We are a group of friends that travel to Europe from US every couple years. We are headed to Ireland in May, 2012. We enjoy upscale lodging that is unique to the country. No Holiday Inns. I make the reservations for the group and start about 11 months in advance. Would appreciate hearing your suggestions or comments on what I am coming up with so far....................................

Belfast ~ problem here in that I could not locate anything on TripAdvisor or Fodors that stood out. Right now, looking at Ballygally Castle in Ballygally just north of Belfast.

Bushmills ~ Bushmills Inn

Westport (1 night on way to Doolin) ~ either Augusta Lodge, Westport Plaza, Knock Ranny House, Boulevard Guesthouse or Castlecourt Hotel.

Doolin ~ Sea View House B&B or Ballinalacken Castle

Killarney ~ Loch Lein Country House

Bunratty (to be close to Shannon airport for departure) ~ Avarest Bunratty B&B, Park Inn Hotel Shannon AP.

Thanks for your input.

I've stayed at Bushmill's and thought it was very good. It's probably the best hotel in the area.

Note that my stay was several years ago and sometimes places change and not for the better, but I'd think its ( Bushmill's ) reputation would keep the hotel up to standard.

Belfast- Have stayed at the Europa, good hotel , very good location.

Westport-Stayed at the Wyatt Hotel, good hotel, very good location in the center of a great town.

Doolin-I stayed at the Sea View B&B, clean, comfortable and a short walk down the road to O'Connor's Pub which has good food, good music. Give yourself some time to visit the Burren.

Bunratty-I have visited but have always prefered to spend my last night in Ennis. Shannon is located about 15 miles from the airport, an easy ride, and I find Ennis a much better choice for my last night. Several good choices for restaurants, pubs, shopping, etc. Two good choices for hotels in Ennis are The Old Ground and the Temple Gate, both centrally located in the city center.

Westport: We stayed at the Boulevard Guesthouse in Westport in 2006. Excellent location...my main interest was to listen to Trad music at Matt Malloy's pub, and it was close walking distance to this b&b and yet it was quiet for sleeping at night. The Boulevard Guesthouse is a comfortable b&b.

Bushmills: We loved staying at Craig Park guesthouse in Bushmills. It's in the countryside yet convenient drive to the Giant's Causeway. This was 2006 so you will have to find out if its still open. My review is on tripadvisor. I also have a trip report here on fodors from 2006, which includes contact info for Craig Park Guesthouse. I give them an A+.

Belfast: I had difficulty finding quiet accommodation in Belfast so we opted to stay in the countryside in Hillsborough on a friendly farm, and drive into Belfast for the day plus daytrip to Ulter Folk and Transport Museum. This worked out well. Found the accommodation for Hillsborough in Alastair Sawdays' guidebook for Ireland. This is also listed in my 2006 Ireland trip report on fodors web-site. Also I wrote a review on tripadvisor where I'm also Melissa5 so you can click on my name and find my reviews.

Bunratty: We spent our 1st night at the quiet, comfortable, and very very clean Bunratty Lodge...with a nice breakfast.

You can also find great lodging info on www.IrelandYes.com which is Michele Erdvig's web-site, and she also has a great guidebook for Ireland, which I love...I have 4 guidebooks for Ireland for 2011. (I have an entire shelf of Ireland guidebooks which I had used for our first trip in 2006 as well!)

Good luck have fun.

Off the places you have listed, have only stayed in Doolin.

Sea View House would be a very good choice based on its location in the village, close to the pubs and restraunts.

Ballinalacken Castle, is about 2 miles outside of Doolin.

Both places are very unique and Irish.

I generally recommend the Oakwood arms in Shannon rather than the Park Inn unless it is one of the 1st flights out. If it is a really early flight then the Park is handy as you can drop your car the night before rather than key drop and then just cross the road.

Knockranny House Hotel is lovely for upscale lodging. The other hotels you have listed for Westport are nice. I have stayed at the Boulevard Guesthouse and can recommend, plus it is in a great location. The Augusta Lodge is a bit further our of town, but have heard good things about the place.

Loved Bushmills Inn - it was one of my favorite places. Of course, this was 10 years ago, so take it with a grain of salt.

Can't speak to the others. I'll dig out where we stayed in Belfast and report back..

Belfast: I don't like Ballygally Castle it's at most IMO a 3 star hotel and is a fair distance outside of Belfast.

I would recommend a lovely boutique guest house in south Belfast just off the Lisburn Road - Maryville House Tea Rooms and B&B.

http://maryvillehouse.co.uk/

Bus top and train are one your doorstep and you will find many upscale restaurants in Belfast and the Lisburn Road itself which is an upscale area.

