Health and wellness, lakeside luxury and gorgeous gardens …
Westport Estate’s new outdoor wellness experience has just launched with a Finnish-style wood-fired sauna, outdoor hot tub, two ice baths and refreshing bucket showers suspended from the surrounding trees. Pop in for €25 per person per hour, while a private experience for up to twelve people costs €220. For those looking to linger a little longer, the Estate offers glamping in fully furnished bell tents, in addition to traditional camping and caravan options. Looking ahead, Westport Estate will welcome The Grace, an elevated new hotel experience set to open next spring. @westportestate
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Aghadoe Heights Hotel, Co Kerry
For lakeside luxury, try one of the new Lakeview suites at Aghadoe Heights Hotel in Killarney with the Summer by the Lakes overnight package, which includes dinner from €336 per person sharing until the end of August. If staying, take a stoll through the national park to Ross Castle or get a short boat ride to Innisfallen Island, once home to a monastery dating back to 640 AD. Other local tips include Luna for coffee, lunch and charcuterie boards, or Heather Café which enjoys a great setting at the base of the Gap of Dunlop. Hilliard’s is regarded as the best spot for cocktails and tapas, while the Killarney Brewing & Distillery offers tours, just two miles away. For some retail therapy, pop into Scarlett boutique. @aghadoeheights
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Gardenistas should make a beeline to Lyrath Estate, where its original gardens were created by Lady Charlotte Wheeler-Cuffe – a celebrated botanical artist, gardener and plant collector. She’s fondly remembered throughout the hotel and her legacy has been cemented further by the addition of a new garden-inspired restaurant called Eden. Overlooking the gardens, it’s a fresh take on bistro dining in a relaxed setting with chintzy upholstery and floral wallpaper that brings the outdoors in. The menu is light and seasonal – think wild garlic soup with smoked Gubbeen cheese; cream, prawn and mussel linguine or Lyrath rhubarb, strawberries, cinnamon and oat crumble. I also recommend the spa’s signature Kertin Florian illuminating treatment. @lyrathestate
