THE WORLD’S BEST resort is in… Co Laois.

That’s according to the luxuries magazine Robb Report, which has put Ballyfin Demesne in Co Laois top of its getaway list. As Robb Report director Bruce Wallin says, “Who doesn’t love Ireland?” (Watch him being interviewed about it on Fox Business.)

And the recommendation has some amazing pics of the place (click here for a virtual tour).

According to the Robb Report, Ballyfin’s owner – a businessman from Chicago called Fred Krehbiel – spent $50m on renovating the place which he bought in 2002. Ballyfin was built in 1822 for an English nobleman but later became a Catholic school. It reopened last year as an exclusive hotel. The Report states:

The rooms pair state-of-the-art technology with antique furnishings and artworks. Swans can be spotted from most guest-room windows, which overlook the lake or a cascade descending from a classical Greek-style pavilion. In the public spaces, chandeliers from the palace of Napoleon’s sister hang above Chippendale furniture, 17th-century tapestries, and a parquet floor design from Buckingham Palace.

Noble pastimes at Ballyfin include falconry, trapshooting, tennis, and wine and whiskey tastings. Guests can also visit the indoor swimming pool and spa, ride bicycles, fish and row on the lake, and hike through the property’s magical old-growth forest. Executive chef Fred Cordonnier (formerly of the Michelin-two-star restaurant at Dublin’s Merrion Hotel) encourages visitors to play a part in their meals—fetching eggs from the henhouse, picking fruits and berries, foraging for mushrooms, and accompanying the sommelier to the cellar to select the evening’s refreshment.

Opulence and falconry don’t come cheap though – rooms cost anywhere from €600 (for a single) to €1,400 (for a suite) PER NIGHT, although this is full board so you get that fine dining experience included.

We’ll see you at the tennis court.

These pictures are from Ballyfin’s Facebook page: