Scottish Baronial meets Italian Renaissance in Samantha Leslie’s Victorian pile on one of the last great Irish castle estates still owned by the founding family. The Leslies can trace their colourful history back to Attila the Hun, but there are few hotels more civilised than this one. Interiors are replete with antiques, portraits, miniatures. Castle bedrooms come with ‘old-world eccentricity’, a vivid personal story, perhaps lake views, a four-poster, a bath in a curtained alcove, a bathroom with double-ended spa bath and murals washed by changing light effects. Rooms in the stone-built lodge are ‘well lit and designed, very smart, a decent size, with good bathroom, bath and walk-in shower’. Afternoon tea is served in the drawing room, ‘country home cooking’ in Conor’s bar, while in Snaffles restaurant (they’re big on horses here) executive head chef Philip Brazil’s fine-dining menus include such dishes as breast of Silverhill duck, garlic and nutmeg potato mousseline, marinated carrot strip, blackberry jus. At breakfast, a huge choice includes maple-cured bacon, organic eggs, black-and-white artisan puddings; cream cheese and hand-smoked salmon bagel. ‘The whole place smacks of being well run.’