A night at the top spot on Ireland's 100 greatest places to stay

Times

a day ago

Ballyfin Demesne in Co Laois topped the Sunday Times Great Places to Stay 2025 list, fending off contemporary hotels, extensive resorts and luxe spa getaways. With properties around the country constantly upping their game and investing millions into high-tech amenities and luxe experiences, what makes this country house hotel so special? I checked in to get a taste of its modern take on Regency hospitality.
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On arrival, I gave my name at the electric gates and drove along a meandering path through park lands. The regal house, and the glittering manmade lake opposite, came into view and I spotted staff members lined up outside the building. They had dropped everything for the customary welcome ritual.
That sounds like it should be awkward, but the staff, in this instance all locals, are down to earth, warm and efficient. One attendant walked swiftly to the boot to retrieve my bag, and another gestured for me to follow her into the building. The third, the man who opened the driver's door and took my keys, casually asked if I'd like the car valeted during my stay. Is that possible, I asked? The response, is that 'anything is possible'. A big promise, but it's easy to imagine that at Ballyfin they deliver on that.
We all know of some of the property's famous guests — George and Amal Clooney once booked out the property for a family reunion, and Kim Kardashian and Kanye West stopped here on their honeymoon. It's no surprise that this lavish hotel has attracted such big names, in what has been a relatively short time in the hospitality industry.
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Above the entrance is the coat of arms of the Coote family, the original owners. The house was built in the 1820s for Sir Charles Coote by the Irish architects Sir Richard and William Morrison. Portraits of members of the Coote family, who lived here for 100 years, posing in their fine Regency era frills and coats, line the stairway. The estate was then sold to the Patrician Brothers, who ran a school there for much of the 20th century.
By 2002, the 3,250 sq m home needed extensive renovation work, and was purchased by the Chicago-based businessman Fred Krehbiel and his wife, Kay, who was from Kerry. The art lovers and collectors spent nine years restoring the property, including its intricate marquetry floors and gilded plaster ceilings, and seeking out pieces once owned by the Cootes, before opening it as a hotel in 2011. Now owned by Krehbiel's sons Liam and Jay, they are keen to preserve the future of their parents' passion project.
As a guest, it was impossible not to gaze around agog, from the grand saloon, with its plaster columns, to the 24-metre library, a room that runs the length of the southside of the building and is the perfect spot to order tea and scones. Afterwards, an afternoon of traditional country pursuits awaited. When I met the clay pigeon shooting instructor, I asked him how long he had worked there, and he smiled. He was initially a bricklayer there when Ballyfin was being transformed into a hotel, but not only that, he had attended the school as a boy, and described how on their first day, the pupils were brought through the grand entryway, before making their way to the school building, which is now the hotel's laundry. The local staff, and their reverence for the place and what it has become, really stands out.
I astounded myself and the instructor, when after two warm-up shots (or were they warning shots?), I managed to hit six clays in a row. And how best to unwind after successfully wielding a 20-gauge shotgun? Checking into a room as beautiful as the Westmeath, where an ornate French bed stands in the centre. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the portrait above the marble fireplace depicts a neighbour of sorts; the woman was Marianne Jeffreys, who was born at Blarney Castle, in Co Cork, in the 18th century, and went on to become the Countess of Westmeath. My first job was at the Blarney Castle Hotel, as a cleaner. Now look where Marianne and I found ourselves.
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Having settled into my newly discovered home from home, I went downstairs for a glass of champagne in the gold drawing room before dinner by the Michelin-starred chef Richard Picard-Edwards in the state dining room. A starter of west Cork crab with mackerel, gooseberry and buttermilk, followed by turbot with cavolo nero and turnip from the kitchen garden was impeccable, as was the almond dacquoise and orange ganache for dessert.
That was something to experience, and if staying in Ballyfin isn't in the budget, it's worth noting that since last summer, non-resident guests can make dinner reservations. This means that even more people can appreciate the splendour of Ballyfin, and perhaps find their own piece of impeccably preserved history there to connect with. Why should the Clooneys have all the fun?Róisín Healy was a guest of Ballyfin Demesne. Classic rooms B&B from €930; ballyfin.com