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THE STEP HOUSE HOTEL
The Step House Hotel is on the Main Street in Borris, bringing together a lovely old Georgian house, a pub which has been in the family for 5 generations, and some chic contemporary additions to create a cozy and elegant boutique hotel full of character, and a continuing story of a genuine family enterprise, undertaken with enthusiasm and passion.
Borris is a picturesque town of cut stone buildings, traditional shop fronts and a friendly, old world atmosphere. James and Cait Coady's Step House Hotel, at the top of the town, is a true family concern and a labor of love, where James is a warm and welcoming presence as proprietor and Cait’s keen eye and attention to detail has created the stylish interiors, Cait’s daughter Aisleen runs the sales and marketing element of the business and son Alan is the talented chef overseeing every aspect of the fine food provided throughout the hotel.
A traditional Irish bar, classic but updated, the Step House Hotel’s 1808 bar is named after the year this building was established. With its polished brass, burnished mahogany and open fire, the 1808 serves the exceptional food created by chef Alan Foley daily and is a key element of the Step House Hotel’s excellent reputation and popularity. The quirky Bob Dylan corner in 1808 is exactly the kind of detail that makes the Step House Hotel such an interesting place to visit – a unique touch of personality designed to stimulate and intrigue.
The Cellar restaurant at the Step House Hotel is in the kitchens of the original old house, a series of interconnected rooms with archways and vaulted ceilings, with a handsome modern bar, and doors out into the pretty gardens. Here the bar is overlooked by a pulpit, another unusual and individual surprise, adding to the restaurant’s character.
The bedrooms at the Step House Hotel are large and comfortable, some with terraces, others with Juliet balconies and many with sublime sweeping views of the neighboring countryside with Mount Leinster and the Blackstairs Mountains to the east, and the Barrow Valley to the west. The colour schemes throughout are fresh and contemporary, where creams, sage greens and off-whites, antiques and artworks, flat screen tv’s and gleaming marble come together in an expert blend of old world and up to date. There are also self-catering 2 bedroom cottages and apartments at the Step House Hotel, and a marvelous penthouse suite (adored by brides-to-be!), an impressive series of rooms with fabulous views at the top of the house, with a private terrace, sauna, and a living area with a sweeping curve of floor to ceiling windows, with Mount Leinster as the backdrop.
The attractive ballroom is a graceful backdrop for polished weddings, a room with fluted columns, cut glass chandeliers and touches of rich brocade that can seat up to 180 guests, filled with style, and with light from the floor to ceiling French doors out onto the lawns.
Brilliant head chef Alan Foley, formerly of Peacock Alley, Sheen Falls Lodge and Chapter One, thinks, talks and breathes food and has a philosophy of using the best local ingredients, organic where possible, in his classical and sophisticated cooking. His menus are as local as can be. Creating thoughtful and elegant menus with quality ingredients, Alan’s delicious food in 1808, in the cozy and atmospheric Cellar restaurant, and for weddings in the gorgeous ballroom that opens onto the landscaped garden is at the heart of the Step House Hotel.
Because the Step House Hotel has been lovingly created by bringing family home and business together, adding and building and making new, there are nooks and crannies throughout, unexpected touches and surprises, a stimulating mixture of the quirky and the personal and the grand. From the wrought iron staircase in the lobby, designed for making an entrance, to the funky cocktail bar with its open fire and comfy couches, ideal for wintry evenings, to the covered balcony festooned with hanging baskets or the flower-bedecked pagoda in the lush gardens, perfect backdrops for stunning wedding photos, attention to detail marries the new with the old, seamlessly and with great style.
The MacMurrough Kavanagh dynasty, former Celtic Kings of Leinster and one of the royal families of ancient Ireland, are central to the picturesque town of Borris, still living at Borris House, the family’s ancestral seat, where they have been since the 15thcentury, just across the road from the Step House Hotel.
And at the Step House Hotel, Cait and James Coady and family are creating their own dynasty with flair and energy, a much-loved luxurious gourmet hideaway, and a hospitable and welcoming kingdom. Long may they reign.