Family Break in the West of Ireland

Like I said in an earlier post (here)  I had zero plans for the Easter break which I was fairly happy about, but when I was waiting for Senan at soccer practice (I spend a lot of time waiting for Senan!) I spotted a great deal on Dealrush. It was a 2 night stay in the Grand Hotel in Ballina, Co. Mayo,(website) with breakfast for €100! (For 2 adults, so myself and Senan counted as the adults, the baby was free and I'd to pay€20 extra for TJ...still good value!) There was also supposed to be a 30minute spa treatment but there were no appointments free so they offered me a robe and slippers in my room. My brother and niece live in Ballina so after a quick phone call to check they were free I bought the voucher and booked the room! I am normally never that decisive or productive! 

Ok, so truthfully I hate packing for 3 kids,,,I'm not the lightest packer either so it literally took me about 3 hours Monday morning to get everything packed...and of course you can imagine how helpful a 3 year old is in the middle of it all...spot the ironing board!! Thankfully Annabels bottles don't need to be sterilised anymore and the ready made formula is so handy for trips away so packing for her wasn't as bad as it was a few months back. 

The hotel itself is lovely. The staff are so friendly and helpful, I was so impressed with how friendly everyone was, nothing was a bother, even the last day packing the bags into the car one of the poor workers got drowned in the rain, I told him I was fine as I didn't want him spending the day in a damp shirt but he insisted. Our room was lovely and spacious. The double bed was huge, which was great as TJ slept cross ways in the bed! The had a travel cot set up and there was still so much space. We were on the same floor as the leisure centre which I have to say was so convenient. We just got our swim suits on and headed over (I had a dressing gown and slippers from the hotel because I would not be seen wandering the corridors in my swimsuit!) The pool is was, nothing too impressive, but the kiddies pool was heated which was fantastic, it was like being in a luke warm bath, which is better than other kiddies pools where I've sat in freezing! We were lucky to be the only kids in the pool as it is quite small. The kids loved it though and Senan could swim in the big pool.

All set for our morning swim!

On the first evening I ordered food in the bar and got to bring it up to the room as Annabels bed time is 7 o clock. Senan had the burger and chips which looked very tasty and TJ and I had the goujons and chips which were fine! It was also a pleasant surprise that they had a kids club running for the week! I hadn't realised this when I booked it! The 2 boys went the first evening. They were the only kids there, Senan (the 11 year old) was a bit bored but TJ loved it! It was a great way to pass an hour or two in the evening.

The plan then was to have an early night and watch a movie together on Netflix. We had brought the ipad and laptop (and ipods and iphones...terrible I know!)....but the Wi-Fi did not work in the room. I spoke to reception and they said they'd look into it but it wouldn't work. They offered me to move rooms but with a one year old already asleep and enough luggage that would last another person a month this wasn't an option! I have to say I did find this a huge issue. Grand it worked out ok, the boys were tired and fell asleep, but honestly to go away with 3 young children to a hotel that says it has Wi-Fi and find it doesn't work really bothered me.

The Hotel Pool (Picture from their website )

We brought the kids to Tumble Jungle play centre in Ballina. No matter how many of them they see they never tire of them! This was also had loads of bouncing castles in it too, it was huge. It was perfect for all ages, a 1 year old through to an 11 year.

We went to Tumble Jungle play centre in Ballina.

Like I said the bed was huge!!