Travelers’ Choice: Hotels and Hideaways We Loved

Our Favorite Places We’ve Ever Stayed (Hotels, Airbnbs, B&Bs & a Castle!) | We Should Move Here Travels

Brittany and Josh share their most recommended accommodations from trips together, continuing from a previous episode. They highlight standout stays including Shadow Mountain Lodge in Aspen for its heated outdoor pool with snowy mountain views; Hotel Borgo Grande Siena in Tuscany for its saltwater hilltop pool, breakfast, and a special Independence Day barbecue; the centrally located Clarendon Hotel in Old Quebec City; Hotel Wakamazu in Takarazuka, Japan for a spacious suite with a private onsen; Scotland favorites like the Highland Club at St. Benedict’s Abbey on Loch Ness and The Coorie tiny home near Portree with a hot tub overlooking the Highlands; an artistic Airbnb in Ghent with great transit access despite a bee issue; Kaede B&B in Ipswich, Massachusetts; Air New Zealand’s Skycouch; Aura Accommodation in Rotorua and Hotel Rendezvous in Auckland for memorable pools; and Ireland favorites including Heather House, the Rusty Mackerel in Donegal, Lough Rynn Castle, and Heaton’s Guest House in Dingle, before teasing an upcoming Portugal-planning episode.

00:00 Welcome And Episode Setup

00:45 Colorado Road Trip Memories

01:16 Aspen Shadow Mountain Lodge

03:17 Italy Siena Pool Paradise

05:05 Holiday Picnic And Barbecue

06:35 Quebec City Clarendon Stay

08:33 Japan Private Onsen Retreat

12:05 Scotland Abbey On Loch Ness

14:55 Isle Of Skye Tiny Home

16:55 Ghent Artistic Airbnb Bees

18:01 Ghent Tram Life

19:29 Apartment Top Three

20:12 Ipswich Bed Breakfast

22:12 Skycouch Flight Hack

23:35 Rotorua Hot Pool Stay

25:37 Auckland Rooftop Pool

26:39 Wicklow Mountain Base

28:21 Rusty Mackerel Pub

29:51 Castle Luxury Night

31:19 Dingle Guest House

33:01 Wrap Up And Next Trip

@WSMHtravels

Transcript

brit 0:11

Hello and welcome to the We Should Move Here Travels podcast. My name is Brittany.

josh 0:17

I'm Josh,

brit 0:17

and we are your hosts. Today we are gonna be talking about the places where we loved staying. Mm-hmm. So all of the accommodations that we've had that we would truly recommend over and over again.

josh 0:33

Yeah, just kind of a continuation from our last episode. At the end of it, we were thinking, man, we could have included hotels and so many other things. Yeah. So we just thought we'd continue on and give you these stay.

brit 0:45

Yeah. So starting off with our very first trip that we ever took together.

josh 0:52

Mm-hmm.

brit 0:53

We did a road trip to Colorado.

josh 0:56

That's crazy to think. That was almost six years ago now.

brit 1:00

That's so crazy.

josh 1:03

And we hadn't even traveled outta the country together yet.

brit 1:05

I know. But we loved it here. Colorado is truly just so beautiful. we had so much fun there and. We had discussed not going to Aspen and not doing that long drive from Colorado Springs, but we ended up. Doing it because you were very passionate about wanting to go, and I am so glad you pushed for it because Aspen was one of my favorite places on that trip. It was so stunning. And this hotel, there's a memory I have of being in the pool here and the snow is coming down because it's a heated pool outside and a mountain view right next to you. It's just, it's so stunning.

josh 1:51

I remember the drive from Colorado Springs to Aspen was such a, A gorgeous drive.

brit 1:58

Yeah,

josh 1:58

through the mountains. A little scary at times, but a beautiful drive. And then like you said, just. A really cool pool, which I really think is what made Shadow Mountain Lodge where we stayed a good place. The rooms were okay, from what I remember.

brit 2:13

Yeah. I don't think the rooms were like spectacular.

