Lorna Kernanvisits the Athlone Sheraton
HOW A YOUNG girl's memories trigger associations with a town. "We're in the centre of Ireland - Athlone," my father says. "And imagine, now the car is in Connaught . . . and now the caravan is in Leinster."
The conundrum fascinated us children in the back of the car as we crossed the Shannon with caravan in tow on the way to Barna in Galway for the August holidays. "So, could you have a foot in Leinster and a foot in Connaught?" my father asks. "Yes, of course, you could," I answer, the memory bringing to life my childhood fascination with my father's cleverness.
Now, years later, when I arrive in Athlone, an easy hour and a half from the capital on the Galway-bound intercity, I scan around for that iconic bridge, but the Sheraton four-star in Athlone distracts immediately, its 11-storey tower as visible a landmark on the horizon as Dublin's Spire.
No map or directions are needed to find one's way by foot from the train station to the glass tower. Looking up, the new hotel rises from the new Athlone Town Centre, its 70-plus stores (H&M, Zara, Marks & Spencer, River Island, Tommy Hilfiger, Topshop, Coast), a short and convenient nip for hotel guests through the Sheraton's Harvest Café. Incidentally, even before the centre opened its doors in 2007, it won this newspaper's Property Advertising Award for its Huguenot-XMI-designed film poster, designed to lasso prospective retailers.
Arriving at reception, the hotel was buzzing with wedding guests (the hotel can cater for weddings with 400-plus guests) flitting around the ample and cool foyer, a Murray O'Laoire Architects (MOLA) designed space with vast orange shades throwing light on the pedestrian traffic. MOLA also received the Urban Design Award from the Irish Planning Institute in April for its work on the new town centre.
Up the lift, then out of the lift for a walk across the glass-covered passage and past the outdoor space that showed the happy remnants of the wedding party's earlier drinks reception, find another lift to my tower bedroom in Athlone's spire. Up, up to the eight-floor to enter a silent, light-filled haven. Little fluffy fairy tufts of carpet were spotted here and there, testament to the newness of the rooms, jolting us back to a time when the new carpet had to be left to "settle" and couldn't be vacuumed so as not to take the "goodness" out of the carpet.
The room itself was unusual and not your regular shape: three-quarters glass with a balance of rich wood concealing the modern essentials of safe, mini-bar, iron and ironing board, coffee and tea-making facilities. Wall-to-ceiling windows exposed a view over the concrete mass of the town, broken by the cathedral and church towers, the River Shannon sparkling in a sudden burst of sunshine. After such equatorial rain falls, a weak and misty sun shone through the room and began to slip west as I got ready for dinner.
The room was serviced perfectly and it was great to find conditioner for highlighted hair alongside shampoo and moisturisers. And how relaxing it is to dry the mane with a hairdryer that doesn't require you to keep a button depressed. Despite its French monicker, La Provence restaurant offers a fair selection of Irish twists from such mains as braised rabbit loin with black pudding mousse and root vegetable jus to fillet of Irish Hereford beef with shiitake mushrooms and pearl onions and pink peppercorn essence. It's a decent menu from Austrian chef Roland Goessler, and rivals anything I raved about in St Remy de Provence in France this summer.
Later, back in the tower room, it took an age to figure out how to draw the curtains over the window wall, dark now and glistening with town lights. Unfortunately, it wasn't idiot-proof enough, not initially, at least. With no sign of cords or instructions in the guest services directory, I gave up and got into a fabulous big bed, feeling like a princess without a pea, lying on her tower of mattresses. As I went to turn off the light from a choice of half a dozen switches, I inadvertently activated the electric curtains and extinguished Friday night.
A good night's sleep later, morning came early. What to do after a light breakfast in the room, where a rare sunny morning showcased the view? How about a visit to the gym? Or, a float around in the pools? Hey, how about my first spa? Well, maybe that's another story. Or, how about finding that unforgettable bridge and putting a foot in Connaught and one in Leinster? Childhood and adult memories triggered the promise of a further trip to Athlone.
Where:Sheraton Athlone Hotel, Gleeson Street, Athlone, Co Westmeath. Modern, four-star 170-bed hotel, 090-6451000, www.sheratonathlonehotel.com.
Rates:Midweek: two nights B&B and one dinner for €169 pps. Weekend: two nights B&B and one dinner for €189 pps.
Access:All standard and deluxe room accessible by wheelchair.
Bars and restaurants:Breakfast, lunch and dinner served in La Provence (€45 for a four-course meal, with a menu that changes daily); lighter meals served in the Haven; 24-hour room service.
Parking:Free to guests; otherwise €3 per day.
Indoor activitiesthe hotel's leisure centre and spa, or nip to the shopping centre beside the hotel.
Outdoor activitieswalking along, or boating along, the River Shannon which opens to Lough Ree, home to one of the oldest yacht clubs in the world.