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Cliff at Lyons

Cliff at Lyons

Cliff at Lyons is a privately owned luxury hotel in rural Kildare occupying an unusual collection of historic rose-clad buildings, including a mill and former dovecote, a 30-minute drive from both Dublin city and Dublin airport.

Rooms: 22 rooms & suites.  Type: family, couples, golf, outdoor, city break, wellness, culinary

 

OVERVIEW

Cliff at Lyons is a privately owned luxury hotel in rural Kildare occupying an unusual collection of historic rose-clad buildings, including a mill and former dovecote, a 30-minute drive from both Dublin city and Dublin airport.

This is a country retreat with 22 bedrooms and suites, a multi-award-winning spa, extensive kitchen gardens with tours and access to the direct canal waters and towpaths for activities.

Part of the decorated culinary CLIFF group, Lyons boasts three restaurants including the two star Michelin – AIMSIR. An ideal location to enjoy but rural living onsite with easy access to the capital city for sights and attractions.

Cliff at Lyons History: Contemporary luxury in a lovingly restored Georgian setting.

Cliff at Lyons hotel occupies a collection of historic village houses, a barracks, forge and mill situated on the Grand Canal in Kildare. They originally formed a lockyard, flanking the southernmost of two waterways connecting Dublin in the east of Ireland with the River Shannon in the west. The big house nearby was an important Irish estate, Lyons Demesne, belonging to an old Kildare dynasty. The first Lord of Cloncurry, Nicholas Lawless, built the main Georgian mansion here in 1797.

His son, Valentine, the second Lord of Cloncurry, was a champion of the Irish cause who was twice imprisoned in the Tower of London for his sympathies towards the 1798 Irish Rebellion. Known as ‘the Irish Patriot’, Valentine, who dressed in green, was a passionate advocate of Irish culture. The buildings that form today’s 16-acre Cliff at Lyons evolved into a village in the 1820s, which had a mill, the Jolly Angler’s Inn – which became a police barracks in the mid-19th century – a hotel and even a Church of Ireland boarding school. The flourmill, damaged in a fire in 1903, was run by Joseph P Shackleton, a relative of the famous Antarctic explorer. Horses would be changed here, beside the double lock on the canal. The privately owned CLIFF hospitality group purchased the property in 2016 and operate it as a leading Irish culinary and wellness destination today.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Strategic location, where Dublin stops and countryside begins. A rural idyll located just 30 mins from Ireland’s capital city and leading airport.
  • Steeped in history, this is a restored 18th Century village constructed in a considered manner.
  • The Grand Canal circles the property, allowing miles of towpath and water for activities such as kayaking, paddle boarding, walking, cycling and private barge trips.
  • Wellness – The Well in the Garden is a luxury award-winning spa set in the beautifully restored Carriage House building.
  • Culinary – this is a true village with something for everyone on site. They have three restaurants and extensive kitchen gardens, honeybees and bakery. Their two star Michelin AIMSIR, celebrates only what can be fished and foraged in Ireland and was the quickest ever to two star restaurant, achieving the award within 4 months of opening.

ACCOMMODATION

Estate Rooms

Estate Suites

Lilypond Rooms

DINING

 

  • The Pantry – A bakery, coffee house and larder store, selling takeaway items, picnics and great coffee for you to enjoy on your walk along the canal.
  • The Mill Restaurant – At the heart of Cliff at Lyons, with huge double-height ceilings, warm open fire and windows that open up to a terrace beside the mill race and waterfall. Here, you will find a          relaxed style of dining where it is easy to enjoy a lunch or dinner with friends or family. The illuminated waterfall provides a unique back drop to this airy and spacious room. 
  • The Mezz Bar – Overlooking the Mill, serving light snacks with great cocktails and wines
  • Orangery – Glass walled Turner conservatory serving breakfast and brunch. Also available as a private dining space
  • Aimsir Restaurant – Two star Michelin offering only what is grown, fished and foraged on the island of Ireland
  • Aimsir Lounge – The chic bar with indoor and outdoor seating overlooking the beautiful garden.
  • Lyons Den – Offering a traditional reading room setting. Also available for private dining events.
  • Dovesquare – outdoor dining and bars – all areas in Lyons have an outdoor area in which you can enjoy an al fresco experience.

