Weekend break: Dunmore East, Waterford
IF YOU have a relationship that needs some tending to or if at the other end of the spectrum, you need to impress by whisking someone away for ‘that perfect weekend’, I have the place for you.
Even if you’re sprogged and want a few days away en famille: somewhere chilled yet with enough to do that they will run off and let you sit back, exhale and clink glasses, I can recommend that same somewhere.
This spot is just two hours’ drive from Dublin or Cork and is perched on a pristine golden-sanded cove in the beautiful east Waterford seaside village of Dunmore East.
We arrived at the Strand Inn late on a Friday night: tired, cranky and embarrassingly hungry to be met by Clifton Foyle and his staff who pretty much scooped us up, wrapped us up in hospitality before plonking us down in the bar with pints, groaning plates of tender monkfish and creamy dauphinoise. Around us, the hostelry was buzzing with locals and residents as a trad’ session kicked off out front.
As we ate our eyes were drawn left and right as the Foyle family (Clifton is now in charge but it was his grandmother who first bought the inn when she came to town from the West of Ireland with the intent of buying another hotel) are avid art collectors and the walls are festooned with sketches, portraits and modern art of varying sizes.
The hallways leading up to the 15 bedrooms and the interiors of each are no different with our family room holding a four foot impressionist seascape that gave us an entrancing glimpse as to what lay ahead the following morning.
The Strand Inn rooms are design nous meets throw-off-your-shoes and-put-your-feet-up comfort: with classical coffee tables and cream carpets sitting alongside cheeky three foot hot pink-striped fabric headboards, stark white linen bedclothes and curtains. It all means that the place hasn’t got lost up its rear end and has repeat guests of all ages.
Bathroom ware is Villeroy and Boch and with a nod to the family’s lifestyle shop nearby, the bathroom products were CO Bigelow of Manhattan while a Bog Standard sea-scented candle sat on a window ledge.
But all of this was an aside compared to what greeted us in the morning when we woke up: we felt we had woken up on a beach. Normally, our children’s Saturday mornings are largely spent staring at some kind of electrical device.
That Saturday, however with our room looking down on the harbour wall, they knelt transfixed by our window watching fishing boats appear and disappear on the horizon and hardy sea swimmers wade into the spring sea waters.
Interior design is one thing but the quality of breakfast can make or break a weekend getaway and we weren’t disappointed.
Paul said his traditional fry was good with quality ingredients while my Eggs Benedict weren’t too hot or too cool, with chunky slices of ham studded with cloves and a light yet tasty hollandaise sauce. The children overdosed on homemade pancakes and scones.
After breakfast, we wandered down to the beach before strolling up the hill past rows of thatched cottages to Dunmore East Adventure.
It boasts an aquapark, indoor and outdoor climbing walls, archery, sailing, windsailing, kayaking and canoeing. Its newest activity is caving, something that we’d never tried before and which left the eight-year-old feeling like a hero.
Participants put on a mining helmet with lamp and climb down into the cave network which runs for up to 100 metres of squeezes, chambers and ballponds. The cave walls are rough and wet and it’s near pitch dark so it takes some getting used to.
Paul quickly decided he was about to get stuck so bowed out but myself and the kids persevered and after five minutes or so, we adjusted to the cramped, dark surrounds — for me it was more a victory of mind over matter but for the boys it was exhilarating.
Next up they donned harnesses and went rock climbing in the next room before deciding that they had to climb Gul Tower outside, so named as seagulls once used it to watch for returning fishing boats.
Both kids, aged 13 and eight, steadily climbed its 13 metres before abseiling down. If you know a child that needs to work on his or her self esteem, it’s amazing how such adventure sports just make it bloom.
After a hearty lunch at the Spinnaker bar, we set off to the other side of the town where we did half of the coastal walk to Tramore. It was a beautiful day and the fresh air and views out to sea would stop you in your tracks.
It’s a great sign when you can’t wait to return to your accommodation in the evening and that’s how we felt as we sidled into the Strand Inn’s bar for well-deserved pints. Chatting to the locals, we heard how the Strand Inn is a magnet for daytrippers on a summer’s day.
There were plenty of locals at dinner that night too when we feasted in the restaurant on Duncannon mussels in blackbean sauce, crab claws and scallops in white wine and ginger, washed down by a Fillaboa Albarino. As we sipped on brandies afterwards, the avuncular owner wandered from table to table shooting the breeze with guests.
The few negatives I could find at the Strand Inn was that some of the workmanship in the accommodation was less than top quality and there were a skirting board or two that could certainly have done with a lick of paint. To my mind though, such things aren’t the most important.
The Strand Inn’s brand of hospitality isn’t about a cheap night’s bed and breakfast: rather it takes its ‘inn’ moniker to heart and offers gorgeous food in stylish yet homey accommodation and its all run by an inn owner who seems to genuinely love what they do.
The Strand Inn have a June-Aug midweek offer which includes three nights accommodation incl. full Irish breakfast with dinners at Strand Inn and The Cliff. €170.00 in June & €250.00 in July & Aug.
www..thestrandinn.com
www.thestrandinn.com
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