taking teen son to Ireland
 

We have reservations for a two week trip to Ireland from May 12 to May 26, 2006. I was thinking bed and breakfast accomodations would be most fun, but wonder how feasible it will be with needing a cot or something for my 15 year old son. He could sleep on the floor, I suppose, with a backpacking pad, but I suspect the rooms will be quite small. Has anyone else had this situation and could you advise me what to expect? Would motels/hotels be a better option? Expense is of some concern, but I don't want him to be completely miserable, either.
Thanks for your help. The information I gleaned 4 years ago for our first trip to Europe (France) was immeasurable.

Grantier
I dont know if you typed in your sons age incorrect, but you refer to your son sleeping in a cot? a cot in Ireland is what a baby sleeps in. If thats the case, you will have no problem getting a cot for your child, all B&B's and Guesthouses will be able to accommodate you, just phone to check beforehand. What part of Ireland do you intend visiting?

Did you mean 15 month old son? Not 15 year old son?

:D Well that's brightened up my day...

Many (but not all) B&B's in Ireland offer choice of two twin or a double bed. Some also offer rooms that contain a double bed AND a twin (often called "Family" rooms.
I'm assuming, since you TYPED the word 'teen' in the title, that the '15 YEARS old' was not a typo.
'Family' rooms are a bit harder to find, so you might want to prebook most, if not all of your stays. Do an accommodation search on the Irish Tourist Board website:
www.ireland.ie
Bob

OK - the jokes on me (probably just the first of many in this multicultural exchange). :) My son is 15 years old and 5'8" tall. My reference is to a fold out adult sized bed. I will check out the website suggested and look for family rooms. Although I made reservations ahead for the trip to France, I was hoping to leave this trip more open and so was reluctant to anchor us down with too many reservations that would pressure us to keep to a certain pace. Can anyone comment on the price and quality difference between B&B's and hotels? We may get enough social interaction in our visit to pubs, etc. and not really need the more personal interactions in our sleeping accomodations.
Our tentative plan is to begin in Dublin, go south (not so distant relatives from Cork), around the west coast, up into the north and end up back in Dublin, with forays into the central area as inspired. Definitely want to go to the Aran Islands. I've been reading the posts of trips and have places in mind, but haven't made reservations.

I'm in the process of checking out B&B's for our March trip with our two kids, 16 and 20. I've found that many of them offer rooms with one double bed and one single bed. And, fortunately, some (although not nearly enough) also offer a room with a double and two singles. And I'm finding that most of the hotels I've looked at also offer a double and a single rather than two doubles. Why is it that a room with two double beds is so common here and nearly impossible to find there?

I've stayed in B&B's in Ireland where we were given a 'Family' room often. I don't know if they would charge you at a lesser rate (PPS) for more than 2-people.

Most recently we stayed at Rose Cottage in Ennis, Co. Clare and the room had 2-doubles & a twin bed. I also had a huge room at AnCheibh Guesthouse in Ross a'Veal (Connemara). Additional attraction: They had 'Trad' Irish music Friday nights. Speaking of which: Ennis' Spring Music festival will be starting the weekend of your return. Lodging might be pretty 'tight' in the Ennis area.

When you get your itinerary firmed up, do some internet searching and make a list of possible stopping B&B's. As you travel you should call ahead a day in advance and book your B&B for the next night.
BTW
For local calling you should buy an Eircom Telephone card (the kind with the I/C on the card - NOT the kind where you have to call an 800 number). They are available at Convenience stores and I was able to buy one in Shannon airport last trip.

As lucielou says: 'cots are baby beds.' You might do better asking for a 'rollaway.'

Thanks for the tips. I went on the Irish tourist board site and was surprised to know the rate is by the person, not the bed, at the B&B's. I'll check out the hotels next. It probably wouldn't be too constraining to have reservations atleast every 3 nights. I was surprised to see that 32 euros per person was the going rate - more than I'd hoped. Oh well. Thanks for the specific recommendations, Nedsireland. I'll keep plugging away.

Another thing to know about the family rooms is that the twin bed is often covered with a plastic mattress pad. My teenage son found them to be very uncomfortable. Since the discount for him was small or non-existent we usually preferred for him to have his own room.

You haven't mentined travel plans and destinations. While hotels often run off-season specials that make them competive (and sometimes cheaper) than B&Bs, most hotels do not include breakfast in the room rate either.
Depending on your planned itinerary, a less expensive option might be a Self-Catering (rental house) that you base in while 'daytripping'. They generally start about 200 Euro per week and up, depending upon location and facilities.
Bob

Yes, Bob, I was just checking out that option. It does look to be much less expensive. I just emailed 2 cottages to see if we could book the room for less than a week. Seems we could stay 3-4 nights in each general area (the south, west, north, east). It's hard for me to imagine how small it is. Here in Colorado we live 7 hours away from Denver and that's not even the opposite end of our huge state. I've also read, though, that travel isn't fast - to estimate 35 mph. Sounds like I need to narrow our destinations and then get more down to details. Any other suggestions for this phase of my planning?