If upscale is what your looking for The Merchant in the city centre is ideal, or 10 Square which is very different.

http://www.themerchanthotel.com/inde...FQod4Qodln8JfA

http://www.tensquare.co.uk/ten-square

If you want to stay outside Belfast in an upscale area and hotel I would suggest and recommend Culloden Hotel in Cultra. It is close to the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, or another upscale B&B in Holywood - Rayanne House.

http://www.hastingshotels.com/cullod...FQRP4QoduknAfw

http://www.rayannehouse.com/

Thanks everybody. You have given me the information I need.

ONE........more question. We have some friends that stayed at the Dromoland Castle near Shannon. I looked at their website and it appears to be magnificant. We are considering staying there the last night before our return to USA.

Certainly, if we don't stay there, we will stay in Ennis.

Thanks to ya'll, we are now considering Merchant Hotel in Belfast. Trading emails as we speak.

We concur that the drive from Bushmills Inn to Sea View House in Doolin may be a long rush. Therefore, we are seriously considering the Knockranny House Hotel in Westport. One night to break up the trip.

Killarney is Loch Lein Country House. We have several people that are starting vacation early in Dublin at the fritzWilliam Hotel in Dublin.

CAMBE......did I see that you own Cavalier King Charles Spaniels? We have 19. Fortunately, 10 are puppies and have been sold. Cavaliers are addictive, like traveling.

Yes, I own a 9 year old Cavalier who has lots of health problems, Mitral valve disease controlled with lots of medication and low grade Syringomyelia which has been controlled with the Frusemide which she was already on for her heart. I hope your dogs don't suffer any of these diseases.

The Merchant is a good choice and the area around it (The Cathedral Quarter) has lots of good restaurants. They are trying to turn this into a 'Temple Bar' type area similar to Dublin. Try afternoon tea at the Merchant as it is very good but also try some of the restaurants in the area. When in Bushmills eat at the Inn - good wholesome food and lovely big fires to sit around when the weather is uncooperative.

Personally I would much prefer Westport as a destination as I have never understood the appeal of Doolin but I am not a fan of Irish traditional music and Co Clare is too barren for me - not enough trees! but each to their own.

Dromoland Castle is delightful - you like upscale, well you won't get much better than this.

One more thing - barter, all of Ireland is going through financial problems at the moment and there are deals to be made.

Enjoy your trip

I have stayed at the Boulevard Guesthouse in Westport and loved it. The location and breakfast are great.

In Doolin Sea View is very nice...it has been booked a couple of times when I tried so I stayed at Nellie D's which was a little gem of a spot and very nice. Walking distance to the pubs which was great. It was recently remodeled and very nice. i actually love Doolin and go about every year. It is nicer during the week than on a weekend. The weekends have become popular as a place for " Hen and Stag" parties for the Brits and they completely take over the pubs.

I also have preferrred staying in Ennis over Shannon unless you stay on a Sunday and everything is closed so it wouldn't be worth it...just stay near the airport for convenience.

Good Luck!

Camb "Co Clare is too barren for me - not enough trees! but each to their own"

Yet another visitor who thinks Clare = The Burren and west Coast??

If you get the opportunity to visit Clare again take a right turn and head into East Clare and the areas around Lough Derg we have hundreds of thousands of trees on the Slieve Aughty, crossing the Shannon into Tipperary and Offaly are even more on the Silvermine and Slieve Bloom. I am just over the border in East Galway less than an hour from Ennis and in a different world than the land between the M18 and the coast. Tea and bread cake in a real old cottage if you call by.

<b>Belfast</b>, just to throw my 2cents in, we've just got home and we hadn't booked anything on arrival into Belfast. We decided to drive out to Bangor and 'fluked' the Salty Dog Hotel. What a gem, we got a two night special for €150 total inc breakfast. Our room was absolutely beautiful & huge. Had a choice of three and chose the one with the best view of the harbour. Had dinner in the restaurant one evening and it was one of the best of our trip. Also dinner across the road at the Boat House which was equaly wonderful.

I think it was a 20-30min drive back into Belfast, but an easy drive and it was lovely to come back to such a pretty spot.

hi!! DUBLIN-Davenport was nice - not in center but ok/BELFAST - The Europa - very modern and in town - restaurant was good too-check out Crown Bar Salloon - very old/DINGLE - The Dingle Skellig!! - but fyi - a very "family" hotel so lots of kids!/KINSALE-Trident Hotel - nice location/quiet - check out the fort and the "ghost walk" if time - /WESTPORT - CastleCourt was really nice - also, you can walk in to town for traditional irish music - we lucked out and saw "matt malloy" from the Chieftains at his pub!! - i was on a tour, but if traveling indie, would have done at least one B and B HAVE FUN!!!

Dromoland would be perfect for your last night in Ireland, exquisite.

book marking