The Belleek Castle looks a bit like fairy tales. After crossing a huge fortified gate, you travel…read moreseveral hundred meters in a large wooded park to finally appearing at the corner of a bend, placed on a hill, a castle with gray hues contrasting incredibly with a grass of a green not found. Crossing the front door, you are immersed in a world that oscillates between the medieval armor, the remains of eighteenth century ships used to make the bar, chandeliers and buffets that would not demerit in the most beautiful museums. The restaurant is in the same style though a bit more rustic. It is true that the castle is regularly busy for weddings or seminars. So you need solid! Paul Doran is a well-informed amateur, almost enlightened by his obsession of beautiful bottles. He has a superb cellar that would make many sommeliers green with envy. The list is longer than the Nile, with multiple international variations. In addition, our owner does not force the sale since he guided me to a bottle, a Pinot noir Rochioli 2013, much cheaper than the one I had originally chosen, a 2012 Sonoma Pinot Noir Kosta Brown Coast. And as we sympathized, he offered me in the middle of the meal to open my first choice to taste it! We ended up sampling a Château d'Yquem 1997. Do I really have to comment? !! But back to the plate, that was our first reason to come here. When I informed our landlady that we were going to dinner at Belleek Castle, her billiard-eyed eyes made me understand its reputation for excellent food was well established. The breads are really excellent. Particularly this "soda bread" which is made not with yeast but with baking soda and milk "ribot". It is accompanied by brioche bread for those who want lighter to start. As an appetizer, a few slices of smoked beef with mushroom mayonnaise and cucumber. It's pretty thin. It is unfortunate that the slice of cucumber is too thick and without any seasoning. The other elements are worked and it is a little rough in the middle of others. As a starter, chef David O'Donnell uses local "fuel", turf, to smoke a piece of lamb. It's good but we would like a little more strength. Either the turf does not give a particular taste, and in this case, as much smoked with conventional wood, or while the meat should be smoked a little longer. This starter is very good but less original than expected. The scallops are presented with a crumbled crab and mussels. The first are perfectly cooked, neither the crab nor the mussels come to encroach on their fine taste. The few branches of dill bring a welcome herbaceous power. And some caviar grains more. We start the tough part with drunk beef at Jameson. Impressive (and funny) preparation of a beef tenderloin stuck on an authentic fifteenth-century sword made in Taiwan. The waiter dramatically blazes at Jameson whiskey. This "service en salle" is like you don't often see! The deer fillet is perfectly cooked, "rosé" and very tender. Country accompaniment of vegetables. Fortunately we are spared the evergreen potatoes that invade Irish dishes too often. Beautiful Pavlova with wild red fruits for dessert. It is therefore a beautiful discovery that this Belleek Castle, with a very pleasant atmosphere, a little outdated but I love it. I will return one day to discover the rooms. Do not hesitate to take a tour before or after your meal at the bar. It is made of ship recovery wood and is shaped like a quarter-deck. Apart from the radiator that detonates a bit, the owner has created an atmosphere out of time. Thanks again to Paul Doran for welcoming us and having some of his beautiful bottles tasted. A little inconvenience, the chef is a little rigid on the menu service schedules. Very reasonable addition of 219,50 euros for 2. I do not integrate the two glasses of Yquem extra.

Definitely stop here if you are in the area. The castle has ten bedrooms for those that want to…read morestay overnight and a wonderful bar and restaurant. We stopped in to have a drink and really enjoyed the experience. Excellent way to end our day.

This is a fairly luxorious hotel, but very unpretentious…read more The service and staff are excellent and the food is really fab, with great portions. In fact, breakfast seems to go on forever and in true Irish style, there is no rush. There is a modest swimmimg pool with great changing facilities, and just beside the hotel the rivers flows gently but a bit deep. Close to the centre of town, Ballina, and easy reach for journeys further afield.

