To be perfectly honest, we got off to a bad start at Slieve Elva and our view of the rest of the experience is likely colored by that. We arrived at 9:15pm after about 5 hours of driving to find a note that said "we had to go out we'll be back at 10:15pm." Ordinarily this wouldn't be a big deal, but our group included two 4-year-olds and the hosts knew that. After a few minutes, some other guests let us in so that we could await the hosts in the sitting room with our extremely tired children. When the hosts did return, rather than saying "oh, we're glad you got in," they were upset that we got in without a key and didn't apologize. We later learned from the hosts themselves that the reason they "had to go out" was because they wanted to go sit on the beach. We didn't have the phone number to the B&B with us and we didn't call ahead, so perhaps we were to blame for the situation. Nevertheless, I'd expect that if I were a B&B owner and I knew I had two families arriving with children, I'd probably skip the beach for the night.

As for the rest of the stay...

The B&B is in a very remote location a couple kilometers outside Lisdoonvarna. The distance from town means that one can't enjoy a few pints of Guinness and then drive back to the room. The location was in very quiet surroundings, though the hardwood floored guest hallway and the hosts themselves on the second floor meant that rooms were not as quiet as we'd have liked. The facilities were quite clean and furnished nicely with modern decor.

Breakfast was good. Hosts required breakfast orders the evening prior.

The hosts answered all our questions about the local area and were moderately helpful but their attitude never seemed to rise beyond politely tolerating us. As their website says, the hosts had never considered running a B&B until falling in love with the area on their honeymoon a year ago. We're not entirely sure they're the B&B host type.

In all, we felt as though we were staying in a hotel rather than a B&B (without the assurance that the desk staff at a hotel won't simply leave their posts for an hour or so when guests are arriving). The room rates were reasonable. If you're in a pinch, you'll be satisfied. If you have the choice, look elsewhere.