I’m vacationing in Ireland with my son from 2/20 -2/27. I plan to stay 2 days around Killarney, and 2-3 days in or around Galway. The first and last nights I’ll be at a hotel in Dublin.
If I don’t pre-book my B&B with vouchers, will I have trouble getting a B&B during that time?
3 Answers
Bernie,
Using vouchers on-the-fly is used to be the norm and for those who are adventurous, it’s great in the off season. My recommendation for prebooking is:
You want the center of town so you can walk to pubs — pre-book regardless of the season.
If you need more than one room in a B&B — pre-book!
Any of the popular tourist towns – pre-book!
If you’re traveling in the high-season then pre-book!
Most Americans I work with want solid reservations so booking as they go is typically not required.
Hi Bernie
just back from Holidays and seen your questions, i left for Ireland on the day you posted your blog, pity you are not going after you recieve this. I spent 3 weeks, and had a great time, we had our first and last few days fixed, and were just moving nicely around the coast, and spent some good times in Cork and Kerry, we based our selves in Kenmare for about 10 days.
It was a bit like ground hog day, we kept doing the same thing day after day, but like it. We arrived there and had the first nights accommodation reserved in O Donnabhain’s Bar , Bed and Breakfast
http://www.odonnabhain-kenmare.com
and like it and stayed for a few extra days. We liked, it was very clean, with nice big rooms away from the Bar area ( it is soundproofed so do not worry ) great breakfasts, and nice people.
Jer & Vanessa gave us good advice on what to do, and what to see, and it was nice just to relax, as we had no plans. I have been in Ireland a good few times, and passed through Kenmare a few times, but never stayed, so we decided to stay this time.
We were chatting with Jer and one thing led to another and the next morning we woke up in one of his holiday Homes, the house is called Barr Cill Ahat, it has the most fantastic views over Kenmare Bay, and is set on 14 acres with its twin call Bun Cill Athat. The Barr means Higher in gaelic, the house was beautiful, spacious, and you can have a jacuzzi bath while enjoying the view.
It was a kind of funny experience that we new we were spending too much time in Kerry, but at the same time we did not mind, we had a great time in Ireland this time. We always loved going there , but now we have found a connection / bond, which me never experienced before and now regard Kenmare as a second home.
Have a look at Barr at http://www.kenmarerentals.com where you can see the houses that Jer has in Kenmare, as far as i am aware , he owns all the houses, so it is nice to deal with an owner, rather than some of these agents.
We travelled to Killarney, and seen Muckross Houses, torc etc, but did not stay there, as we were happy with Kenmare as our base.
You won’t have the slightest problem.
The recession is hitting accommodation providers hard, there is a massive oversupply of accommodation and B&B owners will be very happy indeed to see you.
In fact I advise that this year maybe more than ever anyone would need to take a close look at the value offered by B&B vouchers. You’d almost certainly get better value just booking as you go, and you’ll have much more flexibility. You will NOT have any problem getting accommodation.
I’d also suggest that anyone who is choosing B&B accommodation for reasons of price take a look at hotels. There are some absolutely stunning offers out there.
As an example, the Maldron Hotel in Salthill, just outside the city centre, has a rate of two midweek nights with dinner on one night for €109 per person, and it’s a very nice hotel with an excellent leisure centre with pool, sauna and so on. I bet if you call and ask they would throw in a third night for very little extra.
http://www.maldronhotels.com/hotel-galway/
If you fancy some luxury at a not too scary price, you’ll get three nights B&B plus dinner on one night in the Park House Hotel in Galway for €169 per person if you arrive on a Sunday. That’s pretty luxury accommodation, and very central. One person would have paid that for one night a couple of years ago.
http://www.parkhousehotel.ie/index.html
They are just a couple of examples, pretty much every hotel has similar offers at the moment.
Katherine
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