DOWNHILL HOUSE HOTEL…read more The Downhill House Hotel, on the Sligo Road, was our Ballina base for a recent trip to County Mayo. The Hotel, in a wooded riverside location quite close to the town centre, is well up to its 3 star rating. All the staff are friendly and efficient; the rooms and public areas are comfortable, the leisure centre is popular and the Hotel also boasts well kept gardens where you can sit and stroll. We enjoyed an excellent evening meal there: braised shank of lamb with an exceptional red wine sauce. A bottle of red from one of the Bordeaux chateaux cost just €20.00. Service here is also friendly though sometimes a bit over attentive - you don't need your glass of water topped up each time you take a sup! The breakfast was also very good and the full Irish was perhaps the best that I've come across. If dinner is not included in your package, the restaurant prices can be very stiff and this is where the bar comes to the rescue. Prices are reasonable here and the chef's special often includes two or three items from the restaurant menu. We had a mild chicken curry one evening and it was a superb example of the type. For more on Mayo trip see: http://swissroll07.blogspot.com/

Really this is only a 3 star hotel with 3 star facilities and in 2 star condition and yet that's…read moreprobably the last negative thing I'll say about it... The most important things I need from a hotel, at least when traveling for work, is a comfortable bed, a half decent bar, wifi and a good shower - the Downhill easily covers these 4 prerequisites and does so well. True the hotel is wayyyy past its best, in need of some serious redecorating and updating but it has the basics right. Likewise the bar food menu looks very unpromising but it was late when we got in last night and we had no choice but to brave it - we were very pleasantly surprised, we all had sirloin steak and chips and it was great, no complaints at all. Breakfast is again, not bad, not the highest quality ingredients but it hit the spot. So, for 65Euro (inc breakfast) I'd say worth it, fine for work but not for a weekend getaway I reckon.

Lovely older hotel with great bars in the area…read more Very quaint hotel with restaurant, bar, fireplace, amazing views from your hotel room looking over at the River Moy. You can walk to the bar Joe Biden set his feet in at the corner or walk across the street and sit in some very authentic Irish Bars that smelt like they were burning some peet for fire if I didn't know any better! Some houses in County Mayo still burn peet for fire even though I believe it is illegal now, to me it smells nice : ) We spent about three nights at this hotel and there is some shopping you can do in the area and if you get really adventurous, I think you can even do some clay shooting nearby. Set within the grounds, beside our private stretch of the River Moy, is the Mount Falcon Clay Pigeon Shooting Ground (be sure to research on your own as we did not shoot but we drove by the area to snap some pics of the beautiful surroundings.). The Train station is located very close to the hotel which made it fairly easy traveling. I hope to visit this area again in my lifetime and this trip really made me want to hit the lotto so I can travel more places that I never heard of and just soak up the moment and enjoy life. As always people SYOY!!!

Ballina Manor was a pleasant experience, but not a 4 star hotel, 3 star hotel is more appropriate…read more Interior was elegant but some of the more detailed items that would have made it a 4 star were missing such as heated bath towel rack, updated bathrooms, premium bed linens, and a room fridge. Staff was friendly and the restaurant and bar areas were nice, food was ok.

This hotel is billed as the most romantic hotel in Ireland, but our view overlooked the garbage and…read morerecycle bin area. And the person at the front desk assured me no collection trucks would wake us up the next morning with their backup beeping. But that wasn't true. There were some fans going outside the window nonstop also; I don't know if it was a generator, or a refrigeration unit, or what. But so far I would call it the least romantic place I've ever stayed. That said, it's a beautiful old place with wonderfully renovated bathrooms and gorgeous grounds. But still...

