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A New Ritz-Carlton Coming Soon to Ireland

Where: Powerscourt Estate, Enniskerry, Ireland

In the July/August issue of the European Travel Commission's newsletter, they highlighted several new and upcoming hotels in Europe. We'll be taking a closer look at some of these hotels this week but we're always interested in hearing your recommendations for hotels in Europe. So send 'em our way.

Look for the Ritz-Carlton Powerscourt to hit the hills of Ireland sometime in the next couple months. It is officially listed as "opening in August," but so far the on-line reservations system isn't taking any bookings for any night before October. Apart from this picture here, we couldn't find anything but architectural drawings on the site either, so we expect there are still plenty of construction workers racing around.

This will be a fancy castle where you get the best of the country and the city. Built next to a golf course but in the land where the movies Braveheart and Excalibur were filmed, it is nevertheless just 16 miles from Dublin and 45 minutes from the airport. Parts of the castle itself date back to the early 1700s.

Rooms promise to be palatial as well, with the smallest coming in at 540 square feet. Apart from the "recessed TV in the bathroom," however, we're not seeing any notable amenities on the list. Weekday rates start at 255 euros ($344) and bump up to $398+ on weekends. (Factor in a gouge fee to go online with your laptop of course).

Here's an interesting twist: two of the 20 spa rooms are VIP rooms. So you don't have to mingle with all that Ritz-Carlton guest riff-raff when you're relaxing...