Perryville House - Kinsale, Ireland     

8 of us just returned from a wonderful golf vacation around SW Ireland.The worst place we stayed was at the Perryville in Kinsale. I have stayed at many B and B's throughout the world, and never have I experienced a place which tried to cut corners and offered so little None of our 7 rooms had as much as a pencil and paper, reading material re the Inn or the surrounding area, tissues, a plastic bag for laundry,etc. The hair dryer was basically the end of a vacuum cleaner hose. There was no sense of warmth and Irish hospitality from Barry, and there was not even a fruit bowl, cookies, etc which I have always found complimentary in a small B and B.The halls were so dark I could not even get the key in the key hole! The breakfast was sparce at best, and as mentioned before, you sometimes had to wait at the front door to be let in( once 20 minutes plus) Location is on the harbor, but Kinsale is so small that any location is satisfactory, and currently the Inn fronts a huge parking lot and construction site I would avoid this Inn, and if you want to really experience Irish hospitality and service, and find yourself in Lahinch, stay at the Vaughn Lodge. Michael Vaugh, the owner, and his staff will do anything and everything to make your stay memeorable

We stayed in Kinsale at the Perryville House for one night with 2 other couples. My husband and his buddies wanted to golf at Old Head, one of the most beautiful (and expensive - over $300 to play a round) courses in the world. I spoke with Andrew, the owner of Perryville House, to make hotel arrangements, and he graciously offered to reserve a tee time at Old Head for our party. He also offered to play with our group of 3 golfers, as he was a member of the Old Head Golf Club, and he suggested that the ladies also meet at the course to have lunch there before the guys golfed. On arriving in Kinsale, it was easy to find Perryville House because it was located directly on the beautiful harbour. There was very limited parking in front of the hotel that required you to move a traffic cone that was placed there to indicate hotel-only parking. To enter the hotel, you had to ring the doorbell and wait for someone to come and let you in - sometimes this took a while if they were busy on the phone or in the back of the building. The hotel had a homey feel, filled with comfortable and slightly worn sofas, oriental rugs and antiques - very old world. The hotel is made up of several maze-like buildings that were interconnected. We reserved 3 Superior Double Rooms that were spread out on different levels (the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floor - no elevator). All had harbour views, and our room had a wonderful balcony overlooking the water, a comfy chair and ottoman, a small stereo system and a huge bathroom. All of the rooms we saw were decorated completely different, with beautiful fabrics and wallpaper, and huge antique beds. All seemed to have the same scratchy sisal carpet on the floor. When we left the hotel, we were told to deposit our keys in a large bowl on a table by the reception closet. We went up to Old Head, a truly spectacular site, that was walled in with a gate, guard and barbed wire fence to apparently keep the locals out - I doubt that they are very happy with the place. The clubhouse was spectacular, built of stone with custom made chairs and tables that were truly works of art in themselves. The lunch was wonderful and the view breathtaking. They guys then met up with Andrew, who was a fun and interesting character and a delightful golf companion. The golf was a once in a lifetime experience, playing along the edges of the cliffs dropping into the ocean - forget about lost balls. The ladies returned to Kinsale to do a little shopping but were disappointed with the selection of shops - it looked like many had closed and been turned into real estate storefronts - an indication of the hot real estate market in the area. The best place was Kinsale Silver, a small workshop only a couple of doors down from the hotel (next to the Post Office) that had wonderful custom made silver creations. There is also a fort and ruined castle in town. Breakfast was included and was fine, not the best or the worst we had in Ireland. By the time we reached this point in our vacation, we had a hard time facing another "full Irish breakfast" anyways. In all, I liked my stay at the Perryville House. Andrew was very helpful with the golf arrangements and his wife and brother-in-law were very friendly. It felt like visiting more like visiting grandmothers house - quiet, informal and filled with treasures.