Myself and my partner decided to go to Kinsale for 2 nights Friday and Saturday for rugby 7s, we rang the lighthouse and booked 2 nights with Carmel the owner, we gave her the visa number and all our details. she rang my boyfriend back the next day as she got a miss call form us. so everything was sorted, when we arrived on the Friday she got her book out with all the details of people staying and our names were'nt even on it. she said she had a room available for Friday and she would sort something out for Saturday. on Saturday morning she told us that she had no room available because of the rugby team that were coming over from england.
She just fobbed us off ,and did'nt even help us to get alternative
accommodation. The room itself was a disgrace the bed was hard not comfortable, the shower hose was faulty , there was no light in the bathroom , sewerage started flowing up into the shower tray when the toilet was flushed next door it was disgusting.
We highly recommend u stay away from this place if your thinking of going to kinsale , it will ruin your stay.
Caroline from Ireland

We do not understand the bad critics for this house. Although it's maybe not very luxury, it's located lovely, nice view over Kinsale, a lot of antiques which suits the house and its owner. The rooms are mostly small, bathroom was o.k. and yes, we found a small spider too in our room but so what! The room was clean and had an atmosphere of older days, but that was just what we liked!
Breakfast is superb, Carmel (the landlady) makes anything you want and yes, she sings when she feels like it. If people find this strange, what boredom they have in life then! Let this lovely lady be happy sometimes and who are you, to tell us what is normal or who is not normal. For these kind of things we all have other standards....... Carmel is a well educated enchanted person, full of life and warmth and travelled around the world so much, she could write a book. She is not willing to be a slave of customers who can be rude and unfair sometimes but we found her very hospitable. What do people expect for the very average price she's asking?
For disabled people, children and pets its less suitable.
We had a great time anyway.
Regards from Stefanie / Schellinkhout / Holland

I am from Cork City and me and my partner went down to Kinsale for St. Patricks weekend. We initially consulted tripadvisor to give more insight of a couple of B&B's because we did not get availibility at the hotel where we usually stayed.
The only B&B that had avaiibilty was the lighthouse, but were very sceptical about it after reading the reviews.


I found The Lighthouse very comfy and yes there is a lot of nik naks in the house but it was clean. A lot of the furniture looks antique and cant believe that she has it in the rooms to be used by so many people every year.

We stayed in the room with the consevetory at 55 euro's per person and thought that that was a great deal, and it was inclusive of breakfast.

I would recomend this B&B to all couples that would like to have a break away from everyday life.

I am going to have to agree with most of the other reviews. We were greeted by a note on the door, entered, had to find our own rooms(we just presumed the ones with doors open. Both our rooms were very dark and musty,and the bathrooms really old and dated with bleach stains on the bright red towels. it was like staying in a dungeon. The rest of the house was quaint but dirty, carmel has too many nick naks that are in need of a good clean. Was looking forward to a nice Irish breakfast like we have had before in previous irish b&b's. No such luck, it was awful and tasted like rubber. we kept on having to ask for everything and the toast was made with the cheapest thin bread so it was like eating crisps. Carmel on first appearances seemed very glamourous but as time went on you realise she is very strange, and insists on telling you her life story. She seems to do alot of running and flapping around without getting anything done. She talks constantly and you end up hoping she wont come to your table.
We were very dissapointed with our choice of accommodation in Kinsale, but it wouldn't stop us going back as it is a lovely place with some good bars and places to eat. We liked The Blue Haven restaurant/ bar/hotel. Have the fish and chips or the oysters - gorgeous!!