I hate to give a bad review, because Maureen was so helpful and pleasant (even when I had to call at 11PM and ask for a blow dryer!) However, this was our last night in Ireland after a two week stay in some great country B&Bs. We hadn't stayed near a city center and now I know it was for good reason. I was a little scared when I pulled up to the B&B because the area seemed to be on the "wrong side of the river." When we got there, a young girl said that Maureen thought we would be more comfortable in one of their "apartments" rather than a B&B room. We thought "Great!" until we walked a block away, turned through a parking lot, entered a locked gate next to a bet-booking place. I had my young daughter with me and I have to say I was very nervous about the area. The apartment was basic with lots of doors - kind of a strange layout, but very spacious! We walked down, across the river, to the village, which was very quaint, but not much going on. That's okay - we knew we would have to get up early to get to the airport. The noise of people yelling and traffic kind of kept me awake for a little while and I was kind of nervous about our car being left in the parking lot with lots of my Ireland purchases in the trunk, but I eventually was able to drift off to sleep.
The cooks did a fair job with breakfast - eggs again. Kind of wish we had other choices, but that's okay. We met Maureen, thanked her and left for the airport.
Although Maureen was fantastic, this really wasn't quite what we thought it would be and kind of disappointing for a last night in Ireland.
It's good if you want to be downtown, but not if you are used to country B&Bs.
- Arch Hotel Athlone

