On Wednesday and Thursday night, we stayed at Ashford Castle. The castle was established in 1228 and became a hotel in 1939 when it was purchased by the Guinness family. It has expanded a number of times through the years and doubled in size in the 1970s. Many noteable guests including queens and presidents as well as John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara who stared in The Quiet Man.
Here are a few pics from around the interior and around the grounds:
The dark blue photo in the slideshow above is of the candle they set out and lit by the large tub during the turndown service. They ignored the socks drying on the tub faucet. I am a class act.
It is quite the place. Some of the noteable amenities include a billiard room with a 12 foot snooker table, a movie theatre, a falconry center, a skeet range, a restaurant in the old dungeon, and expansive grounds and gardens. You are greated by a doormen in top hats and a pair of Irish Wolfhound statues at the entrance. You also can meet the real pair of 160 pound Irish Wolfhounds who make a daily appearance in the lobby for photo ops.
We really enjoyed the billiards room and spent several hours in there both nights we stayed at the hotel. Mainly because it took us about that long to finish a game. If you haven’t played snooker, it is quite different from a regular pool table. Smaller pockets and rounded bumpers that are not forgiving. And 12 feet is a very large table. They had someone stationed in the room to help you with the setup and rules of play (and to tend the small bar) and we really enjoyed our time in there.
What we enjoyed the most was the hawk walk at the falconry center. One morning, Cathy and I went out with one of the handlers to exercise two of the 15 or so hawks they have at the center. You walk through the woods and launch the hawks off your arm and they fly off to a tree – sometimes near you, sometimes not. You then signal them back and they come swooping in and land on your gloved arm. You then open your hand and reward them with a juicy piece of mouse or baby chick or beef in your hand. They keep each bird at a precise weight so that they are interested in flying for food but not too hungry. They get weighed and exercised every day and will sometimes hunt down small animals on their walks. We have some cool slow-mo video of them flying on and off our arms that won’t post on the blog.
We had had some very good food including a “tea” which actually was big enough for lunch.
Sorry – that last one is hawk food.
The breakfasts were very good. The buffet included a honey comb for fresh honey for your croissant and some single malt whiskey for your oatmeal.
It was all a bit over the top, but fantastic service throughout the whole hotel. I had to borrow a sport coat to eat in the George V dining room. Two days later I returned it to the reception area. I had not spoken to the woman since we checked in and when she took the coat she remembered my name from two days before. And did a good job of pronouncing “Mr. Szelistowski “.
And we were probably the first people to ever stay at the castle wearing mismatched knockoff Crocs. Cathy had to buy some shoes on the trip when hers were hurting her feet. We picked up a pair in a discount shoe store in Edinburgh for 5 euros. About three days later she noticed that one shoe fit slightly differently and discovered that the crocs didn’t match. Not the hole pattern, not the design, not the sole pattern.
Overall, a really nice stay but certainly not a spurge we will repeat any time soon.
Tampaskis Travel 