First to review... ok!…read more well.. let me just point out a few things... 1. I'm from USA 2. I don't golf 3. I didn't use their spa/club amenities. But the condo we stayed in was beautiful. 2 bedroom suite. 2 stories with living room, office/den, and kitchen, 2 bed and baths. The surrounding area was beautiful. The service in the lobby was very prompt and friendly. The food at the bar and the service there was great too. Amenities are minimal since the condo we stayed in are the self service kind... where you provide most of your own stuff. It's a full kitchen, with small fridge, dishwasher, washing machine (no dryer). Dishes, silverware, cookware, small bottle of dish soap and dish towels included. It comes with the basics like a set of towels/person and bed linens set. But it does not come with soap/shampoo like some hotels may have. There is no maid service. If you want that it, it's an additional charge. If you need extra towels or toiletries, those are also an additional charge. Just keep these in mind. Some of my travel companions weren't expecting this. For USA travelers, there is one 2 prong outlet in the downstairs bathroom. The rest in the condo are 3 prong Irish outlets. We found it very difficult to find, driving there ourselves. Addresses and street names and what not are difficult to navigate and work with in Ireland, and even with gps, it was awkward. It's not the most convenient location. But it was very interesting and an adventure for us :) So out of country visitors, and maybe even for local Irish visitors, keep that mind and map it out as best you can in detail for the smaller country roads before you head out, even if it sounds straight forward.

I'm in love with everything about this place. The lounge is lovely for a drink and a bite. The…read morestaff is attentive and friendly. The food is great. But the Spa....It is heavenly! I will always reserve a day for this spa whenever I visit Ireland. The lovely soaking pool with waterfall, steam, sauna & relaxation rooms, the delightful spa lunch-salmon nicoise salad- in the quaint private lounge.... Now that I've blabbed the secret I hope it won't be overcrowded next time...

We arrived in Dublin and spent two fantastic days there using AirBNB then the problems started as…read morewe attempted to drive a rental from the airport, manual transmission, with my left....on the frigin left...into bumper to bumper traffic!!!! We had the day from hell and after driving for 8 hours got screwed by a tenant on VRBO at 10:00 at night. No lights, one lane roads with traffic going both directions...the worst. This hotel was exactly the remedy...ESPECIALLY at 11:00 at night after trying to get in touch with the VRBO guy forever. We were greeted with held doors and the most friendly manager at the desk. He was entertaining, friendly, welcoming and warm. In the states u have single rooms or double rooms, so when we didn't see double we put "Triple", having my wife and two kids, the manager said "You put 3 people but you have 4" so I was amazed when he went as far as to give us two rooms for the same price, and went above and beyond to help us. The place is spotless and classy as any place I've ever stayed. Words can't describe how grateful I am to the manager, employees, and "The Avalon Hotel" on a whole. Thank God for these people and this establishment. And now I can rest....

Great little hotel just outside of Kilkenny, in the quiet town of Castlecomer. We loved it - the…read morelittle bar/pub/restaurant is perfect and the rooms are comfortable and air-conditioned for those warm Irish summer days! The staff was great, and the location is easy to find with plenty of parking. Super reasonable rooms too, for around 250 Euro a night.

this place was amazing. had the turkey club which came with the house soup. food was 10/10. waiter…read morewas friendly. the place even including the bathroom was clean. would recommend if in the area!

Very quaint hotel and pub/restaurant. Staff was super nice, super helpful. Food and atmosphere is…read moregreat. Kildare is spectacular. Walking distance to bus and train for access to Dublin and outlying areas. Room was small but we only used it to sleep so it was perfect (and gorgeous).

Excellent location. Beautiful gem in the countryside. This is the type of place you want to be on a…read morerainy day. It's cozy and inviting and there's a romantic feel about it. Something tells me that Wordsworth would have loved it... The restaurant also offers an excellent buffet from starters to tea and it's only 35 per person. Decorated in old world style, the country house ambiance is rich yet relaxing. Gorgeous convenient destination for a weekend getaway for all you Dubliners. Makes you feel like you're far away from the City when it's only about an hour or so away from all the hustle and bustle.

Rathsallagh is an unbelievable venue. Very special and unique, the grounds are absolutely gorgeous…read more- it really is a hidden gem. From the run up to the day until we left the wedding coordinators & staff couldn't have done enough for us. The staff are extremely helpful and accommodating and made our lives extremely easy. We really didn't have to ask for much as they are ultimate professionals at what they do and had everything in hand unless we needed something personal. The food and service was absolutely amazing, you will not find nicer food than this venue and the amount of food and wine provided was incredible. Every single guest at our wedding could only say the most wonderful things about the staff, the food, the wine and how absolutely stunning the venue is. The only downside to Rathsallagh is you don't want to leave! We will be forever grateful to everyone at Rathsallagh for making our day as magical as possible. I only wish we could do it all again. We literally cannot thank you enough.

Great experience outstanding landscape and views at Castle Durrow Ireland definitely a place…read morenot to miss if you are in Ireland.