 

ACTIVITIES

ONSITE

  • Daily kitchen garden tour with Chef
  • Daily Historical Walk
  • Cycling
  • Stand up paddleboarding
  • Kayaking
  • Barge trips
  • Yoga and Pilates
  • Award winning Spa
  • Arthur Guinness Walking Trail
  • Fishing
  • Nordic Pole Walking
  • Wine Tasting
  • Whiskey Tasting
  • Picnics
  • Personal Training
  • Garden Chess
  • Bird Watching
  • Art Class
  • Paddle Boarding
  • Canalside picnics

NEARBY

  • Castletown House
  • Dublin Falconry
  • Celbridge Elm Hall Golf Club
  • Maynooth Castle
  • Steam Museum
  • Dublin city centre sights and attractions

FAMILY

ONSITE

  • Daily kitchen garden tour with Chef
  • Daily Historical Walk
  • Cycling
  • Stand up paddleboarding
  • Kayaking
  • Picnics
  • Garden Chess
  • Bird Watching
  • Art Class
  • Paddle Boarding
  • Canalside picnics

NEARBY

  • Falconry
  • Horseriding
  • Lullymore Farm
  • Dublin Zoo
  • Tayto Park
  • Kildare Maze
  • Wallaby Woods
  • Newgrange
 

ACCOMMODATION COLLECTION


Adare Manor

Situated in a picturesque Irish village with convenient access to the rest of the country, Adare Manor is an ideal base for exploring the best that Ireland has to offer.

The hotel offers something for everyone – a luxury castle feeling for couples looking for a romantic getaway, state of the art golf for those keen to try their clubs on this championship course and, for those looking for a little pampering, the La Mer Spa is the only one of its kind in the British isles. There is also an abundance of activities for active families looking to explore the outdoors ranging from falconry to archery, horse-riding, cycling and fishing. This historic country castle escape has it all.

Rooms : 104 spacious bedrooms and suites    Type : Couples, Active Families, Golfers


Wilderness Reserve

 

Wilderness Reserve is an 8000-acre estate of woodland, lakes and rolling pasture, sprinkled with an eclectic collection of historic and traditional Suffolk properties. Lovingly restored by artisans, each home has unique character. From the grand Grade II listed manor house and restored 15th century barn, to charming, thatched cottages and romantic retreats, Wilderness Reserve is a long-term conservation and restoration project – protecting English nature and breathing new life into historic properties. It is unlike anything or any place you’ve ever been before.

 

Sleeps: 17 Houses ranging from one bedroom to 18 bedrooms

Type: Celebration, Family, multi-generational, off the beaten track, rural luxury

Those looking for: Time to celebrate, reconnect or re-energise.


Ballyfin

Built in the 1820’s, Ballyfin has long been admired as the most lavish Regency mansion in Ireland. Here classical grandeur meets with a landscape of rolling hills, follies  and ancient grottoes in the magnificent property, set at the foot of the Slieve Bloom Mountains. Ballyfin has been designed as a home-away-from-home making the experience entirely intimate. Enjoy estate-grown food prepared by award-winning chefs, take part in wine & whiskey tastings in the cellar, enjoy treatments in the spa, swim, or simply spend an afternoon in the large library, finishing with a fireside cocktail in the Ballyfin Bar.

Rooms : 20 Luxury Bedrooms and Suites  Type: Couples, Active, Historic

View entire accommodation collection

Celbridge, Co. Kildare, Ireland

  • "Incredible service ! The BEST tour guides, tour options and always available to help smooth over any "snafus" that we ran across during our vacation. 5-star, A+ rating from us."

    Clients of Jessica Thompson, Fairway Travel, Virtuoso

  • "....their time in the U.K. was PERFECT – loved everything you guys did for them, and sang praises for everyone! Thank you!! "

    Connie Hanes, Herff Travel

  • "Everyone, from the Tour Guides to our excellent driver, were amazing. All aspects of the trip were beyond expectations. Even changing our day schedule for outside reasons (like the airline sending my bag to a city 120miles away) they were always happy to help and move the schedule around so we could keep enjoying our trip. Everyone made us feel at home and like family."

    Client of Leah Molinari, Molinari Travel, Gifted Travel Network

  • "Dream Escape was the trip of a lifetime. Excellent choice of hotels, tour guide was awesome, the planned tours were wonderful and very informative."

    Client of Trisha Rathke, VIP Travel Designs, Gifted Travel Network

  • "Dreamscape designed an itinerary that combined an exploration of Scottish history and culture and a visit to some of the filming locations for the hit TV show Outlander. The tour guides provided were personable and knowledgeable and responsive to our interests. Our driver who was with us for the entire trip was professional and pleasant and again, flexible and sensitive to our interests. The hotels were magnificent and the pacing of the trip, spending at least two nights in each hotel was perfect. The itinerary was everything we wanted!"

