Arches Country House can be a little challenging to find (especially in the dark), but it is well worth the trip. It is adjacent to a beautiful lake and surrounded by fir trees. Your hostess, Noreen McGinty (her website reminded me), is wonderfully warm, but not strange or overly nosy as some hosts on our journey could be (five long years ago). She reminded us of our moms and told us about how her son lives in America (I can't remember where).
Anyway, her house was so tidy you could eat off the floors. Her breakfast was yummy and Donegal is amazing. I say this about most of Ireland, but Donegal is just even more beautiful than those parts of Southern Ireland that everyone raves about. It is more remote, more green, more insane views. When we go back again, I want to rent a cottage in Donegal and just soak it in (and I am not a nature person).
The Arches is approved of by the Irish Tourist Board and, according to their website, is recommended by Lonely Planet, fancy schmancy. The rates are currently listed at 65 to 70 Euros for a double room. read more