Choosing Ireland hotels / B&B's
 

Just starting to plan and will be reading these boards quite a bit but I was wondering if anyone can suggest some websites that are good for finding hotel options, cottage rentals, B&B's. We aren't sure which cities we are going to yet but we are interested in Dublin, County Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Kilkenny, Waterford, Wexford

I know that these are a lot and we will narrow it down once we have an itinerary but want to have a wide range and narrow it from there

Thanks

When it comes to lodging in Ireland word of mouth is your ally. So rather than fishing from accomodations sites, get your itineray together and asked for specific recommendations for lodging in forums like this one. Then, browse the net for the site(s) that has the cheaper deal for the specific venue.

In County Keey we stayed at Kenmare and recommend Kenmare Holiday Rentals (weekly rentals).

Once you get your itineray figured out you can use the search box on the Ireland board with the town name and B & B to see the recomendations from others. Also, you can use tripadvisor.com and read others reviews. We used the recomendations here for our trip to Ireland and they all were great. Good Luck!

I agree that you need to finalize your itinerary a bit more. Based on another one of your posts, you have 10 days which has me believing that you have too many stops planned there.

Bill

Here's 2 websites to help you start your planning.

http://www.townandcountry.ie/
http://www.discoverireland.ie/
We ordered travel info from discoverireland and received a 350 page catalog of Irish B&B's with great descriptions, prices etc. I then e-mailed the places we wanted to stay for reservations or more information.

In Limerick I've stayed at a spa just south of Newcastlewest called Killeline. It's a great place to overnight if you're 'jet lagged.'
There's an 18-hole Parkland Golf course, full workout facilities, a 20m heated indoor pool; and Mick McCoy's Sports Bar & Restaurant. The last time I talked to Pub owner John McCoy (former member of the Dail), he had just lost his Chef.
The 34-room Lodge is owned & operated by the McCormack family.
Killeline has a website.

Try www.irelandexpert.com I used this extensively last year and found all of the B&B suggestion we used to be very accurate as to quality and service. There is also a great deal of information for sightseeing.

I work as a Manager for a company called Almara Accommodations Dublin.
A free accommodation finder / reservation service for all parts of Dublin. We find and reserve Hostels,B&Bs and Hotels at no charge. If you prefer you can ask us for an availability search and we will give you the contact details to reserve for yourself. See enquiry / advice form at www.almarabb.com/almaraa.htm

Regarding the other towns and cities, there is a tourist office in every one throughout Ireland so while you are travelling you can reserve ahead at your leisure.

We went to Ireland for the first time a few months ago. We stayed in B&Bs only, and used this site, IrelandYes.com, irelandexpert.com and tripadvisor.com for recommendations. We had a wonderful trip - Viajero2 is right, word of mouth is your ally.
Ireland has tons of B&Bs in all $$ categories – from cheap to very expensive. There are a lot of reviews on this site, use them with confidence.
In our 2-weeks trip, we stayed at probably 6 or 7 B&Bs – we only had one bad experience, when I did not follow the advice received here. We planned 2 nights there, we had to move after the first night. We were lucky to find an available room in one of the B&Bs highly recommended here. Live and learn.

I agree with xyz99, Michele Erdvig's Best Little Guide to Ireland is a great resource for guest-houses and b&bs in Ireland and for planning your trip.

Reading trip reports on fodors, and noting which b&bs were enjoyed by the poster of the trip report, is another excellent source. You can also see if their style of travel agrees with your style this way.

Tripadvisor has hotel reviews written by guests, but you have to read them with a skeptical eye. Some of the worst reviews are written by complainers who exagerate, and also some hotels or b&bs have a suspiciously large amount of good reviews by mystery travellers who haven't stayed anywhere else and have no other history on tripadvisor. Hmmmm...

On the other hand when a traveller posts questions on fodors, then takes the trip, and posts a trip report with personal details...there you have a "real" traveller who has written a reliable hotel or b&b review.

Enjoy and don't try to cram in too many sites...Ireland is a good country to relax, take time to stop in the local pub, enjoy the beautiful countryside.

Thanks everyone - we are just starting to plan and those are the areas we are interested in. We now just have to try and narrow it down

Anyone have any recommendations on accommodations with one teen and one preteen would be welcomed while I read the many posts here to get some ideas

Hi ga - just returned from my trip, and stayed in two lovely B&B's in County Cork. In Dingle we stayed at the Cill Bhreac (like Kill Vrack)Angela was a terrific hostess and so accommodating. Next night in Schull at Nancy Brosnan's Stanley House. It is so comforable with a beautiful sitting room, large deck and beautiful views. In Dingle we had a room with 3 beds, but in Schull we took two rooms - they're so reasonably priced it was a bit more comfortable. Loved that Irish breakfast!

Sheri - Thank you for the information

See my review on this website of Loch Lein House right outside Killarney. I also wrote a review on Michele Edvig's website www.irelandyes.com. Michele had a special rate offered on her website.
Lots to do in the Killarney area.

We loved it there.

By now you may have narrowed down where you are going a bit. Just wanted to volunteer that when we were picking hotels/ B&Bs we used tripadvisor.com and these boards exclusively to make our decisions and were really pleased with the places that we chose. You can see my trip report for more details if you like. I would definitely look for recommendations from actual people who have stayed in those lodgings rather than random recommendations by various websites. Good luck!