josh 2:16

Yeah, they weren't super upscale rooms or the most updated, but the pool was awesome.

brit 2:22

The pool, oh my gosh. This was one of the best pools ever.

josh 2:26

Mm-hmm.

brit 2:27

Yeah, having the mountain right next to us as well was something I had never experienced. I hadn't really traveled a whole lot before I met you, so it was so new to me and it was just so much fun exploring Aspen with you.

josh 2:43

Mm-hmm.

brit 2:44

So fun.

josh 2:45

Definitely a bougie city.

brit 2:47

It is such a bougie city. I mean. There are so many high end stores that you're like, okay, I don't belong here. and then we went for margaritas and they were like $20 a piece.

josh 3:05

I, I was gonna say, I'm pretty sure I remember like a $30 margarita.

brit 3:09

It was crazy.

josh 3:10

Yeah.

brit 3:11

It was so crazy. But it was so fun. I'm so glad we did it.

josh 3:16

Me too.

brit 3:16

Yeah,

josh 3:17

the next place that we're mentioning was on our first international trip.

brit 3:23

Ah,

josh 3:25

and that is when we spent almost a month in Italy after your graduation, and I think this was our, this was our third stop on the trip and it was in Sienna Tuscany, and we stayed at Hotel Borgo Grande Sienna.

brit 3:45

Wow. This hotel, I am obsessed with this hotel, obsessed with it. This is the best pool we've ever had. Best pool ever. Seriously, like number one on my list and the rooms. The only thing I remember not liking is the small bathroom, but it's Italy. it is so stunning and that grounds the property. Just everything is so beautiful.

josh 4:14

Yeah, very well maintained. Like you said, the pool is something I think about every time we're booking a place for a pool, I'm like, Ugh. If only it was like this place in Sienna. cause it was an outdoor, it was a salt pool. It was quiet, it was up on a little hill, and you could see the rest of Sienna from there. Yeah, so we were a little bit of a walk or a taxi drive from downtown Sienna. So most of the time we took a taxi.

brit 4:45

Yeah.

josh 4:45

Which would be, I would say, the only. Negative about it, but it was so quiet. It was such a great spot.

brit 4:53

Yeah. It was worth the taxi rides.

josh 4:55

Yeah, for sure. Sure, for sure. I remember us having breakfast there a few times and it was great Breakfast, fresh fruit.

brit 5:04

Yeah. we were there for their Independence Day. Mm-hmm. And so everything was closed in Sienna and they had a barbecue for their guests, and it was the most amazing welcoming. delicious barbecue we've ever had. Yeah. Like it was so cool to experience that.

josh 5:23

Yeah. We were very fortunate. I remember when we were booking it, they gave an option for 20 euros for a picnic lunch on the grounds.

brit 5:32

Yeah.

josh 5:32

And we're like, oh, we'll do that one day. Not knowing that there was a holiday while we were staying there. And so then when it came up, we had the whole day in the grounds. Yeah. Where we ate breakfast. There we swam. And then we had picnic lunch on the grounds. We swam some more and then we had the barbecue out on their patio with some wine and

brit 5:55

oh my gosh,

josh 5:55

Italy table wine is. The, some of the best wine you'll ever have. So

brit 6:00

literally

josh 6:01

this, yeah. This hotel holds a very special place for sure.

brit 6:06

Yeah. I think for both of us, It's just a really beautiful place to stay.

josh 6:11

Mm-hmm.

brit 6:11

And I would highly suggest you booking this place. Mm-hmm. While you're in Sienna.

josh 6:18

Yeah.

brit 6:18

This might be my favorite, my number one out of all of the places we've ever stayed. This, I think is my number one.

josh 6:26

I don't think it's mine.

brit 6:28

Oh, you'll have to say yours when we get to it. Yeah,

josh 6:31

mine's definitely on here, but,

brit 6:33

okay. next we have Quebec City and we stayed at the Clarendon Hotel. It had really beautiful rooms. It's central in Old Quebec City, so it's very walkable. The whole city is so walkable. We went on a couple food tours and we just had to walk a couple steps. Yeah. From our hotel. Mm-hmm.

