Currarevagh House – County Galway

‘Things have always stayed the same here,’ says Henry Hodgson, the fifth generation to run the family home as a guest house, ‘it would be rude to change them now.’ And that’s the joy of this Victorian country house, which first welcomed paying guests in 1890 as a sporting lodge. Beautifully set on the shores of Lough Corrib, with huge sash windows and original shutters, the house was built in 1842, though the family has owned the estate since the 18th century. Inside, you are transported to a calmer, more dignified time (wifi is the only modern concession), where a gong heralds dinner and the breakfast coffee is served in original Fifties glass Cona siphons, warmed by methylated spirit burners. Henry is charming, funny and totally at ease; his wife Lucy (they have three young daughters) is a marvellous cook and dinner is always delicious. You feel completely relaxed: even more so with the addition of the new boathouse sauna, sitting right at the water’s edge. What more could you possibly want? Room keys? ‘We don’t have them,’ says Henry, ‘your things will be perfectly safe.’ And you know, without doubt, that he speaks the truth.

Doubles from €190 

+353 (0)9155 2312; currarevagh.com