This was our very first booking and wow, what a gem, a true home from home! We never met the owners, Ronan and Edel, as they were on a family holiday, but they communicated very well and promptly before, during our lovely stay and afterwards! Hopefully this won't ruin any potential surprises, but we mentioned we're Vegans and to find some truly yummy and appropriate goodies left for us, which got us started, was greatly appreciated, even the Guinness & the 'Happy Pear' cereal, but not together! We always planned to stay on the outskirts of Dublin, so took a chance on Dalkey and so glad we did! To celebrate our one year wedding anniversary we wanted to properly see Dublin, so decided on 5 full days, but unbeknown to us we were only going to have 3 full days in Dublin proper, as we explored Dalkey and the surrounding areas, which included venturing north of Dublin, to Malahide and Howth too. The accommodation was perfect, comfy (the big bean bag was just wow), clean, had all the amenities you needed and in a perfect location, which made us feel more like locals than tourists! Pre-book online a return 'Aircoach' (blue coach) ticket from Dublin Airport to 'Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel' which is at the end of this line, so no going wrong! It was super comfy, fast with free WiFi onboard and takes you through Dublin and the suburbs, which was nice and helped get your bearings! From the 'Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel' it's a very short down-hill and straightforward walk. There are two walkable DART train stations nearby which whisk you off to Dublin, north &/or further south, along the coast with stunning scenery! If you turn right once you walk out onto the main road, you can walk into Dalkey past a brilliant super market and the castles! We tended to turn left, walking back towards the Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel before turning left again and down into Dalkey that way, for the Dalkey DART train station and the amazingly yummy 'Select Stores' which we stopped in on every morning and some afternoons; eat inside, outside in a lovely little square across the road or get takeaways - Vegan options & the most extensive smoothie menu I've seen! Please explore Dalkey! The Castles, the little harbour, the 'Select Stores' (it's just one store despite the name), grab a Guinness or three with peanuts at 'Finnegan's' pub (if it's good enough for Bono and Michelle Obama), also grab a drink &/or food at the 'Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel', walk up 'Killiney Hill Park' and have lunch there at the gorgeous little cafe (the views from the top are amazing - we saw Dublin). Catch the DART from the cute Dalkey station all the way to Greystones and eat at the amazing 'Happy Pear'! Then walk back along the stunning coastal path to Bray, where you can board the DART back to Dalkey, for a well deserved rest and night in at the...