josh 6:59

It was really amazing. I am usually the one that pushes for places, but I remember when we were booking this trip, 'cause we also did Toronto before, but for Quebec City, you were like, this is the hotel we should stay at. This is the one I wanna stay at. And I was like, okay. And it was the perfect one right near the tours we've talked about on the podcast before. Very close to the Christmas market.

brit 7:27

Yeah.

josh 7:28

And being in the winter, it had snowed pretty heavy. So being even closer to everything and having just a really short walk was perfect because there were people trying to drive downtown, old Quebec City, and it was, they were slipping and slide on these old streets and it was really tight. Wasn't, uh, wasn't an ideal situation.

brit 7:52

No, we had a taxi driver. I remember being terrified. Holy. Yeah. Because this taxi driver was like sliding all over the place and I was like, holy shit. And we're just getting in from the airport. Oh my God. I was so scared. I just, I thought we were gonna die.

josh 8:10

I just remembered that when you brought that up by, we were in the back text. Buckeye, like, are, is everything okay? Oh yeah. It's just a little slippery. We made it okay. But yeah,

brit 8:24

we did, yeah. But this hotel

josh 8:27

really nice. I remember good, comfortable room and the, yeah, the location was just perfect.

brit 8:32

Yeah.

josh 8:33

this next one we. I think kind of stumbled into booking it because we weren't sure. How to do an Onsen in Japan. And because we have tattoos, we want, didn't wanna be disrespectful by going into a public one with tattoos not covering up. Right. Because that's what you're supposed to do. In some of 'em, even though times have changed and people have now said that they're more accepting, but at the time when we went, we were like, uh, we'll just do a private one. And so I think this is another one that you found.

brit 9:09

Yeah.

josh 9:10

Mm-hmm. It's Hotel Wakamazu in Takarazuka, Japan

brit 9:16

Oh my gosh, this one was so cool. This has gotta be my number two of all time. Is this your number one? No. What? This hotel is so stunning. It's huge. I mean, the room that we got was on the top floor and. It was like a one bedroom apartment.

josh 9:46

Mm-hmm.

brit 9:46

Plus some.

josh 9:48

Yeah.

brit 9:48

And then you walk out onto the patio where it looks over the town and you get your own private Onsen, which if you don't know what that is, it's basically a hot spring fed hot tub.

josh 10:01

Mm-hmm.

brit 10:02

It is so stunning. We had so much fun sitting out in that Onsen it, it was a blast. I look back at this and I'm just like, I'm so glad we did this. And it was in the middle of the trip. So we booked this as kind of like a, a getaway from the trip, A relaxation from this adventurous trip that we took to Japan. And it was just one night because it was pretty pricey. But it was so worth it. Just that one night, like I look back and I'm like, wow, I can't believe we did that.

josh 10:39

It was amazing. Another one that you found and pushed for Stunning. I think it was the only room like this. I'm not sure. They might have a couple rooms like this. Yeah. But really beautiful. very similar to that day that we just talked about in Italy. We got there, we spent time in Onsen, we went out, we got lunch. I remember we got a huge bowl of ramen and some

brit 11:08

such great ramen

josh 11:09

dumplings, pot stickers, stuff like that. Came back more time in the Onsen relaxed, I think took a nap. And then we went out and I think we had, um, some Indian cuisine.

brit 11:21

Yeah.

josh 11:23

And then came back again. Spent a little more time in the sen before bed and it was so comfortable. I think it was like bamboo, rug like floor.

brit 11:32

Yeah.

josh 11:33

It was such a awesome, beautiful Japanese style room.

brit 11:37

It was. Mm-hmm. It was so cool.

josh 11:38

Yeah. That's your number two, you're saying?

brit 11:41

That's my number two. Yeah.

josh 11:43

Wow. You're getting these in early.

brit 11:45

I know.

