RTT08 Update.

[chrislarkin]

There have had to be a few enforced changes for RTT08.

I was in contact with Jamie after the holiday and he explained to me that he and his business partner had divided up the division of the responsibilities so that Jamie will run the watersports business while his partner will run the accommodation. Regretably his partner does not want campers so we agreed that I should arrange something else. If you had tried to book with Jamie since this RTT thread started, for B&B or camping, it is no longer available.

So I thought about alternatives in the Maharees and after talking to various people was unable to find anything that would suit us in this area. However I have found an even better place for us in Castlegregory village which is just three miles up the road. This is a hostel owned by a friend and his wife and is attached to their pub. It can sleep 24 in a variety of rooms to fit from one to 6. Similar arrangements and standard to the place in Bellingham where the September G2G was held in that there is a communal kitchen, showers, off road parking, bed linen and towels are supplied and the cost is only 15 euro per bed per night (about st£11). There are many advantages to being in the village in that you will be in easy walking distance of the 6 pubs (Castlegregory has a population of 300 but only 6 pubs now since, regretably, the 3 others closed), a variety of places to eat in the evenings, a supermarket and a cafe that opens early to do breakfasts for surfers.

There are two options for B&B. Just down the road from the hostel and right on the beach is a B&B owned by another friend (I am not on commision!) which has wonderful views, is very modern and comfortable. A little closer to the hostel there is also another B&B which is a little more refined and is where I put up customers who come from overseas. The regular cost of B&B is 40 Euro per person per night but for RTT08 visitors the cost will be 35 Euro (about st£26) at either place.

Camping is a little more difficult. There is no serviced campsite in Castlegregory but if enough people were interested I would be able to arrange a field close by at a nominal cost.

It would be a big help if I had some idea of how many people want each type of accommodation. If we get enough people in the hostel we can have it to ourselves and probably get a reduction which would make it even better value. If the camping numbers are big enough I'll work on the field idea. B&B numbers will probably be smaller. Can you please post the type of accommodation you want in this thread?

Booking details. For the hostel the email contact is dorrenfitzgerald@hotmail.com>, tel +353 66 7139951, contact is Dorren. For the beach B&B telephone +353 66 7139907, contact is Marie Marie has an email address mariacfry@hotmail.com but it was not working when I talked to her yesterday so the phone may be the best option. The other B&B can be booked at caisleanti@unison.ie, contact is Shelia and phone is +353 66 7139183. In each case you should mention RTT08 or carpeTDM to get the deals I have arranged. As Castlegregory is a holiday area accommodation for the summer needs to be booked early - some of the places I talked to already had bookings.

I am sorry for the unexpected cock-up with the accommodation arrangements and the slight change in venue. Castlegregory village is probably a better all round choice as it has so many more options for entertainment and eating. The choices for great rideouts are still the same. Looking forward to getting lots of you here and introducing you to Kerry hospitality. If you have any queries you can pm me or post them in this thread and I will try to answer them.


Chris.