The whole trip was fantastic - especially the Castlemartyr
Resort & Hotel - we thoroughly
enjoyed every minute of our short break so thank you for the recommendation.
Mere words are not enough to describe the experience and
facilities at Castlemartyr, but I'll give it a go...
"Superb" - "Magnificent" - "Awe-inspiring" -
"Glorious" - "Brilliant" - "Outstanding"
From the moment we approached the marvellous Mansion House
at Castlemartyr – with its medieval ruined castle in the background - we were
smitten by its `olde-wordly' charm.
And once inside we were not disappointed. The service was most welcoming &
attentive
without being `smarmy' or overbearing.
The hotel suite itself was `uber-grand' with not only an enormous king-sized
bed which was
so sumptuous it literally swallowed you up as you sank into it but also the
beautifully designed occasional furniture placed around the suite prefectly
complemented it.
As for the en-suite bathroom, well, it was really an enormous walk-in
`wet-room' complete with a
powerful, invigorating shower head if you wanted it or a smaller, gentler
hand-held unit for hair-washing, etc.
The whole suite was also `space-age' with a technologically advanced central master control unit which we discovered to our absolute delight controlled every electrical function throughout the suite from opening/closing the curtains to switching the lights on or off, etc. Marvellous! And as if that wasn't enough, we also had a whole dedicated office suite included where we could play at being the president of the USA or a Richard Branson running our various empires from without leaving our suite!
The food in the Bell Tower restaurant was also superb. Beautifully cooked and presented to our exact requirements and served by friendly, attentive staff throughout.
We also found the same level of courtesy and friendliness at the Castlemartyr Golf Club House. The golf course itself was an interesting `inland links' style course with a good variety of tee positions to match all abilities which we found had generally been maintained beautifully throughout (although the approach to the `blind' par five 11th green could have been better sign-posted as we couldn't find it at all!) And it was a shame that all the greens had been hollow-tined and top-dressed just before our arrival so spoiling the experience on what should have been slick greens but were in fact deadly slow and uneven on the day. Overall though we would still give it a 9 out 10!
We only played golf at Fota Island (Deerpark) rather than staying overnight but can thoroughly recommend the thick and juicy Irish Steak sandwich before taking on this Championship course. Again, a very good course spoiled only by the recent hollow-tining/top dressing on the greens. Overall rating, 7 out of 10.
And of course we can't finish this review without thanking Your Golf Travel once again for recommending the magnificent Castlemartyr Resort (and the upgrade to the Bell Tower Restaurant) and for dealing with our booking so promptly and efficiently. We'll definitely be coming back to book our next golf holiday with yourselves shortly.
