Cullintra Country House

Welcoming the suggestion of not leaving Ireland without staying in a country house, we booked two ensuite rooms for four adults in this accommodation for two nights. At our arrival, which we previously communicated by phone, we’ve been welcomed by Ms. Patricia, who showed us our rooms. As soon as we’ve entered the house an overwhelming, unpleasant smell hit us, and we noticed that both the furniture and the carpet on the floor were dirty. We would have adapted to the situation, however, instead of the two ensuite rooms that we reserved and paid for, Ms. Patricia showed us firstly a room with the tiniest toilet, and secondly a room in a dusty and dirty garret without its own bathroom, but with a toilet that we should have shared with a family of five. As we asked to have the two rooms with the sanitary services that we booked, the lady started rambling about the most dispare things and then, clearly annoyed, asked us “how dirty you think you are to need to wash yourselves that often?”. As a solution to our complaints, she offered us a room in what seemed to be a former barn, with a really tiny bathroom, which we ended up choosing, preferring it over the shared bathroom. Before letting us into the rooms, she required a cash only payment on the spot, which we accepted on paying considering the deposit we previously payed. During this whole discussion, Ms. Patricia did nothing to ease the mutual comprehension, on the contrary, she repeatedly tried to deflect the conversation, while she was impressively clear and direct about the request of a pre-payment. At the first sight, both rooms turned out to be dirty, full of spider webs and spiders. The one in the barn was paved with porphyry (in terms of soil), covered almost entirely by carped soaked in humidity, with cat hair everywhere, especially on the bed sheets, and little dirty and broken furniture. The lady then confirmed that that is usually the “cat’s house”. The bed sheets and duvets were completely wet (I don't mean slightly humid, I mean wet). The bed had an electrically heated mattress topper that we turned on to dry the sheets to be able to sleep, but we had to remove the duvets for they were too dirty and humid to be used. Needless to say how stinky they were. What is more, the cost of the accommodation included breakfast, which the lady told us would have been served at 11 a.m.; we asked to have it a bit earlier, as we were on a tour sightseeing, not staycating there, so we managed to arrange it at 9:30 a.m. instead. The morning after, when we got at the door of the breakfast room at the arranged time, she ignored us and slammed the door at our faces: in the room, which had a few tables arranged for breakfast, she only let a very kind family in, who got there later than us, and she refused to let us in too. The family, who witnessed our attempts to protest, managed to let us in with them and shared their own breakfast with us. The owner then told us that we should have called (half an hour prior, as the kind father of the family explained to us) to order what we wanted to eat, detail that she did not bother to share with us either the night before nor the same morning when she saw us waiting outside the breakfast room a little after 9 a.m. We felt, and to this day feel, scammed and fooled. Needless to say that the day after we left the place as soon as we could, with our own clothes stinking of mold, giving up on the breakfast we paid for, in order to avoid further discussions and eccentricities. Giving it a star only because it is not possibile to giving zero.

What a scam. This place needs a good clean, it smells terrible and the only way to get some flash air is to leave the building as you are not allowed to open windows, the host has signs everywhere forbidding open windows. Their are spiders resident in the shared bathroom, and the locks on the toilet and bathroom did not work. Our booking said it was an ensuite, nope, we got a share. The owner was well meaning, but obviously lacks the skills to such a facility. The icing on the cake for us was paying for Bed & Breakfast to be advised breakfast was not available before 10am, and that in order to get this, the owner wanted a telephone order at least 30 minutes prior to eating. We are touring, not residents, and eat early so that we can see as much as we can each day. The description of this property on this site is simply wrong and should be removed.

A beautiful house but we were put in a dusty and shabby ground floor barn conversion, with a log stove but no heating in the morning and a door that gapped about 5cms and tiny, tiny bathroom. Charged €30 a head for a plate of curry followed by fruit salad and ice cream. No heat in the dining room despite a huge log store outside and stove in the dining room. Had to push for coffee and biscuits on arrival, to be shown a kitchen in interesting but shabby out building and asked what I intended to do with the coffee grains. Eccentric landlady whose daughter is a cat. Entertaining in its own way but couldn't get away from her. €90 each per night. Rip off. If we had had a room in the house or upstairs in barn then maybe worth it but be really careful before booking this band.

No other accommodation from our 3 weeks in Ireland was as unique and memorable as Cullintra Country House. It's a place where you let go of schedules and surrender to the spell of its ivy-covered farmhouse and fairy-tale grounds and to the vibe of its owner and chef extraordinaire, Patricia. She is a character! If you are open to new experiences and hearing opinions you may not share, willing to eat whatever Patricia prepares (it will be locally sourced and delicious), and okay with dining late and sitting and talking with your host until the wee hours, you will love Cullintra House. But you must be laid back and willing to accept this place and this lady on their own terms. After all, isn't that what travel is all about?