The lovely Ashford Castle is anticipating outrage and outcry this week, when American visitors begin to tumble to their terrible secret they are redecorating Ronald Reagan’s suite. Many make a point of requesting the suite and get a great kick out of sleeping in the same yellow bed as the Reagans. But the painters moved in yesterday morning and henceforth the suite will be more elegant than ever – but different. “We had to do it eventually”, a spokesman says firmly, “you couldn’t picture it in apsic forever”.
No – nor its namesake either, I suppose. And Brendan Curtis, manager of Acton’s in Kinsaale, tells me he has had a similar dilemma since Kim Wilde stayed there for Michael Jackson’s concert. But Acton’s too is marching on; all the THF hotels in Ireland are participating in a new home holiday programme launched at their flagship, the Shelbourne, yesterday – where the ballroom is yet another victim of shamelessly progressive redecoration.