josh 11:47

What, what's gonna happen when you like so many others?

brit 11:50

I see the others, but these two are just unbeatable. Hmm.

josh 11:54

Okay.

brit 11:55

They just happen to be in the front. This next one I think will probably be your number one. Is it?

josh 12:02

it's top three.

brit 12:03

Top three. Okay. So this was in Inverness, Scotland We stayed at the Highland Club at St. Benedict's Abbey. This, Abby was so beautiful. It was very Harry Potter esque. And we were obsessed with it. I will say there's a vibe there if you're a little witchy or can feel some energy. There's, there's some energy there for sure. Uh, not negative energy in any way, but I felt a presence there. For real.

josh 12:41

Yeah.

brit 12:42

But anyways, it was so stunning. It was like we were staying in a castle, right? On Loch Ness. We were looking out for Nessie. She wasn't there, but we were looking.

josh 12:52

We did, we did have a duck Follow us around.

brit 12:54

We did. We had a duck follow us. That duck wanted to attack.

josh 12:58

Yeah.

brit 12:59

Or wanted to be our friends. I don't know. I don't speak duck

josh 13:05

quack, quack. It was such an amazing place. It another place where the room was a small apartment. Yeah, it was, this was a small apartment, a full fridge like meal prep area, oven, microwave, the whole bit and separate room for a living room with a TV and then a bedroom and a big bathroom. It was crazy.

brit 13:36

Yeah, it was beautiful,

josh 13:38

Stone arches in it from the construction of the whole building.

brit 13:42

Mm-hmm.

josh 13:43

Like you said, just like a Harry Potter dorm room almost then.

brit 13:48

Yeah.

josh 13:49

Oh my gosh. A pretty decent location. The town surrounding it wasn't all that big. We went out for drinks one night. I remember us stumbling back along. Loch Ness, but a pretty good home base for us driving all throughout Inverness and seeing Central Scotland that way.

brit 14:11

Yeah.

josh 14:12

And they had the giant chess game in it.

brit 14:16

Oh yeah.

josh 14:17

Mm-hmm. You

brit 14:17

taught me how to play chess here.

josh 14:18

Mm-hmm. And we played chess and I don't know, one of the game rooms they had inside, they had an indoor pool, which you had to book. Yeah. Which was beautiful. Uh, another game room where we played ping pong.

brit 14:33

Mm-hmm.

josh 14:33

It was just so cool to walk around the whole place.

brit 14:36

It really was.

josh 14:37

I think this is a top three. Stay for me. Just 'cause how cool it was. The vibes of it really. Awesome.

brit 14:43

Is the next one your number one?

josh 14:45

no, I, I definitely think it's a really amazing place, but it's not my top one.

brit 14:51

This has gotta be my number three.

josh 14:52

This is your number three?

brit 14:54

Yeah.

josh 14:54

Okay. So next one. Also in Scotland. I believe it was our stay right after the Highland Club.

brit 15:02

Yeah.

josh 15:02

Was in Portree Scotland, a tiny home that we buck through Airbnb called The Coorie, which, translates to the, the snuggle or the cuddle or nest.

brit 15:16

It really felt that way. Mm-hmm. It was a tiny home There was just a single room with a bed on one side overlooking the highlands and all of that. There was a bathroom, and then there was also in the single room there was. Uh, like a kitchenette.

josh 15:38

Mm-hmm.

brit 15:38

And you step outside onto the porch or patio and there's a hot tub overlooking the Scottish highlands. It's one of the most beautiful things in the world. I come back here sometimes in my mind to like calm myself down.

josh 15:57

Hmm.

brit 15:57

Because it's such a beautiful place And all throughout the Isle of Sky, I think I just come back here. In my mind, it's just that kind of place for me. It's one of my favorite places in the entire world.

josh 16:10

It, it definitely is super special. And when we were laying in bed. The doorway that led out to the porch with a hot tub was a like accordion style all glass door. Yeah. So you could just have the blinds back and be looking out or open it wide open. Just be looking out into nature. It was so beautiful.