The self-catering option is a good one for you, I think. But I should mention that when we went to Ireland in 1998, we did a combination of B&B's and small hotels, and I remember several of our B&B rooms being "family" rooms just because that's what was available. (We did not book far in advance; we went at the same time of year you're planning to go, but of course that was several years ago and is probably not representative of what you should do now.) Because we were moving around so much I don't think we really noticed a difference in personal contact between B&B's and hotels. People were friendly and kind everywhere.

As for the time spent traveling, you really need to adjust your "norm," especially if you are used to driving out West! The only part of our trip (we did something very similar to what you're describing) that even remotely resembled the type of highway driving we're used to was the very last leg, from Dublin back to Shannon. Other than that we were in small towns and in the country and it was amazing how long it took to go not-very-far.

But if you pick some locations strategically and then use the days in between for some sightseeing as well, you should still be able to cover a lot of ground. We stayed a couple of nights near Kenmare, for example, from which you can see Dingle and Kerry. We also really loved the Burren and there are many things you can do using that area as a base.

We absolutely loved that trip and would love to go back.

Start by making a list of what you want to see, then group by area. Weekends are more pricey than mid-week stays, so try to avoid the REALLY desireable (and therefor pricier) areas on the weekends.
My 29 year old daughter was born in Colo. We lived in Fort Collins from '72 to '77. Loved it, but move to Florida was cheaper than divorce...
We are returning to Ireland the first of April for our 35th wedding anniversary. Will be our 8th in the last seven years.
If Dublin is in the cards, consider a flight into Shannon and out of Dublin (or the other way around). Usually it is no more expensive than in/out of the same (SNN or DUB). Likewise, there isn't usually a 'DROP OFF' fee on rental cars between the two. Dublin is QUITE pricey ... DEFINITELY try to schedule it for other than Fri/Sat/Sun.
One way to figure out where to go / what to see, is to check the Tour Bus Companies' itineraries/offerings (CIE, Brian Moore, etc.). They all hit mostly the same places. That will let you know what sights the typical tourists feel are "MUST SEE".
Bob

Good suggestions. The highlights we're aiming for are small towns, natural beauty , Aran Islands, Newgrange and Passage Tombs(ancient ruins), fishing for husband and son, monastery ruins (Clonmacnoise). I've jotted down these places from reading others' posts that sounded interesting. We're flying into and out of Dublin - will want to see the Book of Kells - but not much for cities. We live in the four corners, quite rural. Thanks for all the help and I'll be asking for more, I'm sure, once I do some more research.

Checking out the self catering house options, it seems to me the most economical plan is to book for a week (the minimum they allow) and then leave sooner if we have seen everything in that area, stay in a B&B for a few nights until the next Sat. stay begins. The house rates were around 250 E for 6 nights vs 100 for 1 night.
How feasible does this itinerary sound? We arrive in Dublin on Sat.am and head south to County Cork. We can make day trips in that area for 4-5 days, then head up the west coast, staying in B&B's until Sat., when we check into a rental house in the Galway area. We can check out the Aran Islands and other attractions in that area and then head through the midland region atleast by Wed. (NewGrange and Clonmacnoise)so we can fly out of Dublin on Friday. ACK - not enough time to go further north on this trip. Does that all sound reasonable, you veteran travelers out there?

All but the "arrive Dublin and shoot straight to Cork". After an overnight flight, that long a drive on the first day would be a killer. How 'bout one night spent closer in to Dublin ... Kilkenney, Cashel, Glenndalough????
Bob

Good point, Bob. I'd forgotten how "hungover" one feels from the jet lag. zo looked up the places you mentioned and the Rock of Cashel looks intruiguing. Thanks.

The following may be of help:
www.bedandbreakfastireland.net
www.travelodge.co.uk (click on Ireland)
www.ibishotel.com (these two are like Motel 6 where you pay for the room only)
www.townandcountry.ie
www.irishtourist.com/directory/accommodation
www.goireland.ie
Have a mighty time.

Also in vicinity of Cashel is Cahir which contains the Swiss Cottage and Cahir Castle (used for filming the movie 'Excalliber' (spelling is NOT my forte!).
An interesting possibility for that night's lodging is Carrigeen Castle B&B. Do a text search for several entries on it within Fodors.
Bob