Kildare Hotel & Country Club

Description:

• The darling of the affluent, sporty set, Kildare is most famous for its 18-hole Arnold Palmer-designed golf course that hosted the Ryder Cup in 2006 . A 45-minute drive from Dublin, this 132-hectare (326-acre), no-expense-spared resort makes a luxurious base from which to visit Dublin and the sights of Kildare. The surroundings are gorgeous and the service excellent, but the atmosphere here is more formal and less relaxed than at some of Ireland's other manor hotels. A Georgian mansion serves as the main hotel, although guest rooms are spread out among several buildings -- all sumptuously appointed with luxurious fabrics. The main restaurant, the Byerley Turk, is formal (and a tad snooty) and features rich French food. You can adjourn for drinks in the library -- it's a showcase for an extraordinary collection of Jack B. Yeats paintings.

  Facilities: 3 restaurants; pub; babysitting; concierge; 18-hole golf course; gym; library; room service; indoor pool; sauna; solarium; squash courts; 2 indoor and 2 outdoor tennis courts; private access to salmon and trout fishing; clay pigeon shooting; horseback riding

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Recommended 2010