Beautiful Place - was perfect for our trip.
Review Submitted: 29 June 2010
Date of Stay: April 2010
The boathouse on the cove at Glanleam was absolutely wonderful, and is now definitely one of our favorite spots on Earth. We were there for a week in mid-April 2010 and wish we could have stayed longer.
We arrived a bit later in the evening than planned, but the owner, Hetta was very friendly and helpful and helped us get settled in right away.
We loved the way the boathouse is nestled in the cove and surrounded by lush vegetation. The kitchen and dining are inside on the lower floor, as well as the bathroom, jacuzzi and sauna. Upstairs are the two bedrooms and living room. In the picture on the website, the glass you see upstairs is the entire wall of the living room.
The views from the living room across the water are worth the entire stay! Morning and evening we would sit there and just watch the scenery change as the sunlight moved across the area. Our favorite time was evening. We would light a few candles, listen to the waves and watch the glow from the sunset play across the mountains and sea while the stars came out. We often ate lunch on the cobbles in front of the boathouse, with the perfect setting, a gentle breeze, sun, waves and our own food and wine, it beat any other sea-side bistro I've eaten at.
The gardens were great as well. They're pretty large with many trails to wander and explore on. We enjoyed walking along the paths and seeing all the mature evergreen trees (several are huge). The cliff walk was our favorite trail. The garden is more like a beautiful park with many many wonderful varieties of plants thriving and growing naturally rather than a meticulously manicured garden. My fiancé and I like this style, and let me just say that the owners have done an AMAZING job with what they have had to work with, because in it's heyday these huge gardens were tended by up to 30 workers.
The island of Valentia is also a gem on it's own. Except for a few short trips off the island, we spent our entire time here. You definitely owe it to yourself to take an evening drive up to the top of the island to watch the sunset.
My only very very minor complaints are these: The wifi internet access is not available at the boathouse. You have to go to the main house for that. Also the cable TV is mostly in German except for a few news channels. I had just been in Germany for 6 weeks so was eager for English TV - in truth, TV isn't really needed in this beautiful spot.
We will definitely return to visit and recommend to anyone!
Recommended for:
Adventure Seekers,
Sightseeing,
Romantic Getaway
Helpful votes: 8/8
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