Merlin Park Vacations from $1,205

Room was modest but fine. Fan was essential since no AC, but cooled things off well with window open. Pillows on beds were quite hard/not fluffy, so replacing them would be a good upgrade. Only real complaint was not with room but with reservations system: we wanted to shorten our 8-day stay by one night (in advance, not on arrival) and doing so would have been MORE expensive than just sticking with our original reservation. I didn’t understand why that should be, as we had to pay for the first night even though we didn’t arrive until the next day.

We chose to stay here because it is only minutes from the Shannon Airport and we had an early flight. At the end of a fast paced vacation, full of white knuckle driving, this is the place to reset before you return home. We arrived mid-afternoon and walked in a light rain around the beautiful grounds. There are excellent old trees, including Horse Chestnut; Beech; Mulberry; and many others including apple trees which are electric fenced to keep the horses and guests :) from devouring the laden branches. There is also a very clean and close by Circle K for refueling your rental car. We stayed on a night when the restaurant was closed, but the bartender was happy to accommodate us with a generous selection of local cheeses, homemade jams and smoked salmon (all wonderful). These were all washed down with hearty pours of wine and Guinness before a sound sleep and a hot shower.

Everything was fabulous!