The Great Southern Hotel

The imposing, creeper-clad Great Southern Hotel was opened by the Great Southern and Western Railway Company in 1854 (the original railway station, still in use, is just past the main entrance) and was the first hotel owned by a railway company in Britain and Ireland. Princess Grace of Monaco, Pat Nixon, the Queen of Tonga, Charlie Chaplin, Tyrone Power and Jackie Kennedy all stayed here. The hotel's Grand Foyer has recently been restored to its Victorian splendour.