The Best Hotels and Resorts in Europe and the UK: The Gold List 2024
"This red-brick Palladian pile sits at the foot of the looming Rock of Cashel, one of Ireland’s most famous historic sites, with its Romanesque chapel, roofless cathedral, and pencil-shaped round tower. The woodsmoke-scented entrance hall (log fires are lit daily) is bookended by black Kilkenny marble mantelpieces and wall-to-wall art that includes major names of Irish art history—Lavery, Jack B Yeats, Orpen—mostly copies of the owners’ private collection, with a few originals hanging strategically out of reach. There are 42 rooms and suites, outfitted in heavily textured fabrics, curtains zhuzhed up with pelmets and tassels. Best of all are the rooms with views over to the enigmatic Rock on the hilltop, which is atmospherically lit up at night. A slick spa is beautifully set at the edge of the restored gardens—look out for the centuries-old mulberry tree planted to mark Queen Anne’s coronation. Breakfast and afternoon tea are taken in the cream-walled room named after the monarch, where local products (jams, bacon, and eggs) are the mainstay of the menu. The Bishop’s Buttery, the fine-dining offering, champions Tipperary produce in delicately plated dishes of Shepherd’s Store-cheese agnolotti and apples with caramel and Calvados. From $378. —Gráinne McBride" - CNT Editors
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