Ardagh North, Baltimore

The cottage we originally booked was a disaster, we found this as a replacement at short notice, and it certainly saved our hoilday. The property is spacious, clean and tidy. Its situated in a quiet spot but close to Baltimore and Skibereen. The owner was very welcoming and helpful, giving us advice on places to visit and where to find good local restuarants. We really enjoyed our stay here and would definitely recommend this as a place to stay.

After taking the decision to go to southern Ireland for the first time, we spent along time on the internet looking for the right cottage, and eventually came across this one. We travelled 15 hrs to get to the area and after all that just wanted to relax and rest. The first problem came in trying to locate the house. We drove around the area for a while struggling to find it, and ended up asking locals who still struggled to identify the white house. After much confusion and speaking with the owner several times we eventually manged to find the house which was now brown??? We then began the arduous task of locating the key which the owner had left for us, unfortunately this entailed digging through bags of rubbish, which to me is not a thing I expected to be doing on the first day of my holiday. Anyway that aside we finally entered the cottage to see a bottle of wine on the side that had been left for us, oops my mistake it was a half empty bottle left by the previous occupants. Once again we put it to one side and started to unpack, then realising that freezer was full of old food that had been there for a good while and seen better days. By this point alarm bells were starting to ring, we surveyed the rest of the cottage and it really didn't get any better; The couch in the dining room looked like it had been savaged by a bear, and covered loosely with a manky cover that itself had seen better days, The cupboards where filthy inside, bed sheets torn and stained as well as having hairs on them, clearly indicating to us that there was no way they had been cleaned prior to our arrival. Other issues included piles of dirty laundry left behind, burnt candles, toilets left soiled (not cleaned). We contacted the cottage company and the owner, who came out to discuss the issues, but could see no wrong and blamed the problems on the cleaner. However after meeting the owner it was clear why the standards where as they were. We tried repeatedly to express our dismay to the owner but to little benefit, so there was no way we could stop in this cottage over night, so we decided to leave. In an act of desperation we asked the owner if he could put the issues right for the next day whilst we slept somewhere else that evening, to which he just shrugged his shoulders and basically said 'i don't think so'. Well neither do I, quite frankly I would be surprised if he put it right within a year given the fact that he cant actually see what was wrong in the first place. It is such a shame because the house itself would be nice if someone just put a bit of effort in, but it seems sadly lacking. But anyway, i have attached some photos for you all to make your own mind up, and i hope that this review may save a lot of you the misery we suffered because of the lack of standards of the owner. This was first impression we got of the Irish, and what a low standard it set, however thankfully every other Irish person we met was so friendly and helpful that thankfully it did not taint our impression of Ireland or the Irish. thanks so much for spoiling a long awaited well deserved break. :(

We found the setting delightful, we were near Lough Hyne which was perfect for the water sports and Skibbereen was only a 15 minute drive away.

A very relaxing holiday. The house is set in a beautiful and peaceful elevated location, with distant sea views, over rolling countryside. The accommodation is large, modern and wonderfully equipped. It was perfect for our group of six people. The owner was very friendly and helpful, and kindly escorted us from Skibbereen on arrival. The surrounding area is lovely, with colourful wild flowers in the hedgerows. The holiday surpassed all expectations, and the weather was great.

The property is in a very rural and quiet area. The house itself is very well kept and immaculately clean with an extremely well equipped kitchen.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay here. It is close to Baltimore and Skibbereen with a great country setting. The house is well kept and quite lovely. The ONLY negative is the narrow road to get there, but if you are used to boreens, no problem! An excellent value.