Travelogue
During my travels, I usually collect three or four personal accounts which I then recount in emails to friends. And since they find them very entertaining, I reckoned you might too. A travelogue is born.
And the winner is ...
Key to a great vacation is "Location, location, location", and maybe even more so "Accommodation, accommodation, accommodation". The places you stay can make or break your holiday. Many travel related websites offer reviews of holiday destinations for travellers researching their options online. But word has it, we cannot always trust what we read, for some of the reviews are written by hotel owners or holiday companies.On this page, I reviewed the hotels, campgrounds, hostels, guesthouses and bed & breakfasts I stayed at during my trip. Guaranteed independent and personal, sifting the wheat from the chaff, the cream of the crop from the shabbiest of shacks. Five criteria for rating are friendliness of the staff, general vibe or ambiance of the place, availability and quality of facilities, overall cleanliness, and last but not least, value for money.
Every entry provides name and location of the accommodation, plus a link to the original website. Each criterion is represented by a camera, clear for 'Ok' or better and faded out for 'Not satisfactory'. Explanatory notes can be found below. And so, without further ado and in order of appearance:
Pencelli Castle Caravan & Camping Park, Pencelli
Very clean, friendly and good value. The facilities were present, but not all off them were open or in working order.
Coral Gables Guesthouse, Tagoat (Rosslare Harbour)
Cordiality is not the staff's strong point and the vibe was, after an unfortunate incident, tense. The facilities are very basic, the place is clean and pricing acceptable.
This trip's winner! Friendliness and attentiveness, ambiance, facilities and cleanliness are excellent. The pricing may be a bit steep, but you'll get money's worth.
Creveen Lodge Caravan & Camping Park, Lauragh
The hosts are genial, the atmosphere is good as well as the pricing. There is room for improvement in facilities (very basic) and hygiene (sufficient).
Neptunes Killarney Town Hostel, Killarney
This was a difficult one. The vibe is probably good in general, but suffered severly by the dutch school groups visiting during my stay. Staff was very helpful and heartily and facilities, hygiene and pricing were as good as can be expected.
Sleepzone The Burren, Lisdoonvarna
Room for improvement here. Staff did not seem very engaged with their guests, gloomy atmosphere, facilities - like hot water - needed fixing. The price is steep in relation to these shortcomings. The place was clean though.
Helpful and entertaining staff, nice authentic ambiance, good facilities (e.g. online booking and checkout system) and clean. Price was a bit challenging.