brit 16:33

It really was.

josh 16:34

it wasn't all that far from downtown Portree. Yeah. So just like a 15 minute walk and then you could go down to some restaurants or bars and hang out in downtown.

brit 16:44

Yeah. It was so fun.

josh 16:46

Yeah. Really great spot. I believe another one you picked.

brit 16:52

I'm picking all the good ones. Yeah. so this next one, we actually did have a problem here.

josh 16:59

Mm-hmm.

brit 17:00

It was a B problem. But the apartment itself was so cool. Yeah, and we love staying here. It was the artistic apartment booked through Airbnb in Ghent, Belgium.

josh 17:14

This is also one of my ones in top three.

brit 17:16

Really

josh 17:18

just be

brit 17:18

Even with the bees.

josh 17:22

she was so kind and on top of the bee problem, she called the local fire department. 'cause I guess that's what you do in Ghent, Belgium or the fire marshal. Can't remember exactly, but. The few days we were there for a whole week, but the few days where there were bees, we told her every time and she had it taken care of right away.

brit 17:44

Yeah.

josh 17:45

And then towards then they finally got 'em all. 'cause apparently there were multiple nests or something.

brit 17:50

Yeah,

josh 17:51

but it was the perfect location, like a hundred feet from the, A major tram stop. But it was. Kind of like across a secondary road. So it was still like on a quiet corner, we could walk to some local grocery stores, which did. Oh, and it was beautiful. It was another big space. It was a whole apartment.

brit 18:16

Yeah, it was huge. And being that close to the tram stop makes me remember how easy public transportation was in, Ghent, Belgium,

josh 18:27

it's a dream.

brit 18:29

you step on the tram, you tap your card, and you're good to go.

josh 18:33

Mm-hmm.

brit 18:34

Like it's the easiest thing in the world.

josh 18:37

Yeah.

brit 18:37

And everybody uses it and it's just, it was honestly a dream.

josh 18:42

And it took you everywhere.

brit 18:44

Yeah.

josh 18:44

All throughout Ghent, we went just about everywhere

brit 18:48

we did.

josh 18:50

And then if we needed to go further, which we did to Brussels, it was. I think two tram steps away to the major train station.

brit 18:57

Yeah.

josh 18:58

And then 20, 30 minutes, I think to Brussels.

brit 19:02

Yeah. Not far at all. And public transportation is just such a different beast than what we have ever seen or what we know here in the States.

josh 19:13

Yeah.

brit 19:14

Like it's so easy there.

josh 19:17

Mm-hmm.

brit 19:17

It makes me so frustrated, like, why can't we have that here?

josh 19:21

It's so easy and inexpensive and with gas prices right now, I wish we had a bit more so I couldn't use it. Me too,

brit 19:29

me too. But anyways, back to this apartment. It was a really beautiful space. I would stay here again.

josh 19:36

Absolutely. That's why it's in my top three, just because of how big and beautiful it was. And then access to transportation.

brit 19:42

Yeah. Perfect. Is the next one your number one?

josh 19:45

No,

brit 19:46

really.

josh 19:47

I keep saying top three. I don't really have a specific order for 'em. So this one kind of hit off our. Addiction to bed and breakfast. I will say

brit 19:58

our addiction, that's a little excessive.

josh 20:02

Our, what would you call it?

brit 20:04

I don't know.

josh 20:05

We, we really enjoy bed and breakfast now. Yeah. We were a little nervous about to start, which I have no idea why.

brit 20:12

Yeah.

josh 20:12

But in Ipswich, Massachusetts, we stayed in Kaede bed and breakfast.

brit 20:19

It was so beautiful.

josh 20:21

Lovely.

brit 20:22

The owners are so kind. They had a, a couple different breakfast options and one of them was a traditional, like Japanese style breakfast.

josh 20:35

Yeah.

brit 20:35

So delicious.

josh 20:36

Mm-hmm.

