We just returned from a three week vacation in Ireland and the whole family, all nine of us, agreed that Connemara and the Red Deer Cottage was our favorite stop! It is a perfect base for exploring Connemara and just enjoying the beautiful home and surrounds. Some of the highlights: the cottage is 5 minutes from the Connemara Nat'l Park- we took an afternoon and hiked Diamond Mountain, absolutely gorgeous and quite a feat to not get blown off! Kylemore Abbey is 10 minutes away it's breathtaking and definitely worth an afternoon wandering through, 15-20 minutes from Clifden where we rented electric bikes from "All Things Connemara" and biked the beautiful Sky Road. There are some great pubs in Letterfrack but our favorite was Paddy Coynes in Tully Cross, just 4 km away. They were so nice and the food was way above pub grub at pub prices! Our teenagers loved the "Killary Sheep Farm" and the sheepdog demonstrations, take that day and do a Killary Fjord boatride and then go up the Delpi Pass, it is some of the prettiest views in all Ireland(it even beats the Dunloe Gap in my opinion) We spent five wonderful days and only wish we had had more time. Now on to the cottage itself, I really cannot find one fault with our wonderful accommodations. The other reviews pretty well cover it, very comfy beds, spacious high end living spaces, and well equipped kitchen! We cooked in a couple nights and once you got yourself acquainted with everything it was an easy kitchen to cook in. American people take note: all the appliances are VERY different, we learned quickly to ask. Liz, the owner, was very helpful explaining how to run everything, and while I'm on the subject let me just stop here and say she was one of the sweetest most helpful people we met on our entire trip! That's saying a lot for Ireland, the people here are so nice it's amazing! She stopped by our first day to check in on us, and gave us wonderful advice on where to eat and what to see. My father had broken his glasses and Liz offered to take them with her to get them fixed for us, she even lent him her mother's reading glasses till she could get his back! Cannot believe how above and beyond she was! Also if she is playing anywhere nearby during your stay, don't miss it! Liz and her sister are renowned fiddle players and we went and saw her play in Clifden, one of our favorite nights!! Whenever you rent something you always hope it's going to be as good as the pictures and I can honestly say this place far exceeded my expectations in every regard! I hope to return to Ireland someday and if I do I will definitely be back to Letterfrack and the Red Deer cottage!