meeting rooms, free internet access, ample free parking.