Shannon Oaks Apartments

In Apartment 2, there were rat droppings and a dead mouse by the water heater. The fridge had food smells and looked like it had never been defrosted. Things appeared clean at first, but when I checked more closely, all the surfaces were sticky. I had to go to the local supervalu to buy cleaning products. One of the outer doors was open when I arrived, and there were old clothes lying around outside.

There was plenty to do around town and nearby, including the park, forest park, river and Lough Derg. Birr Castle was only a 20-minute drive away. For the price, the place exceeded our expectations. It was spacious and well equipped for our family of four, and the heating was excellent, which we needed as the nights were starting to get cold.

We had no heating or hot water for the whole stay, so we couldn’t shower or get hot running water to wash our five-month-old. The host came to the apartment two hours later than she’d said she would, but told us she couldn’t do anything because the repair person wasn’t around, and she had no other apartment available. Before we arrived, she didn’t send the apartment number or key collection details as promised. Once we were there, it took over an hour to reach her. Since leaving, I’ve tried to contact them about getting some reimbursement, but the owner hasn’t even had the decency to get back to me.

The apartment was spacious and clean, but there was no hot water, even after someone checked the hotpress, though they weren’t a plumber. In apartment 7, the double bedroom door wouldn’t shut, so we had to listen to the hot press making noise all night. There was still no hot water for showers in the morning. A very frustrating stay.