Luxury Accommodation South of Dublin

I guess the name just about says it all. Ritz-Carlton has become synonymous with luxury hotels in The Americas, Europe and Asia. The Powerscourt Estate is 1000 acres which includes the world-renowned Powerscourt Gardens, a championship 36-hole golf course and horse and bicycle trails though lovely countryside.

The hotel is situated about 25 kilometres south of Dublin in really delightful country side near the village of Enniskerry. It is set within the estate and since opening late 2007 it has steadily built a reputation for quality and sophistication. As you approach the hotel you are aware that this is a grand place but you don’t really appreciate that it is in fact a seven-storey building. The height has allowed the 200-room/suite hotel to remain reasonably compact – a plus in Ireland’s doubtful weather.

The rooms and suites are opulently furnished, if not particularly to my taste. The room size is one of the largest in Ireland. Fittings and fixtures are what you would expect including double vanities, separate toilet and rainforest shower in the bathroom. Each room has wireless Internet access, multiline telephones and TVs in the bedroom, sitting area and bathroom. Electronic panels control lighting, curtains and airconditioning.

Two facilities put this property apart from many. The first is the ESPA spa. This huge facility spreads over two floors and contains two personal spa suites and 20 treatment rooms. Guests can luxuriate in thermal suites to prepare the body and mind for the cutting-edge beauty and wellness treatments that are available. Unfortunately, time did not permit me to indulge but a quick inspection revealed a 20-metre pool, relaxation areas, hot pools, saunas, a cafe and a Chi studio offering yoga, Pilates and other activities.

The other is the Gordon Ramsay restaurant. No, you won’t find Gordon here most of the time but some of his signature dishes such as lobster ravioli, fillets of Jon Dory with crab, and monkfish wrapped in prosciutto are on the menu. Paul Carroll who worked with Gordon Ramsay in London for six years is the chef de cuisine. The floor to ceiling glass fronted restaurant has space for 90 diners inside and during summer an outdoor terrace can also be used. It opens for lunch and dinner each day.

Other facilities include the Sugar Loaf lounge and McGills Irish bar. The Georgian-style lounge has comfortable furnishings and open fireplaces. Traditional afternoon tea and evening cocktails are served together with a range of snacks. McGills is a modern interpretation of a traditional Irish bar. Beers and spirits are served to both guests and non-guests together with Irish favourites such as Tipperary beef stew and seafood chowder.

Those looking for activities will find a lap pool, gymnasium and facilities for golf, fly fishing, horse riding, falconry and archery. The hotel is still new and it has received some criticism for not always meeting the very-high level of service required by Ritz Carlton. I must say that I did not have this feeling and in fact I found everyone from the front desk to the waitresses very helpful and pleasant.

If I was in Ireland and wanted to spend a day or so recharging the batteries while enjoying fine food, interesting company and real friendship, I would chose Rathsallagh House. This is much more a home than a hotel and the owners the O’Flynn family make you feel part of the family during your stay.

Rathsallagh House is about an hour south-west of Dublin. It is in the centre of lovely green Wicklow countryside. The House is surrounded by 530 acres of parks, woods and farmland and then there is the 18-hole championship golf course. The Wicklow mountains and the Irish National Stud are nearby.

I had heard little about Rathsallagh House before arriving so the half mile drive from the gatehouse to the main house across manicured grounds was a surprise. From here the surprises (all good) just kept coming. I was braced for a cool and proper reception befitting such splendid surroundings but instead I found friendly open warmth unobtainable in a conventional hotel.

Rathsallagh House was built between 1702 and 1704 by the Moody family who bred horses. The house was burnt down in the 1798 rebellion and the horses, along with the family fortunes disappeared. The Moody’s could not afford to rebuild so they moved into the stables, now Rathsallagh House. So it is far from conventional. Today there are 29 en suite rooms, lounges and banquet facilities.

It appears that most rooms are different from each other. One guest described her bedroom as "overlooking rolling lawns and ancient oaks with the bed the size of a croquet lawn." Others have interesting little quirks and cosy windows while others open onto the eighteenth-century Irish walled garden. Obviously I didn’t see all of the rooms but I doubt if you will be disappointed no matter which one you are given.

