Leading Sligo hotel extends welcome to wildlife as it adds bug hotel and bird boxes to its grounds

The hotel’s gardening contractors Ardcarne installed the new features on the grounds last week with the aim of providing nesting sites for creatures big and small, and educating young guests about the role of pollinators and other wildlife in the local ecosystem.

The works form part of a suite of measures which Sligo Park Hotel plans to introduce over the coming months which are designed to reduce the hotel’s environmental impact.

This is Sligo Newsletter

Enter your email address below and click 'Sign Up' to receive the This is Sligo newsletter direct to your inbox.

This field is required

Sign Up

Please check your inbox to verify your details

Bug hotels host native and migratory insects and are particularly popular among pollinators, which is why gardeners often set them in areas where there are flowers, plants, fruits, and vegetables.

Wooden bird and bat boxes, meanwhile, are placed in trees to act as nests for the various species of birds and bats that populate an area.

The willow dome is a living structure crafted from four varieties of willow.

Guests are invited to step inside the dome to sit and listen to the pollinating insects working in the willow or admire the leaves’ kaleidoscopic spectrum of colours.

The bug hotel and bird boxes have been incorporated into the hotel’s Fairy Trail, an enchanting experience in which children are given a map and a series of riddles and quiz questions, the answers to which reveal the locations of fairy doors dotted around the hotel grounds.

Sligo Park Hotel General Manager Gerard Moore says that he hopes the new features will educate young guests about biodiversity and help them develop a sense of connection to nature.

He says: “We are delighted to have installed the willow dome, bird and bat boxes, and the bug hotel, on the grounds of the Sligo Park and we hope that by incorporating these new features into our Fairy Trail we will help the children of our guests to connect with nature.

“The team at Sligo Park are always looking for ways that we can reduce our carbon footprint and make a positive impact on the biodiversity of our local ecosystem.

“The installation of new bird and bat boxes, and the bug hotel, are just some of the new measures which we will be introducing over the next few months that will make Sligo Park Hotel a more environmentally sustainable business.”

Last year, Sligo Park Hotel celebrated being named in the Trip Advisor Top 25 hotels in Ireland in the Travellers’ Choice Best of the Best Awards. It was the second successive year that the hotel earned its place among Ireland’s best hotels after receiving a “high volume of excellent reviews” from users of the travel website.