We Stayed in an Actual Castle (for $0)

Have you ever purposefully dampened your expectations leading up to a new experience in order to prevent disappointment? If I’m being honest, I did just that leading up to our stay at Dromoland Castle. I’m not sure why, as the reviews are outstanding and the awards and accolades are legit. I just didn’t want to get my hopes up to have them dashed.

However, when I say that our experience at Dromoland blew me away, I’m not exaggerating. This place was magical.

Dromoland Castle is located in County Clare in Western Ireland, just a short distance from the Cliffs of Moher, Shannon Airport, and the Burren. The castle's roots trace all the way back to Brian Ború, one of Ireland's most legendary High Kings, whose descendants, the O'Brien family, called Dromoland home for centuries afterward.

In the thousand years since, the estate has seen its share of romance, drama, and unforgettable moments, hosting everyone from Nelson Mandela to several U.S. presidents, Bono, and, as I'd soon learn firsthand, the Beatles.

It felt a bit peculiar walking through the halls and grounds of Dromoland and thinking about all the stories from the past, "if these walls could talk."

Dromoland Castle is bookable through Preferred Hotels, and at first glance, seems "points pricey." Our room, which slept our family of 4, cost 150,000 points per night through Preferred Hotels. WHAT? That's 1.5 good card welcome offers for 1 night!

Correct, except that in this space, we focus on transferring points.

At the time of booking, Citi ThankYou Points transferred to Preferred Hotels at a 1:4 ratio, meaning I could use just 37,500 points to book that 150,000-point room. Add in the fact that a vast majority of hotels in Europe have extremely strict occupancy limits, meaning our family of 4 typically requires 2 rooms, and at Dromoland Castle, we had one family room available that fit everyone.

All in all, I transferred just 75,000 Citi ThankYou points to Preferred Hotels and booked 2 nights for our family. The cash rate for our stay with taxes and resort fees would have been around $4000.

Unfortunately, devaluations are common in the award travel hobby, and Citi recently lowered its transfer ratio to Preferred Hotels from 1:4 to 1:2, meaning that same room would now require 75,000 points per night. I would argue that it is still worth it, especially with a family, since the cash rate per night was just under $2,000.

You can also transfer Capital One points to Preferred Hotels at that same 1:2 rate, which is what I would honestly choose at this point, as Citi is the only direct transfer partner to AA, and Capital One points just seem easier to accumulate. Factor in that both Citi and Cap 1 have offered 30% transfer bonuses to Preferred Hotels in the past few months, meaning you would need less than 58,000 points to book a $2,000 room that fits 4 people in Europe…I still recommend it!

Preferred Hotels offers other luxury properties elsewhere in Europe, in the US and all over the world, with rates starting at just 15,000 points (7,500 points with the 1:2 transfer ratio).

By the way, if you want to learn more about points and miles and are local to the Knoxville area, I have two Award Travel Happy Hours coming up this month at Sanctuary Day Spa. You can find more info and claim your spot here.

We’ve never experienced warmer service or anything comparable as far as luxury and amenities are concerned. From the moment we walked in, we were treated like family. The included valet service and check-in was seamless. Our room, a double room that slept 4, was lovely.

The dining…where do I begin? Breakfast is included with all rooms, and my imagination was limited a bit by what I’ve experienced in other hotels that included breakfast. I guess I expected an elevated Hyatt Place continental breakfast buffet situation. When I walked in the first morning (alone, as the family was still sleeping) and there was someone waiting to pull out my chair and another to place my napkin on my lap, I realized that I was VERY wrong.

You could order anything off of their menu and while you waited, there was an appetizer buffet with beautiful fresh fruits, yogurt, smoothies and juice, fresh breads, smoked fish, cheeses, etc. You could also opt to enjoy your breakfast in-room, which I did for the family that first morning (after I enjoyed my fancy solo brekkie).

