The Ritz-Carlton hotel in the salubrious surroundings of Powerscourt will be aimed squarely at the high end of the market, writes Barry O'Halloran

Given that he's from London, you wouldn't expect Andrew Nasskau to be familiar with the "next parish" joke that people on the west coast used to crack about the United States.

But he is. And not only that, he believes that the - not entirely accurate - idea that Ireland is the nearest bit of Europe to the US could have its uses in his new role as general manager of the Republic's first Ritz-Carlton hotel.

The yet to be completed hotel is perched not on the edge of the Cliffs of Moher but in the more salubrious surroundings of Powerscourt in Co Wicklow, just south of Dublin. In European terms, however, it will be the nearest Ritz-Carlton property to the US when it opens in the autumn.

Americans are familiar with the Ritz-Carlton brand, which is a five-star focused chain. Nasskau believes its arrival to a place that they see as an accessible and friendly part of western Europe will help to bring them in, which will be an important factor in establishing the business here when it opens its doors.

Whatever about the hotel itself, Ritz-Carlton has managed to bag what many people would regard as a five-star location in Powerscourt, close to the famous house, gardens and waterfall, and within sight of the Sugarloaf mountain.

It's the sort of place that's unlikely to dispel any misty-eyed images that tourists may have of Ireland. Nasskau himself says his "jaw dropped" when he saw it. "It is genuinely beautiful," he says.

The 201-bedroom property is being developed at a cost of €200 million by Treasury Holdings, the property vehicle controlled by well-known pair John Ronan and Richard Barrett. They opened discussions with Ritz-Carlton in the 1990s, and Nasskau says the agreement "evolved over a number of years".

"It was a question of right time, right place," he says.

The company was aware that the Irish economy was growing strongly and that many of its customers were investing here. It was also one of the destinations namechecked in surveys of clients staying at its other hotels.

Ritz-Carlton takes everything down to the last detail into account before committing. For example, Nasskau knows that we're expecting more than seven million visitors this year, including more than one million from the US. He's also very au fait with the ups and considerable downs of the infrastructure around Dublin and its airport.

That took a long time. But Ritz-Carlton's policy is to stay for the long haul. Nasskau won't divulge the length of the contract with the Irish landlords, but says "there's no point in coming just for a few years".

However, the upmarket chain's arrival comes at a time when the hotel market here is regarded as overcrowded, particularly at the top end. So now that Ritz-Carlton has come here, who's going to come to it? Nasskau says he has a captive audience in the shape of the 500,000 who come through the Powerscourt estate gates every year. The hotel will be looking for tourists, but it will also aim at catering for business travellers and hopes it will benefit from the tax breaks for conferences announced in the Budget.

There will be other revenue generators. He believes that it's just the right location for product launches, close to the city but with enough distance to give the impression that it's far away. And there's even that old stalwart, weddings. Without any prompting at all, they've had 182 enquiries from people hoping to tie the knot there.

Ritz-Carlton has also been talking to the State agency responsible for promoting tourism. "We have developed a very good relationship with Fáilte Ireland," he says. "The important thing for us is bringing people into Ireland, and then getting them to stay at the Ritz-Carlton."

Nasskau argues that the high level of competition in all areas of the hotel market is a good thing for the State, because it helps to attract people and maintains its profile as a place to visit.

Given the number of times he refers to it, the US is clearly an important market to the group but Nasskau believes the Irish hotel will be an opportunity to introduce new customers to the Ritz-Carlton brand, not just to people from abroad, but also to the domestic market, which he says has good potential.

Security-wise, Powerscourt can be completely "locked down" as there's only one way in and out, making it suitable for high-level political meetings, visits by heads of state and the like.

Ritz-Carlton is aimed squarely at the high end of the market. Nasskau says it used to have a very formal approach to its clients, but this has changed, along with the attitudes of its customers. "Now," he says, "you've got millionaires in jeans."