An interior designer on what guests expect from a five-star twixmas stay. Plus 6 hot spots to book.
Interior designer Jacqueline Hall knows how to present a luxurious short-let.
She bought a fisherman’s cottage in a clachan on Achill Island and lived in it for a few years before undertaking extensive renovations to increase its footprint and enhance the creature comfort levels.
Now measuring over 230 square metres, it has a two-storey extension to the rear that cannot be seen from the front.
“I wanted it to look like the other cottages,” she explains.
Identifying the right agency to manage the property and find the right group profile was crucial.
She plumped for Unique Irish Homes.
It is literally a home away from home.
There’s a Le Corneau oven big enough to fit a whole sheep. It is one of three ovens.
There is everything you will need to cook, save some fresh herbs, some of which you may need to buy in Castlebar on your way down.
“The produce here is first class,” she says.
There’s wild Achill lamb, organic salmon from Clare Island, and you can buy direct from the fisherman if you make it known that you’re on the lookout for crab or lobster or herring.
At this level, people expect high standards, she says.
All the laundry is sent out, and the turnaround takes a full day.
Her guests sleep on six-hundred-thread-count sateen sheets and Hungarian feather and down duvets and pillows.
In the luxe bathrooms, there are high-pressure showers and products from the Irish Hand-Made Soap Company.
Guests enjoy the fluffiest of white towels, all sourced from UK-based Vision Linens or The Finest Linen Company.
The linen is replaced every two years.
There’s a stove where you can burn turf and a stack of turf in the shed.
The cottage comes with the use of barbecues and two kayaks, life jackets, a selection of wetsuits and a welcome pack that includes Achill Island sea salt, its fudge and other local delights.
In the heart of the action
Pic: Doreen Kilfeather
Within The Village is a complex of five properties, a mix of cottages and townhouses, in Roundstone village, Connemara, Co. Galway. Its proximity to its pubs and restaurants is only part of its appeal.
The thoughtful décor and design are conducive to relaxation.
For a minimum two-night stay, the smallest property, Bracken House, sleeps up to three people and costs €820, whilst the largest, Sea House or Lichen House, which each sleep up to seven people, will cost €1,400.
Spa-centric style
Drift Farmhouse, outside Castleblaney in Co. Monaghan, is set in drumlin country.
It offers a muted palette that feels relaxed and deliberately slightly undone.
With an endless pool, complete with an underwater treadmill, sauna and gym cum yoga studio, and an outdoor hot tub, there are plenty of ways to relax on site.
Designed in collaboration with Alex Hoda of Studio Hoda, the house sees timber, concrete, stone and glass.
It can sleep up to 10 guests and costs from about €4,523 per week and from about €3,378 per short break through Unique Home Stays.
Light-filled modernity
Overlooking St John’s Point in Co. Donegal, Teach Solas is an architect-designed property with terrazzo floors.
The broken plan layout, designed by McCabe Architects, has the living rooms stepping down into the kitchen and on down into the dining room with a line of sight from the latter all the way through to the former.
It costs €3,800 per week through Unique Irish Homes, and that has four double bedrooms that can sleep up to eight.
There’s a preference for children aged 12 and over.
Country house with hotel service
The Reserve at Killashee Hotel in Co. Kildare is a nine-bedroom detached property on 4.5 acres of private grounds located across the road from the hotel.
It means you can enjoy all the privileges of hotel life, coupled with the privacy of a rental.
It offers luxuriously appointed bedrooms, a living room and dining room complete with a bar.
There’s a large patio with barbecue and a wellness area with gym, yoga, treatment pods, hot tub, sauna and outdoor lounge.
Push the boat out
Built more than a century ago, at a time when the estate was owned by Arthur Guinness and his wife, Lady Olivia Charlotte Guinness - Lord and Lady Ardilaun, it was used by the Guinness family to store Italian Riva boats, which the family used on the lake.
Today, the Boathouse at Ashford Castle, Co Mayo, is a sanctuary-like suite for two set on the shores of Lough Corrib. Screened by security gates, it offers total seclusion and a unique place to relax and unwind in splendid isolation.
Just five minutes from the five-star hotel, it enjoys all the services on offer.
One night B&B for two people costs from €3,575.
Sea spray setting
Situated in Dooega village, on the windward side of Achill Island, Co Mayo, with views across to Clare Island, Saltwater Cottage is a gem situated in one of the nation’s great beauty spots.
The Jacqueline Hall-designed space has a considered decorative feel that is cohesive and takes into account the siting of the property.
It costs from €4,200 per week through Unique Irish Homes and sleeps up to six adults and four children, sharing a bedroom with one set of parents.
