Drumcreehy House

We have stayed at Drumcreehy House and loved it! This was our first night in Ireland on this trip. It was 5 of us my husband and myself, our son, his wife and our 21 month old grandson. Bernadette and her husband were very accommodating to our needs. We had the Primrose room and the view is out of this world! The breakfast was wonderful. I have told friends to stay here many times and just lent out my Karen Brown book to my boss and his wife and had Drumcreedy House as a ’must stay’. Thank you.

The exterior of the house is very lovely. However upon entering through the front door and into the foyer, the classy feel and charm are quickly forgotten as the mass amounts of tourist information, postcards for sale and other items, quickly take you to another place other than the one you thought you had arrived in. The hardwood floors are beautiful, the brightly colored walls are cheerful, however the attempt to make the house feel old is inaccurate. It feels new and lacks a special charm a...

[Click Here To See Full Review]

The exterior of the house is very lovely. However upon entering through the front door and into the foyer, the classy feel and charm are quickly forgotten as the mass amounts of tourist information, postcards for sale and other items, quickly take you to another place other than the one you thought you had arrived in. The hardwood floors are beautiful, the brightly colored walls are cheerful, however the attempt to make the house feel old is inaccurate. It feels new and lacks a special charm and warmth; it doesn’t have a soul. It felt quite empty. It only got worse upstairs in our room, the Primrose. The view was lovely, overlooking the pasture full of cows and beyond that, the bay, however that did not make up for the lack of hot water for showers, and more often, not even warm. Add to that, the apparently very thin walls, where as, my husband and I had the pleasure every night hearing our neighbors turn the fan on in their bathroom, and all the pleasant noises that one might make in a bathroom. On a more positive note, overall I found the rooms to be exceptionally clean, the breakfast buffet is wonderful and the staff is very friendly. Also, the tea and bar area are a very nice touch.

[Click Here To Hide Full Review]

HEARTFELT RESPONSE FROM THE PROPRIETORS: Firstly we would like to say thank you for the very positive and complimentary comments - ’lovely exterior’, ’beautiful hardwood floors’, ’bright and cheerful colours’, ’beautiful views’, ’exceptionally clean bathrooms’, ’wonderful breakfast buffet’ and ’fri...

[Click Here To See Full Response]

