Killeen House Hotel and Rozzers Restaurant: A Wonderful Destination

The Killeen House Hotel and Rozzers Restaurant are a wonderful destination for travelers who are exploring Killarney National Park in County Kerry. Gerhard and I recently spent two days and nights at the hotel, and we absolutely loved it. As a result, I decided to turn Killeen House and Rozzers Restaurant into my first blog on places to stay and eat in Ireland.

The hotel is located on 1.5 acres in the countryside, only about a 10-minute drive outside of the town of Killarney. The result is that you can relax in a quiet, peaceful setting while easily accessing all of the wonderful offerings of the entire region. (You will need a car, though.)

About the Killeen House Hotel

The same family has owned and operated the hotel for almost 30 years. Michael and Geraldine Rosney bought it in 1992, and Geraldine and her daughter, Michelle, continue to manage it today. (Michael is now retired.) Geraldine and Michelle go out of their way to greet their guests by name and make them feel like welcome members of the family!

This family feeling is present in all of the public spaces, including the comfortable sitting room. On the first morning of our stay, Gerhard left early to participate in a 5-hour ‘test’ to obtain level 3 certification in kayaking. (Luckily, he passed!)

I, in turn, spent the morning working on a memoir writing course I signed up for while curled up on the couch in the peaceful, cheery sitting room. While I was there, Geraldine came in and talked with me for a while, which was lovely.

A Bit of History

Apparently, the hotel began its life in 1838 as the official home, or rectory, of the Archdeacon of the Church of Ireland for the community of Aghadoe. The church, which is located across the street, was built in Gothic Revival style in 1837. Unfortunately, it was closed in the 1980s. Boards now cover the windows and you can’t go inside. But the exterior of the stone building is still quite impressive.

Over the years, Killeen House was used as a farmhouse, a home for the elderly, and a dower house (a residence used by a widow that is near the main house on her late husband’s estate). The inside of the hotel has been modernized and expanded, but the outside remains basically the same as it was in 1838. (Except that the original trim was blue, not red!)

The Grounds

Beautiful gardens and a well-maintained lawn surround the hotel. One of the nicest features is a lovely gazebo where you can relax in peace and quiet while meditatively observing the distant mountains.

The Dining Room

The warm family feeling continues in the dining room, where guests eat both breakfast and dinner. The breakfast menu offers a whole variety of options–from fresh fruit and home-baked breads to eggs and bacon and waffles with maple syrup! Furthermore, guests can choose as many of the dishes as they want.

The servers in the dining room were also wonderful–at both breakfast and dinner. They asked us what our first names were, told us theirs, and went out of their way to make us feel welcome.

Rozzers Restaurant

When Gerhard and I decided to spend a couple of nights in Killarney, it was important for us to choose a hotel with an onsite restaurant. The major reason is that in July 2021 Covid restrictions in Ireland only permitted people to eat inside a restaurant if the restaurant was attached to a hotel and the diners were staying in the hotel itself. Another reason is that we enjoy drinking a good bottle of wine when we are eating dinner in a nice restaurant. Because Ireland has very strict drink and drive laws, this just isn’t possible unless we are spending the night on the premises.

The Killeen House Hotel and Rozzers Restaurant fulfilled this requirement. From the description of the restaurant on the website, we thought the food would be good. We were thrilled to discover, however, that it was outstanding! Every dish we ordered was delightful, as well as the wine. Luckily, we were able to experience a variety of different dishes over the two nights we were there.

When we complimented Geraldine about the food, she proudly told us that they have had the same chef–Paul O’Gorman–for 25 years! Both of my daughters have worked in the restaurant industry at different times in their lives, and I believe they would agree with me that such longevity is rare. Chef O’Gorman clearly cares about the quality, freshness, taste and presentation of his food. As inspiration, he draws on both modern Irish and French tradition.

Rozzers Named Number One Fine Dining Restaurant in Ireland

Clearly, we are not the only people who have enjoyed the food at Rozzers Restaurant. The day after we returned home, we learned that it had received Tripadvisor’s annual Travelers Choice Award-Ireland for 2021. This means that travelers chose it as the number one fine dining restaurant in all of Ireland!  

According to Tripadvisor, Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best awards are:

. . .the highest honor Tripadvisor bestows. The only travel industry awards based on millions of reviews and opinions from travelers around the world, these annual awards reflect “the best of the best”  for service, quality and customer satisfaction, from hotels and accommodations to destinations, attractions, restaurants and experiences.

Tripadvisor uses a proprietary algorithm to determine the Travelers’ Choice Best of Best winners. It takes into account the quality, quantity and recency of reviews and opinions submitted by travelers on Tripadvisor over a 12-month period. 

For all of these reasons, Gerhard and I will definitely return to Killeen House Hotel and Rozzers Restaurant in the near future!