Faithlegg holiday homes

Hi there,

looking to book a one week break in around New Year's Eve for two families with kids. Have come across two sets of holiday homes on the Faithlegg House Hotel estate:

Faithlegg Mews
Willow Wood Holiday Homes

Wondering whether anyone has stayed in either and can recommend either? One is administered by the hotel and the other by travel agents (willow).

Other options for us include - Mount Wolesey - on the Hilton Hotel grounds in Tullow (is there much to do in that area?).

Really interested in children's facilities....

any feedback appreciated!

Stayed in Faithlegg homes (hotel run) for a wedding a few years ago. It is a nice place and the hosues were comfortable.

Friends were there (in the hotel) for New Year last year (with babies) and enjoyed it.

Hi babydays,

Have stayed in Mount Wolsely a few times with kids and really enjoyed it, playground & leisure centre onsite, kids had a ball. I believe they have an ice rink and xmas market organised this year aswell on the grounds so that could be great crack.....
Just down the road from here is Killerig golf lodges, stayed here aswell and same setup, houses would be newer as would hotel, both equally as good,

Have also stayed in lodges in shannon oaks hotel in Portumna, 5 bed sleeps up to 10 comfortably, easily accomodate 2 families, half the price.
Nice hotel and leisure centre too.

Have never stayed in Faithlegg or Willow Wood, was planning too a couple of years ago but friend had a bad experience that put me off, having said that have heard numerous good reports since.

Hope this helps, am toying with the idea of heading down to Mount wolsely myself with the kids over xmas for a bit of ice skating and a few hot whiskeys!!!!

We stayed in the Faithlegg Mews and they were very nice. That said, the Willows looked much nicer and we tried to 'upgrade' but they were all booked out. Not much there for very young kids but there was a tennis court and golf for the older ones.

I was trying to decide between the Mews and the Willows so it sounds from your feedback that the Willows is nicer - thanks for that input, really useful.

BUT, as you say Squonk, there doesn't seem to be much for kids (we're two families with 5 kids ranging from 5 mths to 4 yrs).

As our friends are flying in from abroad we wanted to keep it close-ish to Dublin (no more than 2 1/2 hrs) so that cuts out Portumna.

Also liked the look of Mount Wolsely but it is E270 more expensive per house which is not to be sneezed at!

Anyone have other great suggestions, not too far from Dublin with great kids facilities?!!!

maybe I should open a broader thread on this?

Posted on your other thread about a hotel in Waterford

Mount W is quite nice however do not under any circumstances venture into the town of Tullow.

I know a group of four who ventured into Tullow and ended up being attached and beaten by local teens. The attacks were so severe that the group spent months in hospital and culminated with one member of the group ending up with a permanent disability. According to local Gardaí such attacks are commonplace in the area.

I think you'd be doing very well to do Faithlegg in 2.5 hours. Took us closer to 3, and about 4 on the way down with traffic. Was there recently, the holiday homes were just ok, we had some minor problems with this and that. pool was ok, kiddies area etc. Didn't use the children's facilities though we had a lot of kids with us. Had a meal in the Hotel, food would have been very good only service was abysmal and kinda ruined it. It was over priced for what it was IMO.

Stayed in the houses in Faithlegg before. Nice, but nto a huge amount to do for the kids. THe pool in the hotel is grand, the restaurant in the hotel was a huge dissappointment, very very average for the price.

Stayed in Faithlegg for a weekend break and it was a disaster. And yes we did take it up with the management. We get another weekend FREE...

Faithlegg doesn't seem to be doing too well in this vox populi!

If it was just for us I wouldn't mind too much but it's also for friends who will be paying a lot for flights and car hire too so I want to get it right for them.

Artois - presumably you could have such bad luck in any town in Ireland....???!

Someone posted about Gold Coast Golf Resort in Dungarven - again the aa route planner has it down as 2.45 minutes from Dublin airport - but maybe that's if you drive at 3 am with NO traffic? This Dungarven resort seems to have various self-catering homes and hotels to choose from both with lesiure centre.
[broken link removed]

Anyone tried these?

is usually a great source of independent reviews, though it looks like the hotel & self-catering facilities are mixed together in these reviews.

We spent a week in Clonea 2 summers ago. Weather was fantasic and kids had a ball. Basically you have 2 hotels with the same owner located on the coast a few miles apart. We stayed in a 3 bed golf villa close to the Clonea Strand Hotel which adjoins the golf course and were very spacious. I know friends of ours that go every year and share one house between 2 families - depends on the numbers I guess. The 2 hotels are 3* - nothing more. Both slightly dated and could be a bit bleak at this time of year. There are a few self catering options - I think more may have been built since we were there. Both hotel have pools. The Clonea Strand Hotel is beisde the golf course and overlooks the small harbour (no beach). The Gold Coast Hotel is on a fantastic beach and has indoor play area, bowling etc. You have the use of both hotels when self catering. Food in both was just ok. Nearby Dungarvan is nice and has a great outdoor playground but again weather may effect that option.
In my opinion, this would be a long drive from Dublin but that is a decision for yourselves - what about Druid's Glen or the following:
http://www.tulfarris.com/
[broken link removed]
Dont know alot about them but alot nearer to Dublin.
Also heard good things about [broken link removed]
http://www.nuremore.com/pages/
Would you consider getting the train to Killarney ?
Probably not but that would open up a lot more options including:


Happy hunting !!

rainy day - tks that's a great site!

ROSS - a million thanks.
Am checking the various sites - some look very promising.

hadn't said - a pool is essential for the kiddies so am also searching for that too. (the youngest of which is drinking his bottle on my lap at the mo' - hence the one-handed typing and brevity)

will report back!

The Lough Allen houses look sumptous!

Deciding between Lough Allen/Leitrim and Mount Wolesey/Carlow.

I'm not familiar with either counties but it sounds like there are more things to do in the Carlow area - at least we could drive to Kildare to the Japanese gardens, Kilkenny outlet etc

Basically both places look fantastic. Anyone have a preference for either county and what to do in those?

I haven't stayed in the houses but I have stayed in the Ramada Hotel and liked it better than Faithlegg. Modern and professional. They have a small playground on site, and a decent pool. We took the kids riding in the stables nearby, and on a river cruise. Lots of places to go for a walk etc. I think its much shorter journey than faithlegg too. Dunno about Carlow, never stayed there.

faithlegg mews are very comfortable and i would recommend staying there, jack meades pub is only 3 minutes drive and have a pet farm during the summer and it attracts hundreds of people at the weekends. waterford city is only 5 minutes away. i stayed there in march and it was very quiet but im told the summer is hectic as for xmas eve i expect it to be quiet.

We've stayed in the Faithlegg hotel and found it very nice. We had a great meal there one night and my wife even got a sauce receipe from the french chef.
I found the leisure centre grand, it was never busy when we were there, and had the whole pool to ourselves with the two kids on a couple of occasions. The kids pool is standard size for these leisure centres I think.

Somewhere near the hotel is a small village called cheekpoint and we found two wonderful little seafood oriented restaurants there off the beaten track so to speak.

We went walking from the back of the hotel out through some woodlands and found a path up a hill with woods all around and some great views over the river suir.
Found the pub Jack Meades also as another poster said, which has a kids play ground and a paddock with goats and miniture ponies.

Also spent another day walking around Dunmore east village and beaches which is about 8 miles away.