This was a new trip and for that it went pretty well despite the loss of the hotel for the 4th night and the tour operator who was excellent cheerful lady managed to find us another hotel to take us all in single rooms - not so good as the hotel at Westport in minor ways but did very well. IN fact for a short trip I found the hotel much better quality than I thought with even self service breakfast was excellent at Westport and the dinner too with 3 courses with quite a lot of choices in each course. The food was good quality for a hotel taking in groups.
The second hotel was more impersonal and food not so good but for a last minute choice worked well. TV better t han the other one although not uch time for TV!
It was a very friendly and easy g roup and for my first solo holiday with this company I was very impressed and the tour manager and driver/guide worked very hard especially as the first coach had a problem with the air conditioning essential when it was very hot for the west of Ireland.
I think the trip needed 4 days as we had a foreshortened trip to the Burren despite the showery day and also needed more time for that and the Cliffs of Moher. The first two days on Achill Island and Connemara worked very well but lunch for all the days needed a bit more thought and whether we were seeing scenery or coffee/craft shops.
I knew the area and it was good we had a little flexibility and so visits to have a coffee/icecream was a group choice so I did not have much choice to linger at a preferrred beach or elsewhere. WE got a lot of history from our driver/guide who was very good and we were looked after on the very hot walks v ery well. I am just not sure whether a trip to a large country house is right for a basically a walking/scenic trip. WE completely missed out on the fantastic Connemara mountains where we could have gone whilst the weather was .clear and sunny - I think the rest of the group did not know they existed and perhaps a vote of choice should have been offered. With a larger group there are bound to be those not interested in the scenery or only wantingn to march.
There was time to enjoy the evening however going out for a drink or a walk or just sitting in the bar of the excellent hotel or chatting in the comfortable foyer. We were near enough to walk to excellent pubs and authentic Irish ones with live music so that aspect of socialising was very good.
The boat and coach were also excellent and comfortable and I think the tour idea is very good but needs a bit of tweaking perhaps after the first year when customer reactions may have been analysed. If some tourist a ttractiions like Galway city are included I think an extra day is needed to make sure there is plenty of time to see the wonderful scenery.