Another excellent meal in another sweet castle. This one with a helipad. I love Ireland…read more Obviously, our hosts are showing us the finer parts of the Ballina area. But this house is simply spectacular. I believe a recently redone exterior - nearly new looking - and a restored interior, with immaculate grounds and aforementioned helipad. The dining rooms for the restaurant were really elegant. I believe there's also a hotel in the house, but we're not staying there. Seems like it might be frightfully expensive. Also, you kind of wander in to the house a bit before you find the restaurant, just a warning. Food was as good as the night before at Belleek Castle, but I think with a little more of a foodie/foo-foo twist to it. Presentations were more elegant, ingredients a little more creative, but with roughly the same general results. The amouse bouche was a sort of deconstructed/miniature nicoise salad, with green beans, tomato, and shaved smoked lamb. I don't care about anything else on the plate, the lamb was stunning. Can I get about 5 pounds of that? Beyond the complimentary course, I started with a scallop and black pudding dish, after having been told that if I wanted to try black pudding, I should do so at Mount Falcon. And i was well rewarded. Very flavorful scallops with a nice sear crust and a nice piece of black pudding, which I think was panfried with a little crust on the outside and a very tender inside. The scallops were quite good in a little squash puree, and the black pudding was delicious. I didn't know if I would like it, since I'm not a huge fan of food that tastes heavy in iron (like liver), but it was very good and I'm glad I ordered it. My entree was hake, served with a crabmeat ravioli. This fell down a bit - while the fish was moist, it was not really very flavorful. The crabmeat ravioli tasted excellent, but had several large pieces of shell in it. I know that can be a risk, but it's also something that I've never had happen before. Still tasty, but...I would definitely ordered something else next time. Four of the six of us ordered lamb chops, which looked like a better selection, in retrospect. Dessert was a cheese plate, since they listed four cheeses local to the area, I think all from County Mayo. However, they fail to mention on the menu that the cheese plate really should be for the table - the portion I got would have done all six of us just fine...and two of us at the table ordered it. In the words of my project manager, "If cheese before bedtime causes nightmares...then I'm gonna be freakin' out." Anyway, an absolutely delicious blue, rather sharp hard cheese, reminiscent of a Parmesan, a very mild semi-soft, and some good Camembert, with hearty crackers and a spiced apple chutney. It was great, but I couldn't begin to finish it. And on top of that, they also brought out little lemon curd cups, chocolate bites, and a sort of powered sugar and (I think) lavender biscuit, which was the last thing I ate and a great way to end the meal. Service was good, prices a bit higher than Belleek but still not stupid considering the food. I'd certainly return if I had a guest to impress or wanted a special evening.

The only good thing about this hotel is the dinner at a wedding... As they are presently in…read morereceivership they only hold weddings... They don't offer food unless it the wedding dinner or your morning after breakfast... The heating in the rooms doesn't work so therefore the rooms & corridors are freezing... There are no tv stations working either... They charge €95 per room per night... Very expensive when things don't work... This place would be really lovely if everything worked...

Amazingly beautiful hotel but needs some loving tender care and understanding…read more.. No window curtain for the bathroom so my blanket doubled as the curtain so I could shower without someone seeing me from the front of the hotel.., lovely older hotel with all the older water pipes that go with it.. backed up water in the standing shower, no heat in the room but really might not need it.. plumbing older as would be expected in this beautiful older hotel, built before 1935! In fact the section I stayed in is the original section of this hotel build before ... ..

From the owner: The Twin Trees Hotel & Leisure Club is nestled within mature landscaped gardens overlooking the…read moreBrosna Falls, on the edge of Ballina Town in Co Mayo. We offer traditional friendly hospitality in a relaxed & modern environment, serving delicious home cooked and locally sourced cuisine. Relax & unwind in our Leisure Club that boasts a 16m swimming pool, kids pool, Jacuzzi, steam room, sauna and gymnasium. We are an ideal base to explore the wonders that Co Mayo has to offer, including Keem bay on Achill island & Downpatrick head, 2 of the main signature points along the Wild Atlantic Way. Visit us and experience the wild raw beauty of the World's longest coastal route the Wild Atlantic Way.

molded walls and sink wood rotting. Beds old and hard. Hotel has not been updated in a long…read morewhile. Hotel shuts heater off from front even when you are using it and have to ask permission to turn back on. That being said, staff was very friendly and helpful. Tour busses every day seem to keep place open. Will not stay here again unless it gets updated and cleaned.

One of Ireland's ghost hotels. 100 rooms, with 6 occupied…read moreon a Friday night in May. Inexpensive as a place to stay, and acceptable as long as you understand the limitations. Too far from town to walk to anything. No amenities in the hotel. Nothing around it. Breakfast provided, but no restaurant. I was the only one eating breakfast in a room set for 100. Very weak WiFi in dimly lit lobby only. Comfortable and quiet room, but they were allowing someone to smoke in a "non-smoking" hotel. Once the sun set, the bulbs in the room were too dim to read by. If you are going somewhere else, and need a hotel off the highway for the night: fine.