What follows below is my honest opinion. I have not been compensated for this post and stayed at Ashford a few years ago with my own money.
There are a few countries in Europe where castles are boundless. Ireland is one of those countries. When planning our trip to Ireland, I knew that there were several castles that I wanted to visit but I also knew that I wanted to stay in one. At least one night.
I promise you I don’t have a princess complex! I have always been fascinated with castles and the medieval time period in general. If I could live in another time period all together, that would probably be my pick.
Why Ashford Castle?
So I started researching castle hotels in Ireland. There are so many to choose from! I decided on Ashford Castle for a few reasons. The first reason was the location.
My first order of business when planning this trip was to map out a rough itinerary since we were doing a giant loop around the country. I needed to figure out what we wanted to see and plot the points out on the map. Then I needed to find out if any of the castles were close to those points so that we wouldn’t get too far off of our path.
I knew I wanted to hike Croagh Patrick and the little town of Cong where Ashford sits was not too far from that location. It was perfect! The second reason I chose Ashford was for the actual aesthetics. The castle is beautiful and the rooms are gorgeous and clean (Cleanliness very important factor in all of my overnight choices).
Another reason for choosing Ashford was that the castle has a variety of activities available on the castle grounds. You can ride horses, take a boat ride, rent a bike, or learn all about falconry. Yes, you can walk through the woods with a hawk on your arm! (More about that later)
I started planning this trip approximately 2 years prior to traveling to Ireland. It was a necessary move as once I had it all laid out and had an approximate cost for the trip, I realized I needed a little bit longer to save up for it. At that point, I just laid the plans to the side and waited and saved.
Finally the time came when I could begin putting my travel plans into action. The first thing I did was to buy the plane tickets so I had definite travel dates. The second thing I did was individually book the hotels.
The Castle Changed Management
When I got to the website to book Ashford Castle, I nearly fainted! The price per night had nearly doubled! I had no idea why! I got on trusty Google and found out that the castle had been sold to the Red Carnation group who spend $75 million dollars in renovating the castle starting with repairing the stonework on the outside.
Then it made sense why the price had increased.
At that point I had to really decide for myself….was the cost worth it? Could I justify spending that kind of money on one night in a hotel? I debated in my head on whether to stay two nights but at that price I could barely….just barely afford one. And I really had to weigh the cost. I’d never spent that much on just one night in a hotel before. But I told myself it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and booked the room.
And I’m so glad I did! I have never been treated better by any hotel! The hotel staff treat you like you’re royalty throughout the entire stay. The first thing that impressed me was their Concierge service. My husband had gotten sick a few days prior.
We picked up some over the counter medicine but nothing was working and he was getting worse. It turned into an upper respiratory infection and he needed antibiotics. Which meant I needed to find a doctor.
I called ahead to the hotel and asked if they knew a local doctor. They gave me directions to the doctor in town (Cong is a very small town) and let us know that walk-in hours were between 2-4pm. We were able to get into the doctor and made it to the castle around 3:30 pm that afternoon.
The Royal Treatment
When you drive up to the gate, an attendant asks for a name and checks your name off of a list. You then proceed down a really long drive to the front of the hotel where they have complimentary valet. It was raining that afternoon and another attendant opened the car door, and made sure to keep an umbrella above my head.
They gave us a ticket for the car and told us they would take care of all of our luggage. We then proceeded to check in. They informed us that the room was not ready yet but that was not a problem at all as I had scheduled us for the afternoon tea.
The entire tea experience was amazing and we had a table by the window with a view of the grounds. They boxed up the remaining cookies and treats and let us take them with us.
By the time we had finished, they had checked us in and told us how to get to our room. Our luggage was waiting for us inside the room when we arrived. We settled in just briefly and then walked back to the Concierge.
Royal Extras
Our second order of business was to get the car to find the pharmacy so that we could pick up the medicine the doctor had prescribed. The Concierge called a car for us and the driver took us straight to the pharmacy, waited for us, and took us back to the castle. There was no charge for this service!
We had dinner that night in The Dungeon followed by drinks in the lounge and headed back to the room to find a box of chocolates on the bed and slippers on the floor for us. The TV screen had a personal welcome message with our names on it. Those little touches meant so much to me.
Morning Hawk Walk
The next morning, we woke up and went down for breakfast. Breakfast is included and there is a wide variety of food options. We then decided to stroll the grounds a little before going for our scheduled hawk walk. The hotel offers complimentary umbrellas and rain jackets for those venturing outside on rainy days.
There’s also another little perk. After all the rain, I knew it would be muddy walking through the woods. Ashford also allows you to borrow rain boots! They just hold your regular shoes until you return the rain boots. Not only did it keep my regular shoes from getting muddy, but I loved those rain boots so much that I ended up getting a pair exactly like them for Christmas that year!
We headed out to the Falconry School to go for our one-hour hawk walk. It was the most amazing experience! The staff are not only extremely knowledgeable but they love teaching others about the birds they care for. The time seemed to fly by much too quickly (no pun intended!) and before we knew it, it was time to go back. And unfortunately for us, it was also time to check out.
We checked out of our room and the valet helped us load our luggage back into the car. Before leaving, they also gave us bottles of water to take with us on our travels. I cannot say enough nice things about this hotel.
My only regret is that I did not have enough money to stay another night. There are so many activities to do around the castle grounds and we did not nearly have enough time to explore them all. And by the way they also have an incredible spa which I was also not able to fit in during my stay. They have a very extensive list of services they provide.
Final Thoughts
The only negative comment I have is regarding the bathroom doors. During the renovations, the bathroom doors were replaced with doors that have frosted panels in them. But they’re not quite frosted enough because you can still see inside the bathroom. Which means, if someone is on the toilet…..you can see them.
And if you’re staying as a family and have teenagers, this would be something to be aware of. If you and your spouse have no boundaries, this may not bother you, but we still like a little privacy when it comes to the bathroom.
If there was a pull-down shade on the inside of the door that you could use for privacy it would be optimal. They did however offer a solution when we were there. When we called the front desk to ask if there was something they could do, two staff members came up (within 5 minutes) with long sheets of paper and taped them across the panels.
It wasn’t fancy but it fixed the issue and showed that they were concerned with our comfort which was more than enough for me.
I definitely think that the stay was worth every penny! My only advice would be to stay two nights if you are able to budget for it because one day was just not enough time to completely enjoy everything Ashford had to offer. Hopefully, with a little bit of Irish luck I will be able to go back to visit one day!
If you’re planning a trip to Ireland, here are The Best Family Friendly Places to visit in Ireland.
