Clifden is a lovely town in a beautiful part of Ireland but this spacious well-equipped house is in what appears to be the noisiest part of it. The amplified music from three adjacent bars/restaurants starts in late afternoon and continues to 2230 on weekdays and midnight at the weekends. Two of the three bedrooms face the street and have to endure the music - the third, windowless, bedroom in the basement is quieter, but the bass notes penetrate even there such is the volume. There is nothing the owners can do about this.
But the owners can do something about other aspects: The decks/balconies on the other side of the house are unattractive as outdoor seating, as the decking has not been power-washed for a very long time, the decks are bare apart from the wheelie bins and some dilapidated furniture, and overlook a busy road as much, if not more than, the harbour. The view below is to further abandoned decks, to either side to the crudely screened decks of adjacent properties. The windows onto the main deck still bore the handprints of previous visitors. The water and felt filters in the tumble drier had not been emptied and kitchen surfaces were sticky. The heating had to be either ‘on’ or ‘off’ throughout the house as the control valves on individual radiators seem to have been disabled. The showers were good, but there was nothing by way of a ‘welcome pack’, not even a bottle of water in the fridge.
We shall return to Connemara, but not to this property.