The Lodge at Ashford Castle Crowned the 2020 Gay Travel Awards “Wedding Hotel” Winner

The Lodge at Ashford Castle was one of 23 leading LGBTQ, inclusive and accepting winners selected from hundreds of diversified finalists.

The 2020 Gay Travel Awards℠ presented by GayTravel.com announced the winners earlier this year. The Lodge at Ashford Castle is the esteemed winner of the “Wedding Hotel” category. Notable competitors were Boston Harbor Hotel in the U.S., Castlehotel Schönburg in Germany, and Hotel Cala di Volpe in Italy.

Now in its fifth year, the Gay Travel Award's mission is to recognize and reward select accommodations, destinations, and travel-related companies worldwide. These distinguished organizations lead by example and help inspire other companies and brands to follow their spirit of diversity and LGBTQ inclusiveness. They also strive to continuously improve their amenities, safety protocols, and service excellence.

GayTravel Chief Visionary Officer Steve Rohrlick said: "During these unprecedented times and with the pandemic raging, many travelers are restricted from traveling. The Gay Travel Awards affords us all a moment to focus on the industry’s best as a prologue to a time when it’s safer to get back out there. For their exemplary LGBTQ inclusivity, along with their warm, welcoming staff, The Lodge at Ashford Castle takes the cake! On behalf of GayTravel and LGBTQ travelers worldwide, we heartily congratulate them for topping the ‘wedding’ category!”

“We are delighted to accept this award and to have been recognised by GayTravel as a welcoming and inclusive hotel. We are so proud of our long-established partnership with GayTravel and of our reputation as an exceptional wedding venue, and we are so looking forward to celebrating many more weddings with our LGBTQ guests as soon as we are able to,” said Peter Fergus, Hotel Manager.

For those of you not familiar with the origin of Red Carnation Hotels, we thought you'd enjoy this heart-warming story:

The story began in 1952 when Beatrice caught the eye of a distinguished hotelier named Stanley, who was known for wearing a red carnation in his lapel. They shared their first dinner together at the famous Oyster Box Hotel, where Bea tried an oyster for the first time. They were to be married two years later with Stanley promising to one day buy the hotel for his new wife, and in 2006, he did just that. The Oyster Box was the first hotel in what was to become a collection built on Mrs. Tollman’s vision for service excellence and a passion for generous hospitality.

Today, The Oyster Box is recognised as the very best hotel in Africa and the love story is still at the heart of Red Carnation Hotels’ ever-growing collection of hotels across the world. From the chefs and sommeliers to reception staff and concierge, each team member exudes passion and enthusiasm to support the philosophy: “no request is too large, no detail too small”. Individual hotels are unique and characterful, whilst sharing the founding values that define the family-owned and run business. The Red Carnation Collection is a family business in the truest sense.
Red Carnation Hotels is one of the TTC Family of Brands.

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