    Client of Susan Morley, Journeys around the World, Cadence

  • "Sally Strange was wonderful so knowledgable, friendly and fun. 100% would use her services again. We feel like we have a friend for life! We LOVED our tours, where we ate lunch, and spending the days with Sally......Thanks (once again!) for looking after our clients so well. We so appreciate you. "

    Lauren Ainsley, Black Tomato

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    Alex Martinetti

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    Clients of Kristen Meckem, Kristen Meckem Travel, An Affiliate of Brownell

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    Jennifer McCrea, Boutique Travel Advisors

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    The Pogue Family - Clients of Amy Spence, Strong Travel

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    Pat Bowden, Red Letter Travel, an independent affiliate of Brownell

  • "Michael does such an outstanding job with making sure every itinerary he works on with me is well thought out. He is attentive to detail and always allows for the clients interest to be reflected in their tours. He makes sure that the perfect tour operator and chauffeur is paired with each client. I wanted you to know what a pleasure it is working with Michael and knowing my clients will always be well cared for when traveling with Dream Escape! "

    Jennifer McCrea, Boutique Travel Advisors

  • "Without a doubt, what made all of it so special and unforgettable was having the true pleasure of having Sally Strange as our guide. She was truly incredible..so full of life, energy, amazing historical knowledge anywhere we visited was extraordinary. Her sense of humor and fun personality made her extra special. Sally was a winner in every way."

    Clients of Betsy Talbot, Travel by Talbot (Brownell)

  • "Your team excelled on all levels! The execution of the itinerary was flawless!!! Well done. The clients LOVED Sally and this was just the second note from them about how exceptional she was. "

    Cathy Major, Cerulean World Travel

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    Krista Boyles, Unique Romance Travel

  • "I want to extend my deepest gratitude for your incredible work on this project, we really could not have gotten it across the finish line without you and your team 😊"

    Marieta Carrrero, Boost Journeys

  • "I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone at Dream Escape who helped in making the Gialamas' visit to London special. I know Dream Escape has many people behind the scenes that work on making an itinerary such as this flow seamlessly and I just wanted to say thank you for all of your hard work! "

    Jennifer McCrea, Boutique Travel Advisors

  • "Activities & Tours - All the events and guides were outstanding.- Guides - Simply the best. All of them. All outstanding! "

    Black Tomato Clients

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    Gretchen Ashworth Stewart, Client

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    Nancy Ebel, Virtuoso Travel Advisor

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    Shannon Marie Long - Reed and Mackay

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    Josh Whitaker - Owner, Rudi Steele Travel

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    Rob Arrow, Al Tayyar Group

  • "Lovely suite. Fabulous private tours. Everything has exceeded our expectations. "

    William A Heim, Client

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    Jean Newman-Glock, Signature Travel Network

  • "You were the heart and soul of the trip….I truly admired your sunny personality, sense of humor, organization and professionalism.  You also demonstrated  that a guide’s work is never done as you were constantly researching….. Did you ever rest??? "

    Sharon Delano, Frosch

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    Thomas Cohen, Client

  • "THANK YOU a zillion times over for choosing/assigning Rosie to be with this family.  She MADE the trip for them – there’s no other way to put it! "

    Jill Jergel, Frontiers International Travel

  • "Our holiday in Scotland now tops their lists of best trips…… To their growing list of amazing and memorable first-time experiences, our sons may add fishing for trout and salmon on the River Tay; steering a motor boat on Loch Ness; and taking private guided tours on Culloden Moor Of the eight full days we were in Scotland, Alex and Mattie thought each and every day was the best"

    Michael Guadarrama & Trammi Nguyen, clients of Peter Carideo. CRC Travel

  • "All six of us were deeply moved by the whole experience. Bravo Dream Escape "

    Max Levy, Direct client

  • "Thank you Karen and all of the staff and guides affiliated with Dream Escape…..the Flemings are having an awesome tour of Scotland. You all have made me look like a star! "

    Joni Gerace, The Travel Society, LLC

  • "Thanks for all your help and we can chalk this one up as a big success!   Our anniversary celebration was all we could have hoped for "

    Clients of Courtney Regan, Affiliate of Brownell Travel

  • "Rosie was MORE than outstanding – she went out of her way to help us in every regard...She was so knowledgeable – we all loved her"

    Jill A. Jergel, Frontiers International Travel

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    Cindy Evans, Travel Consultant

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    Carole McFarland, Universal Travel

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    Donald M. Davis, President, Luxury Travel, Inc.

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    Peter Carideo, CRC Travel

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    Ann Lipschitz, Worldview Travel

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    Debra Fini, VWTI

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    Financial Times, How to Spend it

  • "It was, without doubt, one of the most spectacular weekends I have ever had"

    Country Life

  • "David Tobin’s an ace at getting inside private castles and estates and he’s well connected.... "

    Conde Nast Traveller Magazine

  • "The level of service they provide is outstanding. They truly care about every aspect of the trip to ensure you have a fantastic stay. Rosie is a hidden gem of a tour guide. Just fabulous."

    Yvonne Malka, Signature Travel Network, April 2018