brit 20:37

And then they had, I remember they had great pancakes.

josh 20:40

Mm-hmm. Amazing pancakes.

brit 20:44

And the location was just so great. I mean, it was on top of this hill in the middle of Ipswich, and Ipswich itself is just an incredible town. It's number one in the States for me, of where I could see us living

josh 21:02

mm-hmm.

brit 21:03

If we moved in the States. but it's just such a great location, so walkable. there's so many different like. Coffee shops and restaurants around the area where, I mean, you just have to take a couple steps up and down this hill and you're in the middle of Ipswich.

josh 21:23

Yeah. and when we went in the fall. It was again, we mentioned, I think this in the last two episodes we've mentioned Ipswich, but in the fall it was so like Gilmore Girls esque. It was so awesome.

brit 21:37

It was so beautiful. And it's only 20 minutes to Salem by train. Mm-hmm. And I think an hour to Boston by train.

josh 21:46

Yeah. Or like 40 minutes, something like that. Not, not too long. By By a train. By public transportation.

brit 21:52

Yeah. Public transportation in the us and only they got it right

josh 21:55

20 minutes to the beach.

brit 21:57

Yeah.

josh 21:58

Mm-hmm.

brit 21:58

Yeah. That wasn't public transportation. That was

josh 22:01

no

brit 22:01

car.

josh 22:02

Yeah.

brit 22:03

But, oh, so stunning. Loved it here, loved the bed. And b, breakfast. It was such a cool place to stay.

josh 22:12

This next one I threw in here, just kind of like a cheeky, honorable mention place to say, but we mentioned it for our New Zealand episodes. Getting a sky couch on the way to New Zealand. It's a stay. You are on a plane for 13 hours. Paying a bit extra to have a row yourself that's a little bit wider that turns into a foldout bed. I thought was worth it.

brit 22:40

Oh, it was worth it. Mm-hmm. Oh my gosh. I slept, I slept on a plane.

josh 22:46

I know that's a rarity for

brit 22:47

you. Aren't you so proud?

josh 22:48

I'm so proud.

brit 22:51

No, really, I do not sleep on planes. And with the amount of travel that we do, it's like insane. The lack of sleep by the time. We get to a place.

josh 23:01

Yeah.

brit 23:01

So you have no trouble sleeping anywhere.

josh 23:05

I don't, it doesn't mean that it's not uncomfortable. I, if we're in normal seats, which is economy minus super budget seats. Yeah. I wake up and I'm sore, but this Oh, I was fine.

brit 23:21

Yeah. It was such a good experience. Definitely gotta do it. It was worth the extra what, a hundred bucks?

josh 23:29

no. I think it was more for the three of us. I think it was like 200 bucks a person.

brit 23:33

Oh

josh 23:35

yeah. Worth it? Yeah.

brit 23:35

So once we got to New Zealand, we went to a couple different places, but one of our favorite places that we stayed was in Rotorua, New Zealand called Aura Accommodation, the pool here. Again, I mean, I'm obsessed with pools. So the pool here was an outdoor heated pool that had, mineral water coming into it from like the natural hot springs or whatever. Um, now rota is a stinky place because. Of these hot springs and, and the sulfur and all of that in the area. It just smells a little bit. But if you can get past that, there's so many fun things to do in Rotorua. Like we went We did the mud bath, we did zip lining. There was so many things that we did that was so much fun. And then coming back to a place after your day of adventuring, coming back to a place where it was comfortable. people were so nice here.

josh 24:43

Mm-hmm.

brit 24:44

And you could just sit in the pool and do your handstands like, it was so great. I loved it here.

josh 24:52

Yeah. Like you said, great temperature controlled pool. It was also partially shaded. Because those uvs are no joke. So that helped as well. Yeah. And the location was great. we walked down to eat street. Which was just a five minute walk, I think.

brit 25:11

Yeah. Was not far at all. Mm-hmm. And there's tons of like restaurants down the street. That's why it's called Eat Street.

josh 25:18

Yeah.

