Two beautiful east coast Ireland hotels that will make your Ireland trip extra special & memorable!
I’ve been thinking about what I was going to write in this post ever since our first night in Ireland.
Two months later & I still can’t stop dreaming about these two gorgeous hotels on the east coast of Ireland.
Now before I get too far I think it’s important that I share a couple of disclaimers.
First off, Roger & I disagree about which hotel was the best. But we do agree that we loved them both & would highly recommend them to anyone & that we hope to stay at them again someday. Also, we loved them so much my parents booked both of them for their trip to Ireland next year.
Secondly, this post is not sponsored by either hotel, although we did receive an upgrade at the Trump International Golf Links® & Hotel at Doonbeg as I had been in touch with them prior to our visit. Even still, all opinions are my own.
And finally, I had originally planned on sharing 3 gorgeous hotels on the east coast of Ireland, but the 3rd hotel turned out to be a dud. Well, that’s actually an understatement. We were incredibly disappointed by the third hotel. It was an old Abbey that was converted into a hotel near Galway & Roger was sure it was going to be the best of all of the hotels since it had the highest stars & was the most expensive. Although we paid the most to stay at this particular abbey hotel, it ended up being one of our least favorite for a whole long list of reasons (we also spent a night near the airport the last night, but we already had low expectations for this hotel). I’m not one to go negative, especially on my blog, so I’m going to leave it at that. However, if you are planning a trip to Ireland & have any questions about which specific abbey to skip on your trip I don’t mind telling you privately in an email.
Anyways… Let’s get back to these 2 absolutely gorgeous hotels in Ireland!
They are seriously stunning!
The Ballyseede Castle Hotel in Tralee
Our first night in Ireland was spent at the Ballyseede Castle Hotel in Tralee.
There are a lot of castles that you can stay at while in Ireland, but this one was more reasonably priced & had a section of rooms that looked recently renovated on their website.
When you arrive at the property you drive down a whimsical road with huge old trees on either side which makes the whole experience extra magical.
We stayed in Room #904, which is a Junior Suite with 1 queen bed.
This was a very spacious suite with a canopy bed, soaking clawfoot tub, & marble bathroom with a rain shower.
I will add that the view was of the back parking lot with the woods beyond it, but to be fair, we didn’t care about the view since we were only there for one night (as it was a road trip) & everything we wanted to see & experience meant leaving the room.
We arrived in the evening & spent a few minutes at dusk wandering about the beautiful property & the little garden out back.
After an overnight flight & a day of sightseeing, we slept pretty well, especially Roger!
And a funny fact, the canopy bed is identical to my parents.
When we first walked into the room I kept looking at it trying to figure out why there was something so familiar about it & then it hit me. That’s my parent’s bed!
Also, I’m a bit in love with the wallpaper, but I know I could never convince Roger on installing wallpaper in the house we are building… Anyways!
The next morning we went downstairs for breakfast (which was included in our room rate) where you can enjoy both an ordered hot dish as well as the buffet of fruit, cheese, bread, tea, pastries, & more!
They offered us coffee, but we opted for hot chocolate with every meal while we were in Ireland.
Roger ordered pancakes & while I can’t remember what I ordered I do remember it being good!
No matter what you order, just remember that you aren’t in America so Irish pancakes will not taste the same or have the same consistency, but he seemed to enjoy them!
After breakfast, we spent about 10 minutes taking pictures at the front of the castle.
I absolutely loved the red door & all of the green ivy that changes to red ivy in the fall.
This was definitely a magical way to begin our Ireland road trip & it was Roger’s favorite hotel.
Click here if you want to learn more about this hotel or are ready to book your castle adventure in Ireland.
And while the Ballyseede Castle was lovely & modern, the Trump Hotel was charming & coastal.
The Trump International Golf Links® & Hotel Doonbeg
This was my personal favorite.
To be clear, Roger too asked if it was my favorite because they upgraded us. And while that definitely was a nice surprise when we checked in that night, the reason this was my favorite hotel was that everything was above & beyond what I could have expected.
Once I share everything, I think you too will understand just why I loved this hotel so much.
I did very minimal research prior to & even after Roger booked our hotels for this trip. I pretty much let him choose whatever he wanted. So I didn’t really know what to expect each night, just that we were going to be staying at some really nice places.
So let’s start from the beginning.
We arrived well after dark, as we had spent the evening at the Cliffs of Moher (pretty much no other tourists around) enjoying the romantic atmosphere.
Since the Trump Hotel is in a secluded area & set up more like a neighborhood of townhouses rather than a hotel, & because it was dark (& slightly raining) we had a little bit of a hard time finding the building to check-in at, but once we did everyone was incredibly helpful & accommodating.
We stayed in the building right across the courtyard from the main building (which is also where you can find the reception desk & the restaurant), in suite room #25.
This suite had views of the courtyard & main building off the front along with another courtyard & townhouse style rooms off the back.
The main floor had a half bathroom, kitchen, & a living room with a fireplace. The second floor had a marble bathroom & a spacious bedroom.
Roger actually booked this hotel simply because the bed in the pictures looked really comfortable.
I about died laughing when he told me that was the reason he booked the Trump Hotel!
And just so you know, the bed was incredibly cozy (since we arrived at night I took these pictures the next morning after a restful sleep in that comfy bed). I never wanted to leave it!
That night we ordered room service, a cheese platter & hot chocolate which came delivered to our room in a big picnic basket!
We found out later that you can order picnics the day before you go out, that you can enjoy the next day. If we had been smart we would have ordered one to take with us the next day to enjoy on the Cliffs of Moher.
The next morning we woke up to the most gorgeous of days & when we arrived at breakfast they led us to a table with a view of the beautiful North Atlantic.
Breakfast was also included in our room rate & we enjoyed both an ordered hot meal as well as the buffet of cheese, fruit, juices, salads, & pastries.
Honestly, I felt like a princess.
And if you love horseback riding, while we were having breakfast I overheard a gentleman say that his wife went out the first thing that morning to go horseback riding.
Once we had more than our fill of breakfast I grabbed my Canon EOS 6D (with the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II lens), travel tripod, & my wireless timer remote so that I could get some shots of us on the beach & the grassy dunes overlooking the sprawling coastline.
And oh my goodness! Before we even got to the beach, Roger took me off the beaten path, up a hill to the top of a grassy knoll that was absolutely breathtaking.
After 1 or 2 more photo stops, we made it to the beach where I found some beautiful yellow shells & could fully take in the beauty of the extensive beach with its grassy knolls that ran the perimeter of the beach.
I’ll admit, I was like a child dragging my feet when we left this gorgeous hotel.
And if you would like to learn more about The Trump International Golf Links® & Hotel Doonbeg or are ready to book your relaxing stay click here.
If you have a chance to stay at either or both of these beautiful hotels I know you’ll have a wonderful stay. How could you not? You’ll be in Ireland!
I have a lot more blog posts on Ireland to come as well as some that I have already shared. Click here to read all of my tips & advice posts on Ireland.
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What are you most excited about seeing & doing in Ireland?
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With love, Giusti
