Birthday Retreat in Donegal – Adults ONLY

This year I was whisked off to the Bee pods, Rossnowlagh…OMG!  What an incredible retreat.  It is referred to as “glamping”  this is so beyond any glamping experience I have ever had.   Firstly, to set the stage let me say that I am a seasoned camper and have been motorhoming in a comfortable, large motorhome for over 20 years.  This experience however is nothing like camping.  It is a retreat, an oasis in the desert.  It is plush, luxurious, spectacular even.  Rossnowlagh is a beautiful beach in South Donegal, overlooking Donegal Bay and the scenery is truly breath taking – so that’s the back drop…. pretty good! Then you arrive at  the Bee Pods, 5 individual structures set in to the hill, each quirky in its own way and each with its own stunning view.  The attention to detail within each glamping pod is wonderful, from the fixtures and fittings – Green Egg BBQ’s, Smeg appliances, Fire pits, Ice machine on site to the amazing hosts themselves – Siobhan and William.  They make you feel very welcome and then leave you in peace to just soak up the atmosphere of their oasis of calm.

It sparkled and it shone, across Donegal Bay as we looked out from our private deck perched above Rossnowlagh Beach. We also lucked out with the most incredible sunset too. Not a child in sight (no children allowed), just the buzzin of the bees at The Bee Pods. With only 5 luxury Glamping Pods, we heard nobody else and rarely saw anyone walking around. But they were all occupied. It seemed to be a mix of 50 somethings and 20 somethings. Such peace and tranquillity.

We walked down to the beach and took a dip. We had Chowder and some Birthday drinks in The Smugglers Creek Inn, great name, great views and the cocktails went down a treat as did the chowder. We also managed a short visit to the Sandhouse Hotel, right on the beach. This is a Surfers paradise, so the water had surfers of all sizes and abilities.  But to be honest I was happy to stay on the deck outside our pod, I wanted for nothing else.

Our pod, the Hive, had its own outdoor bath.  So I could luxuriate to my hearts content, in my Voya seaweed, my skin felt incredible!  So much so that I persuaded himself to give the double seaweed baths on site a go, he wasn’t overly enthusiastic, but I now have a new man on my hands.  Siobhan sets it all up, with seaweed, candles, fresh fruit and water.  You can if you wish bring down a libation of our choice, so I filled the ice bucked provided and brought my bubbly. Remember, it was my birthday.

The car did just one small trip, in to Ballyshannon to O’Reillys fish shop where we got some wonderful Monkfish and crab claws to start. We managed to buy Champagne and Chardonnay in Dicey Reillys, a suprisingly excellent off-licence in Ballyshannon, with a really vast range to suit everyones taste. Brendan in the shop knows his wines well.

Himself was doing all the cooking, he made great use of our Big Green Egg barbeque on the deck.  Thankfully  it came with a Handbook, a big one, which was well used. Meantime, I was luxuriating once again in our own private outdoor hot seaweed bath. Oh I do like to be beside the seaside! There is also a Pizza Pod on the site where you can make your own pizzas in a big Ooni oven. The ensuite bathroom with excellent shower and glass wall allowed us see the sea even when bathing. They have picnic baskets and beach towels for the guests. Siobhan has thought of everything a girl might need and more.

After dinner on our first night a delicious cheeseboard (mature and perfect temperature) plus tasty crackers and some beautiful Port arrived. You get a cheeseboard, a homemade dessert or some surprise every evening. As we had our own fire pit it seemed to make sense to light it with some of the plentiful logs provided. As the sun went down, ever so spectacularly, the darkness edged in. And with it came the most incredible vista of stars in the sky, interrupted only by the odd passing satellite or the shooting stars. Literally this wonderful place seemed like heaven. I said I did not want to leave. And that worked out well, because it is a two night minimum stay, so I got the homemade Pavlova the following evening – delish. Fresh home made raspberry coulis on a feathlight meringue and fresh fruit from the garden.

Breakfast was yet another BeePods wonderful wooden box, delivered at 10.00 am with homemade fresh and hot mini quiche, freshly squeezed orange & grapefruit juice, fresh fruit cup, great granola and a homemade yoghurt mix. The overnight oats were divine! With the free wifi included I was able to share some photos and videos, in case the family, or friends were worried about me. All the envious replies were so nice to get, along with the birthday wishes.

The BeePods is hard to explain. I have looked at their website and read what is on offer, and it is all there in detail, but if I had not experienced it I could never have  appreciated how truly wonderful it is. And after the two nights I left feeling younger, rather than older. It felt as if I had been away for a week.

Review – How do you do this place any justice. Five stars just does not do it for me. I said to Siobhan that I wanted to give her a review, but needed more than just the few words, so I asked her to put the review on her website. I will do the Google Review and Trip Advisor too, but I there is so much to say about this Adult Only escape in nature. Their own honey is so good that I could wax lyrical on that topic alone. But the homemade brown bread hot from the oven to our Breakfast Box was just as good. You cannot buy this level of luxurious glamping just any old place. This place is a one off, some sort of madcap idea of a beautiful warm couple. Yes William does the odd bit around the 4 or 5 hilly acres to help create Siobhan’s dream. The place is ‘beeutiful’, quirky, comfortable, intriguing, stunning, relaxing,  and unusually for me, I am lost for words a bit when it comes to finding the perfect words to describe The BeePods. This place ticks so many boxes for us bpth. It will not be everybodys idea of heaven, but it floats my boat. If you like the outdoors and peace, more than a hotel with loads of people, then this is a great option. The car did not get any more runs, as we just took advantage of everything on offer.

These are some of the many photos I took.

Regards,

Edel MacGinty