Hillcrest

The house has four bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, each of which has a walk-in rain shower. Each bedroom has two twin beds which can be zipped together to make a king-sized bed. We can set that up for you prior to your visit.

Each bedroom has a luggage rack, a nightstand, and outlets to charge your phone.

There is supposed to be one wheelchair accessible bed/bath, but this needs to be tested to be sure the build out did not defeat the design.

Every bedroom has its own bathroom with walk-in rain shower. The master bedroom has a bathtub. There is also a half-bath.

In each shower there are three turning handles that manage the flow of water:

• The top turns on and off the overhead rain shower.
• The middle controls hot/cold.
• The bottom is to turn on and off the handheld sprayer.

There are towels and soap in each bathroom (please bring your own shampoo, toothpaste, shaving cream, etc.). Additional towels are in the vanity drawers.

Note to American friends: do NOT plug in American hair dryers or curling irons.

There is one Irish hairdryer and one Irish curling iron at the house. The supermarket in Miltown Malbay will usually have one or two on hand to purchase if one is not enough to go around.

Each shower has an extendible squeegee which can be used to clean excess water on the bathroom floor. It can be used for the glass as well.

The kitchen is stocked with mugs, plates, bowls, silverware, and basic cookware. We use it when we’re there, so it’s pretty functional.

There is a dishwasher, a microwave, an electric kettle, and a toaster. You are welcome to use any of the dry goods you find in the cabinets.

There is a hood fan for the stove top (or “hob,” as they call it in Ireland). Its use is recommended because the smoke alarms are rather sensitive. If you manage to set off the fire alarm in a non-crisis, please just open the windows to air out the house. (Flying insect intrusion is rarely problematic in this area, probably because of the sea breezes.)

WiFi and Cell Service

There is Internet WiFi and cellular service at the house. The connection info is posted. Fair warning: Service at the house currently is, shall we say, “quaint.” We use WhatsApp for calls. It’s a rural area that’s served by 5G, but we are working on getting broadband to the house. But you didn’t fly three thousand miles to be on your phone anyway, right?

Radiant Heat

Thermostats are marked in Celsius. Between 17-18 degrees is comfy and 20 is definitely toasty. Please note that the heat is radiant heat in the floor and it does take a while for it to reach temperature. Turning up the thermostat does not make the process go quicker! Please don’t do that.

Fireplace

There is an operable solid-fuel (wood or smokeless coal-type) fireplace for your enjoyment. Fuel and kindling can be purchased at most gas stations and supermarkets. There is an air control on the bottom middle and a damper on the top right. If you are not already familiar with the use of a wood-burning fireplace please give this amenity a miss– the smoke alarms are very sensitive and very loud.

If the smoke alarms go off because of a non-emergency (such as a cooking mishap) just open the windows and wait until they go off. Please don’t tamper.

There is a washer and a dryer in the front entry. The laundry detergent is in the cabinet above the counter.