A purrfect stay: Inside Wexford’s Emerald Cat Hotel

Last year, Ciarán and Jennifer O’Sullivan turned their love of cats into a career. Over a year later, we checked in with them to learn what running a cat hotel looks like…

In May of last year, Ciarán and Jennifer O’Sullivan decided to open a brand-new hotel outside Gorey. Like many hotels, this one offers a warm bed, scenic views and tasty food. But unlike most hotels, the guests have four legs, whiskers and a tail.

It’s been over a year since Ciarán and Jennifer opened the Emerald Cat Hotel and business is booming. This cat-only hotel provides pet owners with a cozy and comfortable place for their furry friends to stay while they are away. We recently caught up with Jennifer O’Sullivan to get an inside look into what running a cat hotel looks like behind the cat flaps.

I first learned that Ciarán and Jennifer’s cat-care journey began long before the opening of the Emerald Cat Hotel.

“We’ve always rescued and fostered animals. We would’ve rescued wild animals that were injured like foxes, crows and lots of feral cats. At one stage we had a colony of feral cats. That’s how it started with the cats – that was probably eight years ago.”

Over the years Ciarán and Jennifer have cared for around forty cats which they rehomed through a charity they work with. After years of cat rescue and fostering, Jennifer realized she was in a good position to turn this into a business.

“I was rooted to our home and there to feed them at least twice a day. I realized I’m so routine based that it makes sense to have a business tied to this. I’m doing this anyway for cats that I rescue so why not open for people who are going on holidays?”

Ciarán and Jennifer have found that their backgrounds have left them well equipped to work in animal welfare. Before opening a cat hotel, the pair worked in social care.

“Ciarán comes from a farming background, and we both worked in social care. We have a lot of transferable skills that come from social care. Like, if you’re dealing with people who have trauma – it can be similar with animals. Being able to be sensitive. We’d never invade an animal’s space like we wouldn’t invade a person’s space. We always let the cats come to us first,” Jennifer told Wexford Weekly.

The Emerald Cat Hotel emphasizes cat-only boarding, spacious movement areas and heated beds.

“It’s a peaceful environment for the cats. They always have the option of going inside or outside. When it’s cold they all have an individual electric blanket, so if they want to lie down and warm up they can do that at any stage.”

Running a cat hotel not only involves looking after the needs of pets, but of the pet owners as well.

“Dealing with people is a big part of it. Understanding, as a pet owner, how difficult it is to leave your pet in somebody else’s care. It’s a big thing to do. For a lot of people, pets are part of the family. It’s like their child.“

“Our priority is that the cats are happy. I would treat the cats like they’re my own pets. If it means going into Tesco at 10 o clock at night for cooked chicken, I’ll do that.”

Upon opening in May 2024, the Emerald Cat Hotel hit the ground running and hasn’t slowed down since, accumulating many loyal customers over the last year and a half.

“We got a big response right away. We weren’t even ready to open and we started to get phone calls and bookings. We have a lot of regulars. 60% of what we have at the moment are return customers, which is a good sign. We’re getting good feedback.”

Understandably, after their comfortable stay some cats aren’t ready to go home.

“We had a comment on Facebook that said ‘My cat loves it here – unfortunately didn’t want to come’ and somebody else said ‘That exact same thing happened to me – now I don’t feel so bad’. What I tell people is that the cat just wants their routine. It’s nothing personal, the cat just loves the routine here.”

The Emerald Cat Hotel commits itself to being inclusive to cats of all kinds, even offering facilities for cats with disabilities. The hotel also offers a ‘cat cab’ service where cats can be picked up and dropped off.

“We’ve had cats with different disabilities. My husband actually adapted one of the suites to have a chute ramp for a cat so that it could go up to a higher level where there’s an electric blanket. It was enclosed so he couldn’t fall out. The owners were thrilled and they’re regulars now as well. We try to adapt the cat hotel to meet the cat’s needs.”

In recent years, Ciarán and Jennifer have had another helper – their daughter Isla, who has proved herself a natural in animal care.

“My daughter Isla’s eight and a half but she’s so good with cats. I think it’s because she was brought up with feral cats and so she would’ve had to learn respect and boundaries. The cats love her. They’ll pick her over food at feeding time. She’d often get tips off people and she spends her tips on treats for the cats.”

To learn more about the Emerald Cat Hotel, you can find their Facebook page here. If you want to see more of the work done by the O’Sullivan family, you can find it on their YouTube channel.