My picks in Travel

Although this 1830 Georgian manor house near the Hook Peninsula has a healthy dose of antiques, period furnishings and draperies, and is surrounded by gardens and parkland, it nonetheless has a decidedly city chic vibe. The young proprietors of Dunbrody Country House are Chef Kevin Dundon and his wife, Catherine, who in recent years have added a champagne and seafood bar, a wine cellar, a cooking school, and a small but sleek spa to the 22-room property. You'll find fashionable Dubliners in the award-winning Harvest Room restaurant, where the handsome Chef Dundon—a culinary celebrity on TV in Ireland—prepares innovative, seasonal Irish cuisine, often using organic produce from the hotel's garden. Highlights of the current menu include caramelized scallops with a marinated fennel bulb on a mango salad, or a dish of roasted pumpkin, red peppers and goat's cheese pie with a Niçoise salad. Sign up for a one- or two-day class at the state-of-the-art Dunbrody Cookery School and learn how to prepare some of his dishes yourself. Courses include Sunday Lunch Roasts; Stews and Casseroles; Dinner Parties for Six; Autumn Jams and Chutneys; and even Thai Cuisine. Be sure to take home a copy of his cookbook, Full On Irish: Creative Contemporary Cuisine. And don't worry about going for one of Harvest's desserts—you can work off the big meals with long walks on the coast or by strolling and shopping in the nearby towns of Kilkenny, Wexford and Waterford—where you can pick up some crystal to use when serving your homemade chutney! A 2.5 hour drive from the Dublin airport.

Room rates from €260.