upgraded … downgraded…

In a mere 48 hours, we went from feeling like royalty, living in the lap of luxury …. to common Irish peasants, ready to harvest potatoes.

This is where we thought we were staying. Isn’t it stunning?

We booked a two-room cottage next to Adare Manor. This was because two adjacent rooms in the actual Manor were out of our comfortable price range. Way out of our price range!

For some reason, I was under the impression that the cottages were near the Manor and that we would have full access to the Manor itself. Turns out they were more than a mile away. No matter, we didn’t end up in a cottage anyway.

When we checked in, the woman at the reception desk said, “We’ve upgraded you to a villa.”

How wonderful is that? We were upgraded in Dublin to the Princess Grace Suite and now we were being upgraded from a cottage to a villa!

Even “Ugly Dougly” – as I’ve dubbed him – appeared to be happy for us!

We hopped back in our rental car and head out to the villas. Turns out, they were more than 2-miles from the actual Manor. And villas? Not so much!

Yes, my friends, these are the “Villas.” They look like a common neighborhood of townhouses to me.

Not. Impressed.

Webster’s definition of villa is  …. a symbol of luxury, comfort, and style.

It seems as though the upgraded “Villa” was a major downgrade!

And, if we wanted to tour the Manor, we needed to pay €20 each. Additionally, the “rules” stated that no interior photos may be taken while on the tour. What is up with that?

Obviously, we chose not to pay €60 to “look but don’t snap.”

In an act of defiance, I discretely took all these interior photos with my iPhone as we checked out. Take that, snobby, downgrading Adare Manor!

Oh well, it was only for two nights, then we would be off to stay in a real castle.

More on that to come.