New baby business booming at The Strand

A top Limerick hotel is offering four-star, pregnancy treatment to women at a fraction of HSE costs.

A successful marketing initiative has turned The Strand Hotel into a pre-natal and post-birth comfort zone.

Located directly across the road from the Regional Maternity Hospital, ‘new baby business’ is booming at The Strand.

General manager, Sean Lally, said: “Maria O’Gorman Skelly of our marketing team came up with the marketing idea of attracting mothers before and after birth.

“It is now a very significant and important part of our business.

“Many expectant mothers living long distances from the Regional Maternity Hospital, are booking in before they are due to give birth. They have all the comforts of the hotel and peace of mind that they are literally just yards from the front door of the hospital when the time comes.

“Many face very long journeys and the fact that they can travel before the baby is due, and stay in the hotel helps greatly and we get a great reaction from mothers and their families.”

A couple can have a room in the hotel for between €95 and €125.

Private rooms at the maternity hospital cost €1,000 a night and semi-private cost €813.

Mr Lally said: “We also get mothers whose babies might be kept on in neo-natal wards and women who may have to be at the hospital for longer than usual after birth. The facilities of the hotel give them a welcome retreat where they can rest.”

The baby marketing strategy is also getting more new dads and family members checking in.

Mr Lally said: “I can now tell a man whose wife or partner is due to have a baby. They usually have that apprehensive look when checking in. But they quickly feel reassured by the knowledge they are just a minute walk from the hospital.”