Our three-night stay at Ann and Michael's cottage went without a hiccup from booking to our final goodbye. Communication was excellent, as were Ann's directions to the house (which is in a very peaceful location off a quiet country lane, at the top end of a drive and a large and beautifully kept front garden).
There was a welcoming turf fire burning in the sitting room stove, everything was spotless, and Ann had left us milk, butter, homemade jams, scones and other little treats. Before long, her husband Michael came in from seeing to his horses and showed us how the heating etc worked. We didn't meet Ann until later during our stay, as she was working late, but when we did catch up with her over a cup of tea, she was as charming and kind as her spouse.
Both our hosts are local people from old families in the area, and they're very proud of the house (which belonged to Ann's parents) and the small but spotless farm that adjoins it. The house is old fashioned in a comfortable and reassuring way - it's an extended three-room cottage with a big chimney and fireplace in the central room - and Ann's decision to keep her family traditions alive with many touches that hark back to a slower-paced and altogether simpler (though probably harder) way of life is a brave and sensitive one. It really does feel like a family home - a place where children were raised and loved, left home and returned again to visit, where a family flourished - rather than a professional holiday let styled from the pages of a fashionable magazine.
That said, the cottage has all necessary mod cons - a powerful shower, central heating and a hot water boiler plus a wonderful enamelled stove (and a shedful of fragrant turf to burn on it), a neat little kitchen that's equipped to feed several guests, and TV with Saor freeview. There's a lovely garden, a little patio area around the back out of the wind, plenty of parking, and no noise at night apart from owls. And Ann and Michael are hospitality personified - thoughtful, generous, chatty and engaging but unobtrusive.
All in all, our short stay at Ann's cottage was one of the best Airbnb experiences we've had - and we've had some great times in Ireland thanks to Airbnb. I hope we'll return before too long.