Druids Glen Resort

We spent our last two nights in Ireland at Druids Glen. It's a little bit south of Dublin, and just a few minutes from the ocean.

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I must be spoiled after staying in castles the last time I was in Ireland, but this hotel seemed pretty boring from the outside too (I thought that at our first hotel, Heritage Golf & Spa).

The inside was another story though

The lobby was stunning

I loved this spiral staircase. I hope they have a tall tree in the middle at Christmastime!

Our room

Our bathroom

You can't tell in the pictures, but that brown wall paper had gold sparkles on it. It was really pretty!

One night we went down to the hotel bar for dessert. The dessert we had was called Eaton Mess, and it was sinfully delicious. Definitely something I would like to recreate at home. I loved this wood ceiling so much that I took a picture for (someday) when I build my own house.
 

We were really impressed with this hotel. It was immaculate, the staff was incredibly friendly and helpful, and they offered some unusual perks like free DVD check out. We took advantage of that after a long day of site seeing in Dublin!

The location of the hotel is perfect if you're spending time in Dublin. We drove a few minutes to Greystones, left our car at a free car park the hotel staff told us about, and took the train into Dublin. It was quick and easy. We would have liked to have a little bit more time in this area, but we wrapped up our trip with two nights at a wonderful hotel. Look it up if you're headed to the east coast of Ireland!

#DruidsGlenResort #Ireland

Muckross Park Hotel

We spent three nights at Muckross Park Hotel in County Kerry.

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The location of this hotel is perfect. The first time I went to Ireland, I missed out on a lot of things in the southwest corner of the island because none of the castles I stayed in were close enough to get there, so I was thrilled to have three nights here. We had time to do the Ring of Kerry and explore an area that was new to me. Muckross is a few minutes from the town of Killarney, right outside the Ring of Kerry, and right in the heart of the Killarney National Park, as their logo states. It was a beautiful area and we loved our time there.

The hotel staff were all friendly and very helpful. We spent some time with the concierge, and he helped us plan our time in that area. His suggestions were a little bit different than what I had thought we should do, but we decided to trust him and ended up having time for almost everything we wanted to see. Breakfast (included in our stay) was a pleasant surprise with a large buffet of cold items and an assortment of hot items from the kitchen.

Our only complaints were the spotty and slow wifi, and the noise level. Our room was directly above the hotel's pub, Molly Darcy's, and we could hear music until midnight. After the first night, we decided to just go down to the pub since we were going to hear the music anyway. We were there on St Patrick's Day, so I'm not sure if they have live music every night or if it was because of the holiday. If you like to go to bed early, I would recommend asking for a room farther from the pub. But I would also recommend going to the pub! They had good food, and we loved the live music.

Overall, we enjoyed our stay at Muckross Park Hotel very much, and I would highly recommend it!

#MuckrossParkHotel #Ireland

Heritage Golf & Spa Resort

On this trip to Ireland, we stayed in three different hotels. We spent our first night about an hour southwest of Dublin in the Heritage Golf & Spa Resort.

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From the outside it didn't look like much...

...but walk through the front door and you see a pretty spectacular entry.

Our flight landed in Dublin at 3:30am, and by the time we got our rental car and drove to the hotel it was still really early, so we spent some time sleeping on these couches in the lobby until the front desk was open and we could check in. They were so nice and got our room cleaned up for us even though check in isn't usually until 3:00. We were tired after a red-eye flight, so that was very appreciated.

Our room

A few minutes after we got to our room, the TV suddenly turned itself on. Kind of creepy, right? On the screen was a welcome message that was personalized with my name (the reservation was in my name) and it was a nice touch, but also kind of strange.

Our bathroom

We were at this hotel for a very short time, but we enjoyed it. The people were very friendly and accommodating, and our room was spacious and very comfortable after a long night of traveling. We didn't eat much there, but we did order apple pie in our room and have afternoon tea in the lounge. The apple pie was different than we were used to - creamier with softer apples - but it was good, and we had fun at tea since it's not something we normally do. 

Overall our stay was great. This hotel is a bit of a drive from Dublin, but if you're looking for luxury that's a little bit out of the way but still close enough to lots of interesting sites, this could be a winner.

#HeritageGolfandSpa #Ireland

Aer Lingus

I've been to Ireland twice now and have flown on Aer Lingus both times.


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I love how the planes are painted!

It's hard to really be comfortable on a trans-Atlantic flight. They're just too long, and until I can afford an upgrade to first class, coach it is. Having said that, coach on Aer Lingus has been as comfortable as I could have expected. The seats recline as much as an economy seat can, and having your own screen to watch TV, movies, and the progress of the flight makes a big difference. I would like to see more options - one episode from season two of a show I've never watched isn't all that appealing - but overall, I'm just happy to have the screen. I take my own portable DVD player, but the battery doesn't last through a flight that long so I need other options.

The flight attendants on Aer Lingus have always been so welcoming and helpful. Having an all-Irish crew is fun too, especially flying there when hearing their accent adds to the excitement of visiting a new place. I have only booked flights on Aer Lingus as part of a vacation package so I'm not sure how their prices compare to other airlines, but I wouldn't hesitate to fly with them again if I go back to Ireland.

#AerLingus #Ireland

Great Value Vacations

Most of my travels are with my friend Rikki, but two years ago she wasn't able to go at the last minute because of complications with a pregnancy. We don't usually do repeats because there are way too many places to see in this world, but this year I decided to make an exception and go back to Ireland since she missed it last time. You can see all of my Ireland reviews by clicking on the Ireland category in the right column, and I have added an update to the Dan Dooley review since this trip.

We booked our trip through Great Value Vacations.

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I booked our trip online after seeing a good deal listed on the Travelzoo Top 20. It was quick and easy, and I really only dealt with a person at Great Value Vacations once when I had to call and add a collision damage waiver for our rental car. The woman I spoke to quickly helped me with what I needed and emailed me the updated vouchers I would need. The booking process, the customer service I received when I called, and the value of the trip itself were all wonderful. Great Value Vacations has vacation packages that can take you all over the world. Next time you're looking for a good deal, check them out!

#GreatValueVacations #Ireland