The Boffin is an excellent value. Fine breakfast, nice rooms. A bit out of town, you'll need to drive in, but the harbor where is Boffin is located is interesting and has a fine pub. There is indeed a lot of fine, traditional music in lovely Westport.
Spent one night and was very impressed. The place is clean and well presented and the room was
very comfortable and was decorated really nice. But the personal touch and warm welcome from the owners made it truly fantastic.
Spent one night here as we prepared to tackle the Greenway. Would have gladly stayed longer. Spotlessly clean, pleasant service, super king bed (in room 5 anyway) and within walking distance of Cronin's Sheebeen. Great value.
We stayed three nights in the Boffin Lodge in a very pretty and spacious family room. The house is very beautiful and about a 15 mins. walk to the town center. The breakfast was delicous! Loved the French Toast with banana! Very friendly and helpful host. We can definately recommend this B&B.
We stayed at Apt. 19 which is affiliated with the Boffin Lodge. It's a self-catering townhouse about a 5-7 minute walk from the Boffin Lodge. This place was a disappointment from the moment we pulled up to it. It's front door is in the parking lot of the Centra grocery market. It was so unappealing that I sort of went into a little bit of shock. The owner of Boffin Lodge seemed quite rushed and got us into the townhouse and quickly left. He was helpful enough and was quick to respond to any text message questions we had but it wasn't the warmest welcome we received in Ireland.
This place seems as if it was bought during the economic down-turn, given a very quick clean, added some new yet average furniture and turned out for rental. We chose a self-catering place to safe money on not only lodging but also meals. Well, you can't cook anything in the oven as there are no roasting pans. There were 3 sauce pans of varying sizes, 1 "Uncle Ben's Oven to Table" glass thing, a few glasses, coffee mugs, plates and flat ware. So, if you want to only microwave food or heat up a can of soup, you'll be fine. The kitchen cabinets have some kind of laminate over the original old wood cabinets but it is peeling on each and every cabinet. The stove was old and looked dirty although I know it was cleaned prior to our arrival. It just looked bad. The fridge was a good size and even had a small freezer. There was also a coffee maker but we didn't use it. There is a full-sized ironing board and iron.
Our bedroom (a double) was not en-suite but the triple room was en-suite. This wasn't a huge deal for us as the second bathroom was very close by.
We had a choice in our room: Either have the door swing fully open or have the armoire doors open fully. We couldn't do both. Also, the door to both bedrooms would not stay open and we needed to lodge a dishtowel under the floor to keep them open. (We were there when it was warm and so airflow was important for comfort.) A simple door-stop would go a long way. There is an unnecessary desk in the double room. It takes up a lot of room and makes the room frustratingly hard to move around in. Take it out, people. It's useless in this room. We were a bit afraid to open up the bedroom windows since they are on the ground floor and we weren't sure of the neighborhood especially since people are driving in and out of the Centra all day until about 10pm at night. Caution: They come flying around the bend into the parking lot so be careful if you go over to the Centra. The beds were average in comfort. They were a bit hard for my taste. The bathrooms were fairly clean but felt dated.
You don't get Wi-Fi at Apt. 19 and only 6 channels on the TV. Not a huge deal but it's nice for the kids to be able to relax for an hour. They would walk up to Boffin Lodge (we were given a key to the Lodge) and use the Wi-Fi in the lounge area. Since we have 2 teenagers, we were okay with them making the walk on their own.
Apt. 19 is a very short walk to the Marina area which has a handful of restaurants and a pub or 2. It's a pretty area that seems to be emerging into a popular locale within Westport.
I have NEVER given a "poor" rating before and I put a lot of thought into this review. We didn't stay in another self-catering lodge in Ireland so I only have this one experience to base this on. My suggestions for this place is to redo the kitchen cabinets. It looks like the wooden cabinets underneath could be fine with some TLC, new stain and hardware. Adding a full set of dishes, pots and pans is absolutely necessary. People want to cook in a self-catering lodge. Adding some character with some paint color would go a long way in adding just a touch of charm to this place. Adding some sort of pillow top mattress cover would make the beds more comfortable.
After staying for 2 nights, we had adjusted to the Centra parking lot and feel that it's a fairly safe place. The location is pretty good for the Marina area and about 1.5 kilometers from Westport City Centre. Traffic is bad in Westport so walking is a good idea.
Such a comprehensive review needs an owners response so here goes. I personally checked these people into Apt 19. On their arrival quite a number of other guest arrived at the same time so I was indeed a bit rushed in my dealing with them as I was anxious not to neglect the other guests. In fairness this ladies husband was aware of the amount of other guest that had arrived & she may not have been. I apologize for that and possibly should have returned later. However I did meet this lady's husband & children a number of times as they used the WiFi in the Main Building. The WiFi was a big issue with these guests and rightly so. To Explain: This is a ever changing senario and it is only this year that there is an expectation that free WiFi should be available everywhere in the property. We have it installed everywhere except in the apartments and are rectifying this as this is not the first guest to comment on the lack of same. I agree with the possible need for some more items in the kitchen. There was a grill tray in the upper oven which when one removes the raised rack become a full sized oven tray but this may not have been obvious. The layout of the apartment and its location is, in my opinion, dealt with reasonably comprehensively on the web site. We also have a Virtual Tour of each & every room so everyone no matter where they are making the booking from can research their holiday accommodation in advance. The sharing of Car Parks with day time businesses is common in Ireland and this would have been the first adverse comment we would have got re this issue. From the front door of Boffin Lodge to the front door of Apt 19 is 235 steps/paces. Walking at a normal pace it took me less than 2 minutes, I cannot see how anyone would take 7 minutes to cover this distance. In Ireland fire regulations demand that bedroom fire doors close automatically. Hotel bedroom doors come under the same regulations & one never expects them not to close behind you. The Harbour Area has not been given due regard as there are 5 Pubs (Helm, Towers, Asgard, Quays, Shebeen and 2 large Hotels (Carlton & Woods) all with separate food outlets attached. There is also an upmarket cafe/coffee shop (The Creel) plus a very well regarded Sea Food restaurant (Quay Cottage). The Entrance to Westport House is also less that 200 meters from Apt 19. We were also rated poor under the heading of VALUE. This two bedroom apartment which sleeps 5 with en-suite plus bathroom cost this traveller €220 in total for the last two nights in July. We think this is good value for money. (Note: We would have got considerably less than this as the booking was made thru a 3rd party web site) All in all I have learned from this review and thank the writer.
Stayed here for 2 nights from 1st August with my family.
Room was large and clean. Nice extras like a fridge stocked with drinks and snacks and air-conditioning. The TV was super - loads of channels!
Breakfast had loads of choice and was prepared to perfection with efficient and friendly service. The chickens in the garden were brilliant for the kids!
Ample off road parking also. Near town and quay.