I am absolutely sure you will not be disappointed by breakfast. Forget the offer of breakfast in bed and visit the dining room from 8.30 to 10am. This has now won the National breakfast awards on four occasions. Think of those films set in English stately homes where breakfast is served from chafing dishes on a sideboard by a stately butler. Now add stimulating conversation and great food and you begin to get a glimpse of breakfast in Rathsallagh.

Dinner is also an occasion. The house has won the prestigious Irish Country House Restaurant of the Year award and game in season and fresh fish are favourites. A standard menu price of 65Earos gives you a choice of four entrees, soup or sorbet, six mains, six desserts and tea or coffee with petit fours. If you have organised yourself, while you are dining, staff will pour your bath, set up the appropriate ingredients – energizing, relaxing or sensual – place fairy lights around the bathroom and put on a relaxing CD.

Perhaps my favourite places in Rathsallagh are the bar and the drawing room. Both have log and turf fires, both are relaxed and friendly and, during the day, both are deserted. Others will want to experience one of the health and beauty treatments. You can choose between facials – there are special ones for men – massage, manicures and pedicures, ear candling or reflexology.

Brooklodge is a 4-star country house hotel set in attractive countryside just over an hour directly south of Dublin. There are 90 bedrooms brimming with all the luxuries and accessories required in the 21st-century.

I initially had a few problems with the concept of Brooklodge, including how to get to reception without getting wet in the pouring rain. The property is too large for a country house but is quite ‘low-key’ from the car park, and I was unsure whether we were staying at Brook Hall or Brook Lodge. It didn’t take me long, however, to warm to this property and by the time we left, I was totally converted.

Brooklodge is a modern building in traditional style. The reception area is a classic design and offers a warm welcome. Our room, on the other hand, was a split-level suite as modern as tomorrow. In between the rambling passage ways are attractive, with interesting turns and windows with nice views over the spa and Ballycreen Brook.

One of the major features of the property is the luxurious Wells Spa. This is an adult only ‘destination spa’ and is a joint operation with Ireland’s leading experts in beauty and health treatments. The spa offers signature treatments from around the globe including a Hammam massage room, a floatation room, heated relation lounges, a Serail mud chamber, a dry float room and aroma steam room and an outdoor hot tub. This really is an oasis of peace tranquillity and calm with some of the most sumptuous spa menus I have seen. If only I could accept the cost!!

The other highlight is the Strawberry Tree restaurant, Ireland’s only certified organic restaurant. The chefs use only organic and wild foods to produce stunning steak, chicken, fish, duck and pasta dishes. The restaurant’s ambience alone is worth the trip, with blue velvet, gilt-edged mirrors and candlelight playing romantically off the floating mirrored ceiling.

Brook Hall turned out to be part of Brooklodge. It is a new 24-room addition to the original complex aimed more at functions and weddings. There is a 200-seat dining room, a mezzanine bar, a gym and a second swimming pool. Many of the rooms look towards the golf course which was yet to open in May 2008.

Brooklodge is situated in Macreddin village, a purpose-built environment built as an addition to the hotel. The village consists of Acton’s Pub and brewery, the Orchard Cafe where home cooking has been given a modern twist, the Bakery and Smokehouse, the Store Rooms which are wine food and gift shops and Tao Clothing which stocks a range of one-off designs and exclusive labels. The village is only 50 metres from the lodge and provides an interesting additional attraction to guests.

For those seeking some more action the Macreddin Stables and Equestrian Centre offers horse riding trekking, jumping and lessons. Adventure of a different kind is provided by the off-road driving experience of Ireland Xtreme.

Kilkea Castle is the oldest inhabited castle in Ireland but it has been refurbished to bring it into the modern world. It generally succeeds but the physical difficulties with a 1180s building mean that there are some compromises which guests need to accept.

The builder and first occupier of the castle was Sir Walter de Riddlesford, a young knight who has accompanied the first invasion party of Anglo/Normans in 1170. For the next 400 years there were recurrent local and national wars in the area around the castle but the building survived even though the ownership changed several times. The civil war of 1919-1923 had a devastating effect on the then owner, the Duke of Kildare and the family was temporarily impoverished.

