24 Hours at Adare Manor: The Small Details That Make the Difference

There aren’t too many hotels in Ireland that need an introduction quite like Adare Manor. I knew the hotel would be spectacular. I knew the golf course would be in unbelievable condition. What I hadn’t expected was that, when I thought about the trip afterwards, neither of those would necessarily be the first thing that came to mind.

It was the smaller details.

A handwritten note in the room. A personalised gift I certainly wasn’t expecting. A waitress who already knew why we were celebrating. Local caddies who added enormously to the round. Even bumping into a familiar face on the first tee.

That was probably my biggest takeaway from a short stay at Adare Manor. At this level, the big things almost have to be exceptional. It’s the small things that make the experience feel personal.

The trip itself was a simple one. I travelled with my father, alongside a good friend and his father, with the two dads recently retired. We had one night, a round of golf, a tasty dinner and a few very enjoyable drinks along the way. It wasn’t a long stay, but it was one we’ll remember for a long time.

Straight into the golf

We arrived at Adare Manor at around 11am on the Friday and, with a 12 noon tee time, there wasn’t much hanging around. We completed a pre-check-in, left our bags in the very capable hands of the hotel team and made our way towards The Carriage House, which is essentially the golf clubhouse.

Before the round, we were introduced to our caddies. For me, a good caddie can add so much to a day of golf in Ireland, and this was no different. They were local lads, knew the course inside out and, most importantly, were just sound. There was plenty of advice when we needed it and plenty of craic in between. For a course and resort with such a big international reputation, that local element kept the whole experience grounded.

There was another nice personal moment on the first tee. The starter, also David, was someone I knew from his time working at Old Head in Kinsale. We had a good chat before the round and he gave us an overview of the course, along with a few interesting facts and stories before sending us on our way. It was a small coincidence, but another reminder that Irish golf can still feel like a fairly small world.

As for the course itself, I found it very fair. The front nine is relatively open and forgiving, while the back nine asks a few more questions, with more trees and water coming into play. The closing stretch is particularly memorable. As you make your way through the final holes, the Manor increasingly becomes part of the backdrop, before you eventually finish right alongside it.

We had also turned the round into the young lads versus the old lads. Of course, youth prevailed – although we needed the 18th hole to get it done. Winning certainly helped the enjoyment of the closing hole, but walking off the final green with Adare Manor behind you , alongside Dad and the lads, is a special way to finish a round regardless.

The 19th hole – in the village

Rather than head straight to the rooms after golf, we took the hotel car into Adare village. That brought us to Pat Collins’ Bar for a few pints of Guinness and a chance to go back over the round.

I actually loved that part of the day. You can have all the five-star surroundings and immaculate service in the world, but sometimes a few pints in a good Irish pub with the people you’ve just spent four hours on a golf course with is hard to beat.

It also says something about the appeal of Adare as a stay. The Manor feels like its own world, but the village is right there when you want it. For us, those couple of hours were every bit a part of the experience.

Where the small details really stood out

It was only after the Guinness that we properly checked into our rooms, and this was probably where Adare Manor surprised me most.

Obviously, I had booked the stay through Dunes & Drams, and waiting in the room was a scented candle personalised with our branding, along with a handwritten welcome note from the General Manager Brendan O’Connor and other small gifts. We also received golf gifts during the stay, including bag tags and pouches.

None of those things is why you book Adare Manor. But they are exactly the kind of things you remember afterwards.

Our notes also mentioned that we were celebrating our fathers’ retirement. Later that evening, our waitress at dinner already knew about it and congratulated them. Again, a tiny thing. But somebody had taken the time to notice why we were there and make it part of the experience.

Luxury is an overused word in travel. For me, it is often much simpler than marble bathrooms or expensive furnishings. It’s knowing that somebody has thought about your stay before you arrive. Adare Manor does that exceptionally well.

There was another little interaction that stuck with us. The young man who showed us to our rooms told us it was his first day at Adare, having recently moved from another five-star property. He was clearly a little nervous, but he was a lovely lad and we ended up chatting to him and wishing him well in the new role. In a funny way, that humanised the whole experience too. For all the polish and precision, it never felt robotic.

Dinner at the Carriage House and whiskey in The Tack Room

That evening we headed to The Carriage House for dinner. The food was class and the service matched everything we had experienced throughout the day.

It is worth saying that Adare Manor is not inexpensive. That applies to the stay itself and to eating and drinking on the property. We knew that before travelling and had budgeted for it, so it wasn’t something we dwelled on once we were there. But for anyone considering a stay, it is part of the decision.

After dinner, we moved on to The Tack Room for a couple of whiskeys to finish the night. It was a fitting end to a fairly full day: golf, Guinness, good food, whiskey and plenty of conversation. I think we solved all of the worlds problems in about one hour in The Tack Room which was good going.

And somewhere over dinner and drinks, the inevitable question came up: when are we doing something like this again? More on that later…

Adare at its quietest 

Another really enjoyable part of the stay was the following morning.

I was up early enough to take a walk around the estate before breakfast. Adare Manor is impressive at any time, but there was something particularly nice about seeing it when everything was quiet and there were very few people around. After a busy day before, it was a completely different side of the property.

I also spent some time at The Padel Club. It is a seriously impressive facility, with padel courts, a gym, golf simulator and swimming pool among the facilities available. The pool was what stood out most to me. A huge glass window looks directly out towards the surrounding trees, giving it an almost woodland feel. It’s a simple design feature, but another detail I remembered afterwards.

After that it was breakfast, one final walk around the property and, by around midday, time to head home. Less than 24 hours after arriving, it felt like we had fitted a lot in without the stay ever feeling rushed.

So, is the stay-and-play experience worth it?

Having now experienced it properly myself, Adare Manor is somewhere I would be beyond comfortable recommending to our clients when the budget allows.

It won’t be for everybody. There are brilliant ways to experience Ireland at every price point, and I would never suggest that a trip needs this level of spend to be memorable. But for somebody looking for a genuinely special stay-and-play experience, I now understand much better what Adare Manor delivers.

The golf course is excellent. The property is spectacular. The food and facilities are of an extremely high standard. With the Ryder Cup coming to Adare Manor in 2027, the eyes of the golfing world will understandably be on this corner of County Limerick.

But the Ryder Cup will come and go. Adare Manor isn’t going anywhere.

And I’ll say it again, when I think back on our own stay, it still comes back to the smaller moments: the caddies, the familiar face on the first tee, the handwritten notes, the personalised candle, the waitress congratulating the dads, the pints in Pat Collins’ and the four of us sitting around wondering where we might go next.

As it happens, I had managed to get tickets for The Open at St Andrews only a few weeks earlier. By the end of dinner at The Carriage House, the conversation had moved on to Edinburgh and St Andrews and the possibility of making that our next trip together.

Maybe that is one of the best things you can say about a trip like this. You come home with great memories from the one you’ve just had – and already looking forward to the next one.