MarthaA
Unregistered User
(1/6/04 1:42 pm)

Bunratty B&B Close to Castle

---

Michele,
We will be without a car our last full day on our May trip and will go to Limerick by bus after we turn in our car. We will return to Bunratty possibly after dark and will be walking from the bus stop which I'm assuming is close to the castle. I've seen 2 B&B's both shown as being the closest to the castle, Bunratty Villa and Park House. Do you know which is the closest? Or is there another that is closer? Thanks!
Martha

wojazz3
Registered User
Posts: 329
(1/6/04 5:27 pm)

Re: Bunratty B&B Close to Castle

---

Martha:

I stayed at the Park House on the last day of Nov, and it is the third closest to the castle. None of them are right next door, so the difference percentage wise is negligible. I liked the Park House a lot. It was very comfortable though we had to leave so early we didn't get to sit down and have breakfast. I would recommend the Park House as a nice place to stay.

How are you getting to the airport the next morning?

Bill

MarthaA
Unregistered User
(1/6/04 9:58 pm)

To Airport

---

Bill,
I'm assuming we can arrange for a taxi. We've got an un-Godly departure time of 9:10 so we'll miss breakfast that morning too. But we'll catch it the morning before because we're going to stay two nights so we can leave our luggage there, turn in the car and spend the last day in Limerick. I thought Park House looked very nice...glad to have your recommendation.
Martha
P.S.--I wanted to tell you...we ended up giving our extra set of Co. Donegal Ordnance Survey maps to a very special elderly English gentleman, Mr. Laffin, that we met on Doagh Island on the Inishowen Peninsula. He is a widower, his wife having been "an Irish girl" and was spending his holiday hiking in Donegal. Finding him was one of those serendipitous moments that makes Ireland travel so cool!!
Martha

Michele Erdvig
ezOP
Posts: 2022
(1/6/04 11:54 pm)

Re: Bunratty B&B Close to Castle

---

Hi Martha,

My thanks to Bill for his recommendations. A few other places to consider are The Courtyard Guesthouse, Bunratty Manor Hotel and Bunratty Castle Hotel. All are within very short walking distance of the castle, shopping, food, etc. The hotels are just across the street from the castle. The guesthouse is on the same side of the street and down a bit. I have inspected them all and they get a "thumbs up" from me.

Arrange for your taxi the evening before your departure. That way there will be no scrambling around early in the morning.

And I agree -- Ireland is full of those wonderful moments.

Michele

stannseniors
Registered User
Posts: 72
(1/7/04 10:28 am)
 
Bunratty Manor Hotel

---

We went into the Hotel because we had gotten there so early and that was the only thing open - It is Very walkable to the castle, the few pubs and one store (the whole town)--it was very beautiful inside but i will warn you (and maybe it was just a bad day for them) but the food was SO BAD. we got the breakfast buffet for 13Euro each and YUCK - that was our first meal in Ireland and i honestly thought i would starve if that was how everyone ate there.
Now, maybe someone else will be able to tell you a better food story--that was just one breakfast.

twanda49
Unregistered User
(1/7/04 11:15 pm)
 
Park House

---

I'm so happy to hear that you liked Park House. I was just going over the places we will be staying in July (such a long time to wait!) and we have reservations for Park house. I love this website!

wojazz3
Registered User
Posts: 337
(1/8/04 2:12 pm)

Re: To Airport

---

Martha:

This may be silly, but are you sure you want to turn your car in the day before? We had a 7:40 AM flight from Shannon and managed to drop our car off with enough time. It is important to tell the rental agency what time you expect to drop off the car on the final morning, but it seems to me that it's not worth the trouble of having to catch two buses and a taxi to be without the car. Now, if you've exceeded your 15 day CDW coverage with MC, that could change the story. Otherwise, keep the car.

If driving in Limerick is a concern, don't worry too much. I did it with my sister following me and we lived. There is a lot acroos the street from King John's Castle that was free the day we were there and we just walked around from there. There is a descent Limerick map online that will help you find your way around. www.limerick-city.com/lim...y_map.html

I'm glad you found a happy home for the maps!!

Bill

MarthaA
Unregistered User
(1/8/04 3:12 pm)

Re: To Airport

---

Bill,
It's the 15 day MC coverage. The only flights we could get in May using Delta Skymiles ended up making us have 16 days in country. I talked to an O'Scannlain rep and she said we could probably break the time into two rental periods by dropping off the first car at the Cork airport and renting another on a different MC. I was a bit leery of that and it really didn't seem to be worth the hassle to alter our planned itinerary to go to the Cork airport. So we're looking at the last day as a further adventure, having never used the bus service before. But we are considering only taking the bus from the airport to Limerick and getting a taxi back to Bunratty that evening.

Michele,
I ended up booking at Bunratty Courtyard for the last two nights. Michael Walsh was very quick with a response to my email.
Martha