The castle remained occupied, however, by the Duke’s uncle Lord Walter Fitzgerald and he lived here for the rest of his life. During this time he became the best-known antiquarian scholar in Ireland and founded the County Kildare Archaeological Society. After World War 2, the house was occupied by the Marquess of Kildare but in 1960 he moved permanently to England and the land was taken by the Land Commission and divided up. The castle was acquired in 1965 by Mr William Cade.

Today, Kilkea Castle Hotel has 36 guest rooms, including suites. Every room is unique. Rich, restful colour schemes have been chosen to compliment the period charm of the hotel and serve to enhance the individual design of each room. It turned out that we were given the Bridal Suite situated on the 3rd floor of the castle. It featured a traditional 4 poster bed, sitting room & a bathroom built in the old castle turret. There was a huge amount of space but somehow it lacked something.

De-Lacy's restaurant is where meals are served. It offers a blend of traditional and contemporary cuisine with menus emphasising fresh, locally-sourced foods. We ate dinner there one evening and while the ambience was excellent, the food didn’t quite live up to the promise. Breakfast was good and the service very friendly.
For recreation, there is an on-site fully equipped leisure centre with an indoor heated swimming pool, saunas, Jacuzzi, steam room and gym. A masseuse and beautician are available on request. The centre is complimentary for residents.

The golf course, measuring 6,100 metres off the championship tee, combines the magnificent backdrop of Kilkea Castle with some of the finest, most challenging holes to be found anywhere.The splendour of the Castle can be viewed from every fairway and in constructing the course the designers have cleverly used the meandering River Griese as a natural hazard.

The hotel has two floodlit hard surface tennis courts that are complimentary for residents. Guests are also welcome to wander the medieval style gardens. Clay pigeon shooting, archery and
fishing can be organised off site.

Ballymaloe House is a renowned Irish country house hotel and restaurant owned and run by the Allen family for over 40 years. Nestled in a 400 acre estate in rural East Cork, Ballymaloe House is only 20 miles from the historic city of Cork, and minutes from the breathtaking south coast.

Ballymaloe is a byword for timeless elegance and pleasures of days gone by. Food is a big part of the Ballymaloe experience so while there take time to enjoy afternoon tea by the pool or roaring fire, croquet on the lawn with a glass of champagne and a lavish five-course dinner followed by traditional music in the drawing room.

Ballymaloe House is a building that has evolved and grown with the passing centuries, and the accommodation varies from a 15th century Norman tower to modern luxury rooms. All of the rooms are decorated to the highest standard, combining modern comforts with timeless elegance and an eye for detail. Each room has its own name and own distinct character, and all have private bathrooms as standard.

Upstairs in the main house the rooms retain many original features and have enchanting old-world charm. Downstairs, new, more spacious rooms at the back of the house have views over the river and gardens. Each has its own private terrace, for afternoon tea or relaxing with a book. In summer, they also have quick and easy access to the swimming pool and tennis court.

The courtyard rooms are situated in an independent building, beside the main house. This is an attractive old building where three of the rooms have small adjoining conservatories. The 16th century gatekeeper’s house stands alone by the archway to the farm. Comprising of an entrance hall and bathroom downstairs and a charming twin-bedded room upstairs with an open fireplace, it is ideal for older children.

Breakfast is casual and goes on until 10.30am. It includes freshly laid eggs from the farm, fresh breads from the kitchen, porridge made from stone-ground oatmeal from a local mill, homemade jams and marmalade. There is also a full cooked breakfast including house-made free-range bacon and sausages, to set you up for a busy day.

The restaurant serves full lunches from 1pm and the café is open for lighter lunches. If you are out and about you can request a picnic hamper. Afternoon tea can be served on request, or can be taken at the Café.

On weekdays, dinner offers a choice of hot soups or cold starters is followed by a fish or pâté course. The main course is a choice of prime fish, poultry or meat from local suppliers, accompanied by seasonal local vegetables. The much-loved cheese board and dessert trolley are followed by coffee or tea and delectable petit fours to complete the meal. A vegetarian option in every course is always available. Weekends are even grander affairs.