HEARTFELT RESPONSE FROM THE PROPRIETORS: Firstly we would like to say thank you for the very positive and complimentary comments - ’lovely exterior’, ’beautiful hardwood floors’, ’bright and cheerful colours’, ’beautiful views’, ’exceptionally clean bathrooms’, ’wonderful breakfast buffet’ and ’friendly staff’, all of which conjure up an image of an establishment with a nice ambiance, I would say. It is hard to understand how somebody could find so many positive adjectives to describe a property, which they found lacking in charm, warmth and soul - this seems totally contradictory. Obviously everybody is entitled to their opinion and everybody has different taste and judging from the favourable comments we have been getting from other guests over the last 8 years, we feel we can safely assume that this is a question of personal taste. The house is only 8 years old and so is indeed a new house - however, it is furnished in an olde worlde style with many pieces of antique furniture. In fact many people are surprised to learn that it is only 8 years old. Everyday we are complimented on the ’style of our house’, ’the tasteful interior’, ’the way it has been lovingly put together right down to the finest detail’, ’the cosy feeling of a home away from home’, - comments like this from our guests literally every day (both verbal and written) certainly indicate that we are doing something right. We purposely don’t number our rooms, instead we give them names of local flowers. We put up the minimum of signage in order to steer clear of making the place appear commercial. However, in the interest of our guests and in an attempt to give them as much information as possible on the area, we do (like all other professional guesthouse owners/hoteliers) display tourist information and I don’t think we need to excuse this. When we travel, we like to pick up information on the local area and I must say this is the opinion of most other travelers - and if the guesthouse/hotel where you are staying offers this information, it saves you an unnecessary additional stop at the local tourist office to gather same. Yes, we do sell postcards and we also sell chocolate leprechauns (lollies) - this is hardly what you would describe as an overkill on merchandise. Again, it is convenient for guests to be able to buy their postcards at point of residence. The chocolate lollies started out one Easter when we had chocolate bunnies for kids and the following Christmas, chocolate snowmen and santas. They were so popular amongst the guests that when the supplier told us he had these chocolate leprechauns, we felt that they too could prove popular and so we bought in a batch and yes they have proven quite popular with people bringing them home to kids or grandchildren. However, I think most people would agree that we could not continue to give them out for free like we initially did with the bunnies a couple of years ago. What gives a place soul? Are the people not a major contributing factor to the life and soul of a house/home/guesthouse? Your critique mentioned that the staff was very friendly which sounds a bit contradictory! I also recall booking a tee time for Mr Nix, going through directions, talking about the game afterwards. When my husband checked you out, you chatted, you commented favourably and positively on our house - you talked about organic foods etc. He offered you an early breakfast in the bar/tea room as you were leaving early but you said you just wanted to take fruit which we put out for you (as well as a bowl of organic nuts and seeds which I thought would be a nice touch as you seemed so keen on organic food/healthy food). There was quite a bit of communication - you indicated that you were very happy and we thought you were until we read this critique. Now to the one major problem, and in our eyes, the only one justifiable complaint - the water! However, I would firstly like to point out that you never once mentioned a problem with the water for the duration of your stay (3 nights). If guests don’t alert hoteliers/guesthouse owners to a problem, how can the problem be sorted? It is also difficult to understand how somebody can stay in a place for 3 nights, have cold water for the entire duration and not once question the problem with the owner. You also had the opportunity to state/question the matter on check out but you didn’t say a word, on the contrary you commented positively on the overall stay. Now to the problem - we put in a solar system for our hot water about 6 weeks ago. We initially had some teething problems with it and certain things (pressure etc)had to be adjusted but to the best of our knowledge, the system was working properly and effectively when you stayed with us. Following your departure, the room was occupied by 2 different parties, both of whom also said nothing. Then a new couple checked in last Tuesday night (27th May) and it was only the following morning that we established that there was a problem when they called down to ask if there was a shortage of hot water. We subsequently asked all other guests about the water in their rooms and found that there were only 2 rooms which were affected. We acted immediately and had our plumber out the same day. He established that it was something specific to the two rooms in that corner of the house, that the water was not getting to them for some reason. He adjusted pressure in order to temporarily improve the flow of water so that the current guests could continue to use the room. Tomorrow when these guests have checked out, he will come to fix it properly and hopefully permanently. So as you can see, once we are confronted with a problem we act immediately but unless we are aware of a situation, we are powerless. Perhaps if you had communicated the problem to us on 19th May, the problem could have been sorted out earlier and it could have saved other people having the same cold experience as you. Furthermore, we could also have changed you to another room, had you indicated a problem while you were here. Telling us now in this manner just doesn’t make sense. With regard to your comments about noise from other bathrooms, I would just like to point out that our house is built in accordance with certain specifications which are laid down by the Tourist Authority - they dictate room size, wall thickness, ventilation etc. We apologize if you were able to hear some activity in the neighbouring bathroom but unfortunately this is the case in most establishments with a number of bedrooms/bathrooms - more often than not you can hear water running through pipes, toilets flushing etc. Again I apologize but I refuse to accept your comment that the walls are paper thin because as pointed out above, they are built to specification. Over the 8 years in business, although this has been occasionally mentioned in discussion with guests, it has never been presented as a major problem by them, most of them reiterating the fact that they normally experience this in hotels/guesthouses. In fact many guests also comment on the fact that they don’t realize the house is as busy/full as it is because the noise level is so low. We apologize most sincerely for the water situation and regret any inconvenience caused. We just wish you had informed us of the problem at the time so that we could have sorted it out there and then.

[Click Here To Hide Full Response]