brit 25:18

And such a cool place. Highly recommended it. If you can get over the sulfur smell in Rotorua,

josh 25:25

you're gonna get that any place you stay in Rotorua probably anyways though.

brit 25:28

Yeah.

josh 25:29

Yeah. Plus it had ac, which Because of how hot it was. Definite bonus.

brit 25:34

Yeah. Mm-hmm. For sure. we also in New Zealand, stayed at Hotel Rendezvous in Auckland. This hotel had one of the best pools. It's number two on my best pool list. It's a rooftop pool's. The Auckland Sky Tower is right there, so you can see it all lit up at night. It's open until I think 11, which is I think later than some pools. Stay open.

josh 26:04

Especially on a roof.

brit 26:05

Yeah. Oh my God, it was so beautiful. All of the city lights you can see from up there at night, loved it. The room itself was also pretty good.

josh 26:16

Mm-hmm.

brit 26:16

we had shared it with my mom and there were like double doors so we could

josh 26:21

Yeah. A huge sliding divider wall.

brit 26:23

Yeah.

josh 26:24

Another thing you could see from the rooftop pool was there's a bridge there in Auckland that lights up at night. Yeah. So you could see that from as well. So like you said, with the city lights, the sky tower, and then the bridge, you just see everything going on.

brit 26:37

Ugh. It was so beautiful.

josh 26:40

so a place that we stayed on our next trip, which was to Ireland in Laragh County, Wicklow, was Heather House.

brit 26:49

Loved it. Here, Their staff was so nice to us. Mm-hmm. And you walk out of your room and there's mountains immediately right there. The room itself. So nice, so comfortable. I think the bed was a little hard for my liking, but overall, like still very comfortable space.

josh 27:09

That's where we differ. 'cause I like a nice firm bed.

brit 27:14

I like a soft bed.

josh 27:17

our favorite trail that we did on this trip

brit 27:20

mm-hmm.

josh 27:20

The, uh, Glendalough Loop was just out the back door. We could basically see it from the back patio essentially, that was provided by this place. Great size, like you said, clean. And then because it's in Laragh I think there's only two other places you can stay. So it's gotta be good to still be in business.

brit 27:42

Yeah.

josh 27:43

Mm-hmm.

brit 27:43

Right next to it is Wicklow Heather Restaurant, which used to be owned by the same people that own Heather House, but isn't anymore. Still fantastic spot to eat. We ate here every night that we were in Laragh, and it was amazing.

josh 27:59

Great spot. Great for hiking. If we're going to go to Ireland, wanna hike the Wicklow Mountains for a couple days. Probably a good spot to be.

brit 28:07

Yeah, The next one, I already used up my top three.

josh 28:10

I didn't.

brit 28:12

But this has gotta be my number four.

josh 28:14

This is, this is in my top three. This is probably close to number one.

brit 28:18

This is your number one? I

josh 28:19

think so.

brit 28:21

So this was in Teelin County, Donegal in Ireland. a place called the Rusty Mackerel. We've talked a lot about it. It is a fantastic place to stay. it is a local pub. Restaurant.

josh 28:40

Mm-hmm.

brit 28:41

And they added on to it to have accommodations right on site. So we stayed there and breakfast was amazing. Dinners were amazing. The Guinness was amazing. Rooms were very comfortable. I mean, gosh, what a stay.

josh 29:00

if you imagine yourself in a traditional pub in Ireland, this is it. 'cause they had Pete fires going in the bar. We got. Irish coffees in there. This is where we had our favorite Guinness Stew in Ireland was in this breakfast was included and they had great breakfast and a great location. We were able to get to the Slieve League from here, which was just down the road and Silver Strand Beach, lots of places. So great place to stay to get all round Donegal. I think.

brit 29:36

This is the place to stay if you are going to county Donegal.

josh 29:40

Mm-hmm.

brit 29:40

This is it. I mean, we haven't been to other places, but this one is, there's no way it's, it can be beat.

josh 29:46

Mm-hmm.

