The K Club is possibly Ireland’s most imposing country hotel, and without a doubt its poshest. While some of the castles and manor house hotels can be disarmingly friendly, even over-familiar, this one is all buttoned-up elegance, a throwback (in spirit) to the days when the gentleman’s game had a strict dress code. The hotel itself is a magnificent Georgian mansion, settled on seven hundred acres of land, along a mile-long span of the famed River Liffey, and even in this most picturesque of countries, it’s hard to imagine a setting more scenic. Rooms are classic in decor, packed with antique furnishings, and walls are lined with rich printed fabrics, the overall effect recalling some of the grand hotels of Paris. Perhaps that’s no accident — the Barton Restaurant serves French cuisine alongside upscale Irish fare, served in an impossibly formal environment, and while the Palmer Restaurant and the South Bar & Restaurant overlook the two golf courses. These courses are world-famous, and justifiably so — The K Club is the only place in Europe where you’ll find 36 holes designed by Arnold Palmer, and is accordingly the site of the Irish Open for 2023, 2025, and 2027. Meanwhile, those not addicted to golf may pursue another brand of strenuous idleness in the spa, partaking of a wide range of treatments and therapies. Horseback riding and clay pigeon shooting round out the suite of gentlemanly outdoor activities, and we hear the Liffey is particularly friendly to fishermen, stocked with trout and salmon. And should the country life prove too slow, Dublin is less than an hour’s drive away.