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Post Info TOPIC: Accommodation Report - Castlebridge, Dungarvan, Kilkenny, Kinsale, Bunratty


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Accommodation Report - Castlebridge, Dungarvan, Kilkenny, Kinsale, Bunratty


Heres a review of the places I stayed at during my vacation. 


Bewleys Dublin Airport - 89 euro per night, regardless of room type. Easy shuttle service, clean and good sized room. Nice lobby. I would stay again.


Birchwood B&B, Castlebridge, County Wexford - 70 euro for a twin room. Convenient location to Wexford town, just 5 km down the road. Cute little village, house located in bland neighborhood. Place was immaculate, good beds, nice sized bathroom. Quiet location and quiet house. Heat at night and in morning. Iris, the hostess, was very pleasant. She offered us tea and sat down with us in the lounge, with general chatter and answering any questions we had. I would definitely stay again.


Seaview Guesthouse, Dungarvan, County Waterford - 70 euro for twin room, but we actually opted to have two single rooms, priced at 45 euro each. This was my treat for the trip. As much as I love my mom, I sleep best when I am alone. This place was located on the N25 and we could hear the cars going by a bit. The view overlooking Dungarvan Bay was beautiful. The place has a great conservatory on the first floor looking out on the view and a wonderful sitting area upstairs with the same view. Rooms very spacious and bathrooms were nice sized with amenities such as shampoo and body wash packets. Plentiful towels and wash clothes. Plenty of heat in the evening to be snug as temperatures really drop once the sun goes down. The mother was the hostess upon arrival and the daughter was on duty in the morning. Both were nice. I would stay again.


Alcantra, Kilkenny - 70 euro for twin room. The hostess was extremely nice. Room was clean except for some cobwebs on the ceiling that had some trapped bugs. Bathroom had tiny square shower. Only one towel per guest. Lots of noise, both from the road and the house. Could hear plumbing of neighboring rooms (and own toilet was noisy) and tv downstairs and voices downstairs and in adjoining room. Also, for some reason, maybe a spill or stain, the hostess had a towel laid across part of the stairwell and it was a serious tripping hazard.  While the hostess was great, I would not stay again.

Landfall House, Kinsale - 80 euro for twin room. Hard to find location as directions given were not good. House located in quiet neighborhood, not really walking location from town center, but hostess directs guests to free, convenient parking lots across from church. Our room had a spectacular view overlooking Kinsale. Margo, the hostess, is very nice. Beds were pretty comfortable and had great comforters and linens. Bathroom unfortunately had a small square shower, like Alcantra. The bathroom itself was big and would have had plenty of room for a larger shower. What do larger people do when faced with these tiny showers? Im chubby myself and didnt have much room to spare stepping into the shower. Thats the thing about these small showers, the opening into the showers is small. I would stay again because overall the place was nice. Oh, theres a cute cat named Socrates (I think), that hangs out in the backyard. I enjoyed him as I am a pet person.

Inisfree/Bunratty Heights - So I had booked a twin room (66 euro) at Bunratty Heights for our final night in Ireland. I had even written the week before arrival to re-confirm and tell the lady what time we would be there. We arrived 5 minutes before that time and found that she had given our room to another set of guests who had decided they wanted an extra room. She booked us with her neighbor at Inisfree. She should have been remorseful, but she wasnt. We reluctantly went there because it was 6 pm and we were tired and didnt want to go knocking on doors. Inisfree is a shabby place. The beds were terrible and the toilet in the bathroom made a terrible racket. The bathroom also had a weird sliding door that seemed like it was going to fall off. The bedding was really cheap and shabby. We were not happy campers with our last night in Ireland and didnt get much sleep because of the crummy beds (worst mattresses ever) and noisy commode. Do not stay here and also dont book Bunratty Heights since shell give away your room!



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Ande,

It seems as if you had good lodging more often than bad which is a huge plus. How odd that Bunratty Heights gave away your room! I will assume you were NOT traveling on vouchers. As for their recommendation, I am surprised thatyou were suggested to such a shabby establishment, as it is usually the case that they will point you in th edirection of an equal or nicer establishment.

As to the small showers, they do seem to be the norm which perplexes me when the bathrooms are of good size. One of my previous travel partners was heavyset and she would have to stand outside of the shower and lean in to wash her hair and then take a sponge bath, in regards to the smallish showers.
Thanks for posting your B&B review. It will be of help to others in the future.

Slan Beo,

Bit


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Ande,

Many thanks for your accommodation reviews. I know the problem of the "coffin showers". I call them that because that is about the size. You're right that it is hard to get into them and then you have to hope you don't drop the soap! They were popular several years ago. I notice that many of the newer B&Bs are putting in larger showers. Some B&Bs have different rooms with different size showers. So always ask. Too bad you didn't stay at Headley Court in Bunratty. You could have taken a shower with your mother and all the neighbors. They are really big.

Michele

P.S. Bit, I actually heard of someone who took a screwdriver to a coffin shower, disassembled the door, showered and then re-assembled it!!!

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"Ireland Expert"  Michele Erdvig

Click links for Michele's Book or Custom Ireland Itinerary

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MIchele,
I learned a lesson this trip about not quibbling over a few euro. I've vowed not to pick a place merely because it's a couple of euro cheaper per night. Next time I'm in the Shannon area, I will stay at Headley Court. As for those "coffin showers", I have to admit that I gave up the notion of shaving my legs. I don't know what's worse, a coffin shower or one in which the shower curtain blows in on the person and attaches itself to the person.
Ande

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Ande,

I love reading details of accommodations. One guest house I stayed, the bathroom itself was so small I kept the door to the bedroom open and I'd get talc on me and the bedroom carpet. I felt badly about it and showed the owner and she said, "no problem". Sorry about your last night, not fun to start out tired for the trip home.

Regards, Joan

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Ande,

I had a coffin shower with one of those shower curtains once. I made my poor husband stand there holding onto the curtain while I showered. He loves traveling with me!

Michele

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"Ireland Expert"  Michele Erdvig

Click links for Michele's Book or Custom Ireland Itinerary

Visit Michele's Irish Shop for unique Irish gifts and beautiful photos of Ireland.

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