brit 29:47

Yeah.

josh 29:48

That's why this is the last one of my top three.

brit 29:51

Yeah.

josh 29:51

this next place, another place in Ireland. More of an honorable mention 'cause we only got a one night stay there. But still amazing in, county Letrim Ireland. Mo Hill was the Lough Rynn Castle

brit 30:07

Hmm. This castle. Beautiful.

josh 30:11

absolutely stunning. We got to walk the grounds, which we've talked about on our Ireland episode. very luxurious place. The bar where we had, uh, gin and tonics was beautiful.

brit 30:25

Yeah,

josh 30:25

the restaurant was amazing. The room. Oh, with a heated bathroom floor. I'm a sucker for a heated bathroom

brit 30:34

floor. Yeah. It was very much a luxury stay.

josh 30:40

Mm-hmm.

brit 30:41

They really take care of you there. The dinner. Was insane.

josh 30:45

Mm-hmm. Overall great place. Only stayed there the one night, but awesome.

brit 30:50

Yeah. Mm-hmm. One of the most comfortable stays I think we've had.

josh 30:55

For sure.

brit 30:56

The mattress itself was so comfortable. I think I fell asleep immediately.

josh 31:01

Yeah, you and me both slept pretty hard.

brit 31:03

Yeah. We needed it.

josh 31:06

Yeah.

brit 31:06

In the middle of this trip.

josh 31:08

Yeah, because we had done so much hiking to this point. And

brit 31:11

driving

josh 31:11

and driving all of it. Wonderful. But it's a lot. Yeah, it's a lot. In that two and a half week trip that we had.

brit 31:19

Yeah. Towards the end of this trip, we stayed in County Kerry Ireland in Dingle at Heaton's Guest House. This was also an amazing stay, the breakfast options here. Were out of this world. Get the pancakes. Really good pancakes.

josh 31:39

Great pancakes, great eggs, great omelets. Buffet style options as well for cereal and toast.

brit 31:47

Yeah,

josh 31:48

stuff like that. They, at tea time, they put out chocolate cake most days. That was awesome. It was the perfect walking location. to downtown Dingle.

brit 32:00

Yeah,

josh 32:01

like a 10 to 15 minute walk. So if you were walking off a little bit of a buzz, you got that walked off and then going the other way, you only had about a 10 minute walk to Dingle Distillery.

brit 32:13

Mm-hmm.

josh 32:13

So you could go and do that tour and not have to worry about driving.

brit 32:19

Yeah.

josh 32:19

Mm-hmm.

brit 32:20

And again, very comfortable rooms. Mm-hmm. It was such a comfortable place to stay.

josh 32:26

Yeah.

brit 32:27

It was really nice

josh 32:28

and, and just great views. There's a lake and mountains right there when we stepped outside.

brit 32:33

Yeah.

josh 32:34

And I think something that might be underrated and maybe not. As important as some people might think in Ireland was good parking.

brit 32:45

Oh, yeah.

josh 32:46

Because we stayed in some other places where you had to do some street parking, which isn't the worst thing. A little annoying, but this had its own parking lot, so it made it really easy just to pull in, pull out, never had to worry about getting a spot. Anything like that.

brit 33:00

Yeah. That is our list, but we are missing a lot of places. We obviously aren't gonna go through every single place we've stayed. there have been so many places that we've really loved and really enjoyed. So if you have any questions or if you want recommendations on more places, hit us up. Let us know and we will get back to you. next episode, we are going to be talking about our Portugal trip. So we're gonna be going over what we have planned in Portugal and what we're excited for.

josh 33:41

Yeah,

brit 33:42

stay tuned for that. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube @WSMHtravels

josh 33:51

You can listen to our podcasts on Apple, Spotify and YouTube. YouTube is where we have our video record version, including pictures and videos from our trips. Please continue to leave your comments and send us messages on what you liked from our trips and suggestions for future trips. We really appreciate it.

brit 34:08

Thank you so much for listening. Until next time.