'We could have sold 10 times as many rooms'

As the practical reality of living without power, heat, water and even mobile phone coverage began to hit home, many locals worst affected by Storm Éowyn attempted to book into one of the hotels in the area.

“We could have sold 10 times as many rooms as we had available,” Karen Quinn, front office manager at The Greville Arms Hotel told the Westmeath Examiner.

“The phones went non-stop with people looking for accommodation,” she said, adding that while they already had a lot of bookings for Saturday night, it would be unusual to have all 40 bedrooms in the hotel booked out on a Sunday.

“I’ve been here 20 years, and I’ve never seen such demand,” she says, adding that most of those seeking accommodation were keen to be able to have a shower, and were booking in for just one night.

It wasn’t just that there was an unprecedented level of requests for accommodation, but for food also: “There were queues out the door of the coffee shop on both days,” she said.

Given that some parts of the county are still looking at a wait of several days before their electricity is restored, Karen estimates that the hotel will continue to see bookings for rooms flood in.

Annebrook House Hotel

The situation at the Annebrook House Hotel was similar, said Liam Glynn, who works in sales and marketing there; he said it was one of the busiest ever January weekends at the hotel. The demand was from local people going to the bar and restaurants to eat, and to charge their mobile devices, as so many were without power and water at home.

“Some of our guests were from the emergency services, we had staff from the hospital, the gardaí, the ESB, booking in, a lot of essential workers.

“Business was good all weekend, the bar was out the door with food, the hotel has never seen anything like in January before, and it was the impact of the storm, and I think it was all over, everywhere was busy in the town.”

Liam’s family farm at Ballynacargy was also affected; the water as well as the power was cut, and the pump for the well they use for the cattle couldn’t function. He said they managed by drawing water from the river using a slurry tanker.

Mullingar Park Hotel

The Mullingar Park Hotel “was full all weekend from morning until night as local people were using it as a base and for charging all their devices, to get internet coverage and to keep warm”, said Jennifer Meehan, sales and marketing manager. “We had a lot of staff helping out and we were using our own chargers and charging people’s devices in the offices and in several areas around the hotel.

“We had our Courtyard Lounge as another area open to the public so they could rest in the warmth and charge their devices and have access to our internet and access to water. We also let them use our phonelines to call people.

“We are lucky we have such a big area and lots of space here in the hotel and were happy to be able to be in a position to help the public,” Jennifer said.