Ireland Trip Report: City bases/hotels, food (Part Two)

CITY BASES: The tour started in Ennis. This is a delightful small town. We took the bus from the Shannon airport to the Old Ground Hotel. We sprung for an upgrade (very modest charge) to insure we would have a king-sized bed for our recovery night. Our room was spacious and lovely in every way. This is a excellent small hotel. We ate at the Poets Corner pub that is attached and had one of the best meals of our trip. The tour provided a dinner at the attached Town Hall restaurant and it was equally good. We wish we had arrived two days early to explore Ennis as you really don't have any time there on the tour itself. We met a couple from California there who were driving themselves to various locations using Ennis as a base and seemed very happy with that choice. In Dingle we stayed at Castlewood House. This is a sublime B/B with every amenity you could desire. The specialty breakfasts items were all cooked to order. Dingle Bay is scenic but the town itself is very touristy. Three nights there seemed too long. Even in April there were throngs of tourists visiting the small shops and restaurants , all with higher prices because it is a tourist destination. Even the "pub culture" seems somewhat manufactured for the tourists. We are not able or willing to stay up until the "wee hours" so we missed out on that particular kind of tour bonding.
On our own we toured the Crean Brewery in Dingle. It was a short walk and is a small business, but it was nice to be out of the tourist zone at bit. For 5 Euro you get a pint and a self-guided tour.
The tour then had three nights in Dublin at Cassidy's Hotel. It was a big disappointment, and many tour members expressed their dislike of this hotel with us. I know that RS tours have other hotels they use in Dublin, and they all have to be better than Cassidy's. Tiny room, double bed barely bigger than a twin, tiny bathroom, dusty,dirty room with stained and battered furniture. We don't mind small or outdated but we do care if its clean. Really nice staff, but because it is a hotel used by so many tour groups I think standards slide because they know they will be fully booked regardless of the state of the rooms.
FOOD/ENTERTAINMENT:
Group meal at the Old Ground in Ennis was very good. It was at the attached Town Hall restaurant.
Group meals in Dingle were mediocre to horrid. Our first meal was at a B/B owned by one of the RS guides. A chef made us a "picnic" meal of cold cuts and soup. The desserts were very good. We did not do the distillery tour/ tasting listed on the itinerary but did get to taste some whiskey before dinner. Two young musicians performed for us. They were superb and seemed authentic. Our second group meal in Dingle was at a "seafood only" restaurant. Since we can't eat seafood we took the vegetarian choice. It consisted of a a variety of melon-ball size scoops of various cold vegetables and a small scoop of also-cold couscous. Except for a small tray of bread there was no first course. They ran out of desserts so had to substitute with other choices. It was a very quick meal as I expect they wanted us out to serve other customers. We had meals on our own at two other pubs in Dingle. Not memorable enough to recall their names.
Our final group meal in Dublin was at Le Bon Crubeen. (Crubeen are pig's feet). The food was okay. We appreciated the complimentary wine. We ate on our own in Dublin at the Italian Connection located just next door to Crubeen. It was one of the best meals of our entire trip. It is a very small restaurant so you might want to make a reservation. Reasonable prices and exceptional food.
Onto the finale Part Three if you aren't already bored to tears.