I was here for a wedding and boy do they know how to do weddings here in Castle Durrow…read more The drinks reception was out the back, in the garden and you really couldn't ask for a more perfect setting, The room the reception itself was in was wonderful. The staff were excellent. The food was amazing. Everything really appeared to go like clock work. After dinner everyone went outside to chat and mingle the night away. The heatwave we were experiencing made it feel like the Mediterranean. After the reception room closed, we made our way to the hotel bar. Greeted by a very affable bartender, he was able to give a history of a few of the pelts and stuffed animals displayed in the room. He was a good laugh too. It's only fabulous, Castle Durrow. A great day and night was had by all.

I stayed here last night. It's a real castle. It's pretty awesome. I didn't have an opportunity…read moreto do any golfing or use the tennis courts. We DID do a Falconry experience that was really cool. (I recommend it) The bar was great. The high point of the stay was the dinner we ate at the Hermione's restaurant. I had a ribeye steak with a pressed potato. Both very good. Our server Glenn was outstanding. Out of every dinning experience that I have had in my entire life, Glenn would rank in the top 5 of the servers. Can't say enough about the service.

Kilkea Hotel is a spectacular and beautiful property. The renovations to turn it into a hotel…read moreinclude some modern amenities but keep a lot of the historical charm of the property which I appreciated. We had one castle room and one carriage room for our stay. Both rooms were quaint and well maintained. The gardens around the property are gorgeous and wonderful to explore during nice weather. The only thing to note is that in off-season the main restaurant is only open on the weekends and the tea service is not available during the week. While we enjoyed the food at Hermione's, the day we stayed there was a group event closing the main restaurant so we had to eat in the bar area. Most of the activities are off the property which wasn't very clear as we approached the date of our stay. We ended up visiting the National Stud Farm (about 30 minutes drive) and the clay pigeon shooting (about 40 minutes drive). Highly recommend both activities and really appreciate the staff helping us arrange these activities. The downstairs bar area is open late with a delicious charcuterie and board games are available to use by the fireplace which was a fun way to spend the later evening hours. Highly recommend staying at Kilkea Castle Hotel!

Wow. Where do I start? My wife and I decided to seriously indulge ourselves so we went with a two…read morenight package (via Relais et Chateaux) in Ballyfin Demesne, a grandiose 18th century house on 600 acres in the leafy Laois countryside. We arrived at the main electronic gates (you need to dial reception for entry) and made our way along the winding 3km road to the main house. It was a bit disconcerting to have all of the staff lined up outside the hotel to greet us, but it certainly made us feel very welcome. Our luggage was taken, my car driven off to be hidden away out of sight and we were given a short introduction about what we could expect from our stay. Our deluxe room was incredible. It was very well presented, looking very much like what it would have looked like two hundred years ago (I'm sure) and the mini bar was filled with complimentary (non alcoholic) drinks and nuts. The quality of the products (soaps, shower gels etc) were of the highest order. We relaxed for a while then went down for a guided tour of the house hosted by the extremely pleasant & imitable Lionel. The house has been lovingly restored to its former glory in the finest detail by its owners. I could talk for hours about what a beautiful hotel it is. The main points to note are that: yes you do pay a lot to stay/eat there, but it is worth it for the relaxation, the excellent food, the incredibly friendly, attentive (and not in any way overbearing) staff. There are many activities on offer (we took a spin in one of the golf buggies and explored the estate and all of its follies, grottoes and forests), including clay pigeon shooting, fishing, archery etc...I enjoyed not having to worry about running up huge bills, as most teas, soft drinks, newspapers and a pre dinner champagne etc were complimentary. The team were accommodating in every way - they had no issue with us bringing a bottle of our own wine (for nostalgic reasons - our wedding wine) and just charged corkage. The food, including the breakfasts, was incredible. I recommend to anyone looking to seriously indulge themselves in truly opulent surroundings to treat themselves to a night in Ballyfin. I would personally prefer the Cliff House for a foodie break, but for the whole end to end package it is hard to beat the luxury on offer at Ballyfin.

I cannot wait to come back! This is the most luxurious and beautiful hotel I have ever been too! We…read morestayed here for my husband's birthday. The attention to detail by the staff was phenomenal! From the pictures on the wall, flowers, decorations, I could go on.... Staff very helpful & always there to offer you, tea, water or coffee. Golf carts great way to get around!

Great location in Athy - adjacent to the highway and nested next to a green grassy area where…read morellamas roam. Yes. llamas! We stayed here for our Irish wedding celebration. The event staff is great. They really took care of our group and went above and beyond in so many ways. I'd definitely recommend this spot for an event - great value and good quality. So, the four stars are for the venue. On the other hand, we stayed the night of course. Our room was at street level and a decent size. But, It was pretty cold at night and the radiator was lifeless. The mattress was pretty hard too. Also, the bathroom fan was quite loud and took forever to turn itself off (no overide). Although the decor was pleasant enough, the room was slighly bleak looking (on a lighting level) and one of the lamps was not working so that was just one more thing. But, we were in and out of the room pretty quickly due to the celebration. If we had stayed longer a phone call would have remedied a couple of the 'issues' I'm sure! The main thing is that the event space, catering, staff and overall location and lobby ambience as well as the restaurant and bar are worth four stars and worth returning!

Fantastic showers and towels were lying on a heated towel rack. The staff was great as was the…read morecomplimentary breakfast. There were some minor design issues, which is why I didn't give 5 stars, but overall its a very good hotel with an amazing staff.