Marlfield House, Gorey
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It’s a family affair and it shows
Marlfield, a beautiful Regency house, just
outside the market town of Gorey, County Wexford, was built in 1820. In 1977 the
Bowes family bought the house and converted it into a luxury country house
hotel. Collecting many awards along the way, Marlfield House has been run by the family
ever since with sisters Margaret and Laura now at the helm.
With great attention to detail and personal
service that is refreshingly friendly, Marlfield House is a member of the
worldwide luxury Relais & Chateaux group.
Set in 36 acres of manicured gardens with a woodland walk, lake, and a
large kitchen garden, the hotel is an oasis of tranquility. With 19 luxurious
state rooms and bedrooms – and I do mean luxurious – several cosy sitting rooms
resplendent with period paintings, antiques, stylish furnishings, roaring log fires
and the elegant conservatory dining room. Back in the day the vast majority of
us would never had had the opportunity to stay (unless through employment) in
such a sumptuous private home. Now you too can experience the genteel, opulent,
lifestyle in the relaxing environment Marlfield House emanates.
Pre-dinner drinks served by the charming
and knowledgeable barman – G&Ts with juniper berry ice-cubes and rosemary –
in front of the fire in the elegant library lounge, a prelude to what was to
follow in the fine-dining Conservatory restaurant. An a la carte menu of three courses, using
the freshest local produce, dinner was a culinary delight: celeriac, parsley
& thyme ragout with hazelnut oil, crispy onions and brie beignet; grilled
turbot with braised fennel, sauté spinach, white bean puree, fennel hollandaise
& tomato caper salsa; glazed pear tart tatin with vanilla ice-cream, coconut
tuille. Each delicate mouthful savoured,
enjoyed. Delicious. Memorable.
The head chef, Ruadhan Furlong, has been
resident for ten years. During this time
the hotel has won many accolades, from fine dining to their latest award from
Georgina Campbell – Ireland’s leading independent hospitality and food guide –
for the best breakfast in Ireland. Breakfast was a healthy, gourmet, delight. Granola, toasted seeds
and healthy goodies, berry compote, preserves, stewed rhubarb and poached pears
all from the hotel’s own kitchen garden and orchard. The cooked breakfast was
excellent. The Duck Bar, Café and Restaurant, originally the stables, converted
four years ago, offers all day dining from 11am. Overlooking the magnificent herb garden the
Duck is stylishly contemporary and was the 2018 gold medal winner in Ireland’s
Hotel Casual Dining Experience category.
All the large state bedrooms are individual
in style with a seating area, open fire, period paintings, antiques and large
bathrooms. The largest stateroom – The Print Room – has several rooms and,
impressively, a grand piano and a harp for those romantic souls who like to
serenade the love of their life before bedtime. We stayed in the sumptuous Georgian stateroom, a rare treat to sleep in
a room reminiscent of a bygone era but with all modern comforts. The turndown service and hand-made chocolates
the finishing touch.
All 19 rooms are uniquely decorated with
rich fabrics and elegant period furnishings and range from cosy standard rooms to
the master bedroom Print Room suite. A
new addition is the recently renovated Duck Lodge, a contemporary two-bedroom
cottage. With all the comforts of home, to enable self-catering, plus the
option of dining in Marlfield House or the Duck Restaurant with full use of the
grounds, this if perfect for families.
The grounds of the hotel are wonderful with plenty of places to sit and walks to explore.
They also have their own resident peacock, George. Keen to show his impressive plumage to guests
he struts around the grounds touting for admirers. To prevent him being lonely
and, in the hope there might be the patter of tiny feet, the hotel purchased a
female peacock to keep him company. Sadly,
George failed to impress. His potential mate flew away on Valentine’s Day – she
was clearly making a point - to seek a better suitor elsewhere. Undeterred and,
no doubt unaware of where he went wrong, George struts around the hotel fanning
out his feathers still looking for love.
Located just an hour for Dublin, Marlfield House
is well placed for exploring everything on offer in in this area. Famous for its long white sandy beaches and
fishing villages, including the stunning Curracloe Beach – reputedly the
longest in Europe - a 30 minute drive away. Golf courses, gardens, castles, lush rolling
countryside, are all within easy reach by car. The hotel can also arrange
private tours through their recommended supplier for anyone wanting the
services of a local guide. The nearby
market town of Gorey is worth a visit. With a history dating back to Norman times
and an array of independent shops and cafes it’s a characterful, bustling town.
Luxury is a subjective description often
over-used, sometimes undeserved, to describe hotel accommodation. Marlfield
House epitomizes luxury, exceptional personal service and thoroughly
deserves its reputation as a small, luxurious, hotel which I highly recommend.
Chrissy Nason was a guest at Marlfield
House in May 2019.
Read about Chrissy’s tour of Ireland’s
Ancient South East.
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To leave a comment, please Sign inOther Members' Thoughts - 2 Comment(s)
We flew to Dublin from Gatwick and hired a car at the airport. We did consider using the ferry and taking our own car but (for us) it was much quicker to fly and actually cheaper for our 4 night stay.
A great trip and one we definitely want to repeat.
Chrissy
By the way, we have 5 peahens and at least 3 peacocks that have taken up residence on our garage roof at the moment - we'd happily send them all across the water to live with George! Beautiful creatures indeed but the noise and mess is unbearable, especially in summer when they make a most unpleasant dawn chorus from around 4 am!