MBK

Just returned from our third trip to Ireland. We have always stayed at B&Bs and had great experiences. I would highly recommend Nonaim Lodge in Oughterard on the Glann Road. It takes 20 minutes on the windy road out of Oughterard to arrive at Nonaim so don't drink too many pints before you start the drive. Donal and Connie are great hosts. Their home is immaculate and Donal must "Hoover" every day. The view of Lake Corrib is magnificent and the breakfast fried eggs were the best my husband has
had. Kilburn House, in Milltown near Killorglin, was great. Podge and Gret have a beautiful home and go out of their way to be helpful. The breakfast offered is splendid. The last place on this trip, however, was the exception. Please do not be mislead by the rave revues the Ashgrove House in Bunratty receives on its website. If we had booked there for more than one evening, I would have left before getting my overnight bag out of the car. We were greeted by the owner's hung over daugter, Judy, who promptly told us we were the last people to arrive. It was 5PM. She stated she had been at a hens' party the night before. We were shown to our rooms and asked what we wanted for breakfast. I asked what they offered and she asked me if I didn't know what Ireland B&Bs served. After checking with three other people in our group I gave her our order. The rooms were dusty, musty and one room which had direct access from the outside had no window. Only the window in the door. My husband and daughter went out for the evening and arrived back at 10:30PM to be greeted by the owner with a curt "who are you?" The next morning we were asked what we wanted for breakfast. When our breakfasts arrived the fried eggs were burned, the sausage was like sawdust, the scones were obviously store bought and dried out from being in the oven. The cereal offered was small boxes of rice krispies, etc. Please do not let the glowing reports on the web site mislead you. I wouldn't be surprised if the owners wrote them because this B&B was unacceptable. If you are near Killorglin in County Kerry the Top of the Deck restaurant is great. You are seated in the bar area and your order is taken. After a while you are taken to your table in the dining room. The view is beautiful at sunset and the food is wonderful. Another recommendation for a restaurant would be the Italian restaurant in Killorglin. The name begins with a B and that is all I can remember. I had the prawns which came in the shell with a tiny little fork which I had to use to pull them out. It was a bit of a challenge but they were very tasty. We did our share of shopping and found the gift shop at Muckross House, Kylemore Abbey and the duty free at the airport to be the best.

jef_e

Sorry to hear you had a bad time at Ashgrove House. My wife and I stayed there in May of 2004, and thought it was perfectly fine.

In the future please consider using paragraphs to break up long posts. It helps make things easier to read.

Thanks for your other recommendations!

RosieCaat

I'm shocked at your less than glowing report of Ashgrove House! I've talked with a person who has stayed there numerous times and she always raves about the place.

I've booked two nights there in a few weeks, and wonder if I'm making a mistake.

Has anyone else had any experience with them?

many thanks....

spratt

I would also be interested in other replies. We are spending one night there in October. Rather disconcerting.

Andeesue

I had read great reviews of Ashgrove House, too, and had booked 2 rooms for 2 nights this July. When I emailed to confirm the reservation, I was told my reservation had been canceled. They did find me rooms at Cecilia Lodge which turned out okay. I was disappointed since I had done a lot of research to find the right places. Now it sounds like things turned out fine.

jef_e

Andeesue, did you give them your credit card info to guarantee the reservation? July is busy season and it's possible that someone who did give them this info as a deposit bumped you. They do clearly state on their website that to guarantee the reservation you need to do this.

allisonm

I too am surprised about the negative review for Ashgrove House. We found Frank and Sheila to be very warm and welcoming, but we never met Judy. Our room had two double beds and not alot of space otherwise, but we had direct access from our room to the parking lot. (And a window.) We were served Irish coffees on arrival, and while I don't remember what we had for breakfast, I would have remembered if it had been as lousy as yours. Sorry for your bad experience.

Andeesue

jef_e,
Yes, I did give my credit card # to reserve the rooms in Dec. or Jan. I saved the email acknowledging the reservation. Since I had reserved so early in the year, I wanted to confirm all my stays throughout Ireland. Glad I did in this case as it would have been unpleasant pulling up in the late afternoon and finding that we didn't have the 2 rooms we had booked months earlier. I'm sure this was an honest mistake...it's wise to chek ahead.

jef_e

Andeesue - you do make a good point about checking ahead.

I guess it goes to show that no matter how good someone's experience with a place may be, these things do happen - and following up is ceratinly a good idea.

Reminds me to be thorough as I plan for our return trip to Ireland about this time next year!