Perfect Xmas retreat

IF YOU still need proof that Christmas is now a fully-fledged season — as opposed to a single day, or even several days, of festive fun — you’ll find it in Eyre Square.

Galway’s civic plaza is crammed with 70 chalets, a big beer tent and an atmosphere that feels like it was FedExed from Munich. Fairy lights are twinkling. An old-school carousel is chiming.

The air is thick with cinnamon, and you can’t stick your arm out without hitting a pretzel or a bratwurst.

Need some respite from bad economic news? Check out the Angela Merkel Quartet. Peckish? Try a Breton tart. Thirsty? There’s hot apple cider at the beer tent. Galway’s continental Christmas market runs until December 18, and it’s an atmospheric excuse for a winter visit.

First impressions

I stay at the Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa on Lough Atalia Road. My hopes are tempered after a mixed experience at the Radisson Blu in Limerick recently, but a step into the slick and spacious lobby is all the reassurance I need. With over-sized lampshades hanging down over grey armchairs, aubergine carpets and a curving wall of reception desks, this looks like a choice Radisson.

I’m surprised to find out that the hotel is 10 years old. It feels about a third of that. A recent refurb has a lot to do with this, but the lobby packs a huge punch. It’s a very stylised, make-a-statement kind of contemporary space, with lots of marble, tall palm trees, glass elevators whizzing up into a gaping atrium, and a Christmas tree cosseting several shiny parcels.

The room

Rooms at the Radisson range from standard twins to executive suites on a dedicated floor. Most are still gleaming after the recent makeover, and standard rooms eke the most out of their compact space with the use of black marble, spanking white duvets and Scandinavian-style light fittings.

Radissons don’t do personality. What they do is slick, businesslike design. A black crushed velvet armchair comes with a matching, curvy footstool, for example. Executive rooms are fitted with Nespresso machines. My advice is to request a room with a view over Lough Atalia.

What to do

At the continental market, Christmas comes flooding through all five senses. A chocolate fountain spills over at Choc Amore. You’ll find the German beer tent decked out with snow-white Paulaner taps, bartenders in check shirts, beer girls ferrying pork ribs, potato dumpling soup and frothy pints to punters at bare wooden tables. Listen out for the sizzle of springbok sausages, too.

I bump into Mrs Claude Le Merec, come from Brittany to sell her pastries, waffles and homemade meringues. At another chalet, Sister Larysa is selling little icons and crucifixes handmade at her monastery in Belarus. Nearby, Jari Makele patrols a stall laden down with toy huskies, snow owls, shawls and reindeer pelts. “Everything that is concerning from the Lapland,” he quips.

Walking around here — as with other winter wonderlands like Westport House — it’s impossible not to soak up the Christmas cheer. From Wonkaesque cupcakes at Sweetie Pies to Bábógbaby’s BB, the world’s first Irish-speaking teddy bear, it’s what the season should all be about.

The food

The Radisson’s ‘Super Buffet’ breakfast is laid out in the Marina Restaurant overlooking Lough Atalia (and the various estates and industry around it), with a tempting smorgasbord of cereals, juices, fresh fruits, pastries, cheeses, meats and hot breakfast items displaying no stinginess whatsoever.

It’s hard to go easy at a Super Buffet, but after a snappy bowl of fruit salad, some fresh OJ, a pot of coffee served in an insulated jug (I’m forever leaving cold coffee at hotels), and a couple of tasty sausages, I vamoose. A grab and run breakfast is also available between 5am and 7am.

The amenities

Galway’s Radisson is well-equipped for a city-centre hotel. An 18.5m pool wallows amongst blue mosaic tiles and columns, an al fresco hot tub overlooks the lake, and a basement spa offers a broad range of treatments. The most unusual feature is its Salt Spa, located across the arrivals plaza.

Built to resemble a cave using blocks of salt from Poland and the Dead Sea (it even has stalactites), a dry saline diffuser here renders the air restful to people with respiratory or skin complaints. There’s a little play area with crayon-coloured plastic chairs for kids too — not something you often see in a spa. It costs €25 for 45-minutes, and is taken fully clothed — not in skimpy Speedos.

The bottom line

The Galway Christmas Market opens from 10am to 10pm Monday to Saturday and from 12 noon to 8pm on Sundays. See galwaychristmasmarket.ie for more details.

The Radisson Blu has B&B during the Christmas markets from €135 per room midweek or €170 per room at weekends. Contact 091-538300; radissonhotelgalway.com.

Anything to add

The five-minute walk from the Radisson to Eyre Square isn’t Galway’s finest, passing as it does a bus depot and some grotty graffiti, but this combo of hotel and Christmas markets is a good fit. Children up to age 17 can stay free in their parents’ room.