Staying at Ballyfin Demesne is like playing house in a museum.
In this Regency mansion in Ireland’s Midlands, guests can warm themselves by Carrara marble fireplaces and comb through a library of 5,000 books.
They can check their reflection in glinting Chippendale mirrors, walk over a mosaic tile floor from Pompeii and stare up at the chandelier that once sparkled in the Parisian townhouse of Napoleon’s sister Caroline.
Ballyfin’s lustre has captivated the gilded set since its 2011 opening, with George and Amal Clooney renting it out for a family reunion in 2019.
Its excellence was validated anew, last year, when the Michelin Guide awarded it Three Keys, its highest rating for hotels.
My visit begins at the gates of the 614-acre (248-hectare) Ballyfin estate, guarded by two stone birds. A hushed voice on the intercom grants my taxi entry, with a sweeping turn of the driveway revealing the house in all its neoclassical splendour. Staff line up outside for an old-fashioned welcome.
Several ancestral homes have lain on this site at the foot of the heather-lashed Slieve Bloom mountains in County Laois.
Is this Ireland’s best hotel? Ailbhe MacMahon checks into historic Ballyfin Demesne (above) in County Laois. Last year, the 614-acre (248-hectare) estate was awarded Three Keys, the Michelin Guide’s highest rating for a hotel
The mansion that stands today was built in the 1820s by Sir Charles Coote, an Anglo-Irish politician and member of the landed gentry. ‘Ballyfin’s history is kept alive through daily house tours, led by the staff – a legion of storytellers,’ writes Ailbhe. She learns that ‘much of the house’s finery are souvenirs from a grand tour’ and corridors, including the one pictured, are ‘galleries of Irish artwork, with striking works by Louis le Brocquy and Mainie Jellett filling frames’
Ballyfin became a school in the 20th century. There’s now a beautiful pool (above) where the cafeteria once lay
The mansion that stands today was built in the 1820s by Sir Charles Coote, an Anglo-Irish politician and member of the landed gentry.
‘Cost what may’ was his family’s devil-may-care motto when it came to decorating, but the grand house fell into disrepair when it became a school in the 20th century.
A Chicagoan billionaire stepped in to save Ballyfin, his efforts a masterclass in restoration that led to the estate being swept under the wing of luxury hotel portfolio Relais & Châteaux.
Ballyfin’s history is kept alive through daily house tours, led by the staff – a legion of storytellers. Joining one such tour, I learn that much of the house’s finery are souvenirs from a grand tour. Corridors, meanwhile, are galleries of Irish artwork, with striking works by Louis le Brocquy and Mainie Jellett filling frames.
A clandestine side to the building reveals itself. A jib door is exposed as a suite entrance, while a bookshelf conceals the portal to a conservatory.
The Whispering Room is named for the trickery of its domed corners, which invite whispers to slip from one side of the room to the other. Underground, a tunnel allows hotel staff to enter discreetly.
This tunnel is a contemporary addition, but coachman Lionel Chadwick tells me that as a young boy living in the region, he heard rumours of secret passageways snaking beneath Ballyfin.
‘The stories went far and wide,’ he says, over a symphony of hooves on a pony and carriage ride (€180/£152/$186) around the estate.
Ballyfin accommodates just 41 guests across 20 bedrooms. Ailbhe stays in the ‘maximalist’ Lady Kildare suite, pictured
Pictured: The bathroom in Ailbhe’s Lady Kildare suite. Rooms can surpass €2,000 (£1,689/$2,058) a night at Ballyfin
Ballyfin’s lustre has captivated the gilded set since its 2011 opening, with George and Amal Clooney renting it out for a family reunion in 2019
‘Staying at Ballyfin Demesne is like playing house in a museum,’ writes Ailbhe
We clip-clop past Lady Coote’s aviary, once home to a white peacock; past an 18th-century grotto, drenched in moss and shadow; then a rifle range, reminiscent of shooting parties of years gone by at Ballyfin.
To the north lies a towering folly, designed as a castle with a moat that, despite appearances, ‘never held as much as a bucket of water’, Lionel tells me.
Ballyfin’s lake, once Ireland’s largest manmade lake, is framed by the windows of my maximalist suite, Lady Kildare.
A note in my room invites me to cocktail hour downstairs. A love song by the Carpenters tinkles through ‘The Saloon’ lounge when I arrive, tapped out by a resident pianist.
Ballyfin is a bastion of romance – two proposals are being celebrated tonight alone.
‘Would you like another pillow?’ a server asks as I sink into a sofa, cradling a ‘Coote’s Grand Spritz’ – a frothy pink marriage of Champagne and raspberry foam.
Ailbhe eats in the ‘wonderfully old school’, Michelin-starred Van Der Hagen Dining Room (above)
Describing her experience at the restaurant, Ailbhe writes: ‘Tables are lit by candlelight, plates are maneuvered by trolley and genial servers drift around in stiff white jackets.’ Above are examples of dishes diners can enjoy there
Later, I’m shown to a table in the Michelin-starred Van Der Hagen Dining Room, named after the Dutch artist who painted the Bacchanalian scenes that adorn the walls.
Tables are lit by candlelight, plates are maneuvered by trolley and genial servers drift around in stiff white jackets. While the restaurant is wonderfully old school, its tasting menu (€105/£89/$108) crackles with contemporary zeal, borrowing heavily from the kitchen gardens’ bounty.
There’s a tomato jelly dusted with caviar and pickled artichoke, served with a mother-of-pearl spoon. Then a nutty Mossfield cheese raviolo drowned in a rich onion consommé. Next, a mouth-coating, slow-cooked egg yolk with earthy pea sorbet.
Irish history informs the cellar’s stock, prizing wines from vineyards established by exiled Irish who settled in France, known as ‘Wine Geese’.
Ailbhe writes: ‘With the hotel accommodating just 41 guests, visitors often have opulent, cavernous common rooms to themselves’
Irish haven: ‘Privacy is one of Ballyfin’s most valuable assets,’ writes Ailbhe
Ailbhe’s room looks out over Ballyfin lake (above), once Ireland’s largest manmade lake
‘You can’t put a price on the magnificence of a night at Ballyfin,’ Ailbhe declares. The hotel is part of luxury hotel portfolio Relais & Châteaux
I cap the night with tea and petit fours in the library, leafing through books stamped with the rhyme: ‘Consider it the vilest sin to steal a book from Ballyfin.’
With the hotel accommodating just 41 guests, visitors often have these opulent, cavernous common rooms to themselves. This privacy is one of Ballyfin’s most valuable assets.
In the morning, I swim laps in the pool, set where the school cafeteria once lay, before a fortifying breakfast, with Irish whiskey-soaked porridge and eggs from the estate’s hens on the menu.
I get chatting to another guest, who tells me he was supposed to leave today but decided to extend his stay. I don’t blame him.
As the Cootes would say: ‘Cost what may.’ You can’t put a price on the magnificence of a night in Ballyfin – a definite contender for Ireland’s best place to stay.