I cant speak highly enough of the staff at the Westwood. From the minute we arrived nothing was too much trouble, they were friendly and very helpful. The hotel has a good sized, well equipped rooms. The bar and restaurant served good food at reasonable prices (for Ireland!). The only downside was that the hotel is a half hour walk at a leisurely pace from the centre of Galway and the buses are infrequent. A taxi costs around 9 euros each way. That said, it is ideally situated for exploring Connemara. I should also mention the weddings - up to three a week - that can be noisy if you are in a room over the conference facilities. We were invited to join in, which was an easy way to get around the problem. We would happily stay here again.

What a treat it was to open our room door when we first arrived. We had just had a bad of experience staying in a couple of grim B&B's along the south west coast so it was doubly pleasing to find ourselves in a a very luxurious and large bedroom with a good sized bathroom as well. The room had both a large double and single beds together with easy chairs and table plus LCD TV. From the front the hotel does not give the best impression of its standard due to the inclusion of a large "pub" at one end fronting the building to the main road. However inside the hotel end it is extremely comfortable with all the facilities you would expect of a hotel of this standard. Perhaps the only thing missing are the leisure facilities for the fitness fanatics but arrangements exist for day membership to a nearby facility. There is an excellent reasonably priced restaurant together with a number of sitting areas in loggias around two sides of the hotel. It is about a 20 minute walk in to Galway City Centre although there is a bus service close to the hotel and a taxi is approx 8-10 euro. There is good free car parking within the hotel grounds. Staff were all excellent throughout the hotel and without exception were all very helpful. We stayed for 3 nights and would have been more than happy to have stayed another couple of nights to explore more of the countryside surrounding Galway City.

We have just spent a marvellous few days at the Westwood and we are absolutely thrilled with the hotel, from the friendliness of the staff both in the restaurant and the reception. they could not have been more helpful. the food is delicious and beautifully served. the hotel is on the outskirts of Galway so a car is essential but there is ample free car parking for guests which is a great help.

i would have no hesitation in recommending this hotel to our friends.

Rarely do I note how hospitable the staff of a hotel are, tending to focus more on the room itself, but the hospitality of the Westwood Hotel was noteworthy. As an example as we were on our way out the door we mentioned we had some concerns about the quality of our directions and the lady behind the desk offered to print some out from the internet, and also explain them in a clear manner (with real landmarks not what you get on google maps). The front desk staff also gave my husband some tips on the rental car we had (which was a semi-automatic rather than the full automatic we had paid extra for, and commiserated with us that it was a "crap car". It was!)
The rooms and the setting are beautiful, the wireless internet in the rooms worked just fine (fastest connection I had Ireland actually) on my netbook so I am not sure what the review prior to mine had an issue with.
I have noticed a number of reviews mentioned weddings - this would be a lovely location for a wedding in my opinion, and there did seem to be some groups of guests in the lobby but we were never disturbed in the slightest.
We got a discount voucher as we left and although I had no plans to return to Galway anytime soon, I would stay here again.
About the location: I would def recommend this for someone w/ a car - its very close to the city center if you are willing to take a short easy drive but I personally would not want to walk (and I am a walker). It's a doable walk and probably lovely but when I am on vacation I would not want to walk that far.
If you have a car in Galway, there is no place I would recommend more.