Our time was relaxed and unhurried, but full in the best way, and utterly enjoyable. A major pull for many is golf, as Dromoland’s 18-hole golf course is rated as one of the best in Ireland. In fact, the 2027 Ryder Cup will be held just down the road, and I was told by an employee at the castle that Rolex has bought out Dromoland for the entirety of the tournament. Fancy!

The Garden

We spent quite a bit of time just exploring the grounds. The extensive walled gardens were based on designs by André Le Nôtre, who planned the Gardens of Versailles. They were very quiet and peaceful, and we took our time strolling through the rows and tunnels of meticulously cared for flowers, vegetables, fountains, and sculptures.

Activities

The girls borrowed bikes from the leisure center and took a ride. We enjoyed the indoor pool and sauna. We took a rowboat out into the large lily pond with a fishing pole (we didn’t catch anything).

There is a calendar of classes and events you can sign up for each day; some free and some with a fee. My husband and our girls took a painting class in one of the castle’s halls while I toured some of the 500-acre property. My husband and oldest daughter took an archery class (the only activity with a fee that we chose), and he and I signed up for forest bathing, a special morning class where we went out into the woods for a gentle walk, simply paying attention to nature and our bodies. It was lovely.

Other offerings included yoga and other exercise classes, clay pigeon shooting, and falconry. I wish we’d had one more full day and night here so that we could have experienced even more.

Bonus: The Beatles Stayed Here

Live music is offered in the gallery each night, and as a musician myself, I couldn’t resist working on my flight deals email at a table just off the main room that first night. As I was researching and typing away, I heard the singer tell the story of when the Beatles stayed at Dromoland and partied in that very space… then led the room in a spirited singalong of “Hey Jude.” At that point I closed my laptop and joined in the fun!

Check out was easy (but sad, since we loved being there so much). The concierge gifted our family fancy chocolate and lovely local skincare products upon our departure, which was a nice touch and made leaving a little less depressing.

I’d highly recommend spending a couple of nights at Dromoland Castle if you’re ever in Ireland. It is perhaps the most memorable stay our family has ever experienced, and if you can catch Capital One or Citi when they have a transfer bonus to Preferred Hotels, the points price is more than worth it.

I mentioned Capital One and its 1:2 ratio to Preferred Hotels. It also boasts 21 other transfer partners, both airline and hotel. You may remember that I used Capital One to book our flights to Maui in January - you can read more about there here:

If you don’t already hold a Capital One Venture or Venture X and you are in the market for a new card, I highly recommend considering these. With a simple earning structure of 2x on everything, they are great options if you want to keep things simple.

I prefer the Venture X, even with its higher annual fee of $395. The $300 easy-to-use travel credit + 10,000 annual bonus miles negates that annual fee, and it’s a great way to dip your toes into some of the luxury benefits of premium rewards cards, like lounge access, without the ultra-premium price of the Chase Sapphire Reserve ($795) or Amex Platinum ($895).

The current welcome offer is 75,000 points, enough for more than 2 round-trip flights to Maui from Knoxville, like the one I wrote about in the article above. Read more there, and apply here.

My Knoxville-Area flight deal emails (including Knoxville, Nashville, Atlanta, and sometimes Chattanooga and Asheville) move to being a paid-subscriber benefit only starting this week. I spend time each week finding the absolute best flight deals from Knoxville, Nashville, and Atlanta (sometimes Chattanooga and Asheville, too).

Recently, I shared roundtrip flights from Knoxville to Orlando for $34, RT from Knoxville to Denver for $44, 13,500 Skymiles roundtrip from Nashville to Iceland and 7,500 direct flights from Atlanta to London.

I’ve heard from some of you who have saved thousands of dollars and taken vacations you didn’t think you could because of these emails, and for less than the price of a cup of coffee per month, you can continue receiving them by subscribing here.

Have you ever experienced a stay that far exceeded your expectations? I’d love to hear about it. Tell me in the comments!

Happy Travels,

Emily