Avalon House Hotel's New Summer Sanctuary Stay Is Exactly What You Need Right Now

There comes a point every summer — usually somewhere between the third packed lunch of the week and the realisation that you haven’t had a full night’s sleep since approximately 2019 — when you just need to get away. Not a big airport production. Not a week of sunscreen negotiations and lost sandals. Just somewhere genuinely beautiful, where someone else is doing the cooking and the only decision you have to make is whether to have a second scone.

Avalon House Hotel in Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny has just launched its Summer Sanctuary Stays package.

What’s included in the Summer Sanctuary Stay?

The package is designed around the idea of actually slowing down — which, for most of us, is easier said than done. A two-night stay for two people sharing includes a luxury bedroom, dinner on one evening, breakfast each morning, and a La Rive Sauna experience each. The whole thing comes in at €189 per person sharing.

The La Rive Sauna experience is worth pausing on. Inspired by Nordic wellness traditions, it’s a hot and cold therapy ritual that’s become one of the most talked-about features of the hotel. Think heat, cold immersion, stillness, and the kind of deep exhale you can’t manufacture at home between the dishwasher cycle and someone needing their school shirt ironed.

Andrew Phelan, General Manager at Avalon House Hotel, says the aim was to create something that goes beyond a standard break. “With growing interest in Irish staycations, wellness tourism and nature-led travel, Avalon House Hotel’s Summer Sanctuary Stays offers a refined countryside escape that combines heritage, wellbeing and modern luxury in a perfectly peaceful destination.”

The setting: Kilkenny countryside at its best

Avalon House Hotel is nestled in the grounds of the Castlecomer estate, which means guests have direct access to some of Kilkenny’s most beautiful woodland walks, lakeside scenery and heritage trails. The area has that rare quality of feeling genuinely unspoiled — mature forests, open countryside, a pace of life that doesn’t involve anyone asking you for anything.

The hotel itself is a beautifully restored historic property. Carefully considered interiors, warm and personalised service, and that particular atmosphere that boutique Irish hotels do so well when they get it right: comfortable enough to feel indulgent, relaxed enough to feel like home.

The sunny terrace at Little Jims is perfect for alfresco dining.

Long evenings, local food, and the terrace

Outdoor dining is a big part of the summer offering here. The hotel encourages guests to make the most of long summer evenings on the terrace, with locally sourced seasonal menus and the kind of unhurried dining that feels like a genuine luxury when your usual dinner involves cutting up someone else’s food before your own.

If you’re the kind of person who romanticises slow summer living — golden hour on a terrace, a glass of something cold, nowhere to be — this is fairly much the brief fulfilled.

For more information or to book a Summer Sanctuary Stay, visit avalonhousehotel.ie.