Sleep in the Anjelica suite in John Huston's former Galway home, let the butler serve you festive fare in Lismore Castle, head to the west of Ireland, the Highlands of Scotland or chase the sun to get away from a humdrum Christmas at home. There's still time, says Rose Doyle.
It's the treat we promise ourselves after every fractious, wrought, family-tense Christmas. Next year it'll be different, we swear, next year we'll go away for Christmas, the further the better.
Well, next year is just weeks away and the good news is that there's still time and a choice of properties available for the booking, from cottages to castles to the wildly exotic under the hottest of suns.
Some are self-catering, some come with a staff to cater to your every Christmastime whim. Some are big and wonderful enough to shelter the family you find you can't really leave behind, others perfect for cosy numbers.
Take, if you can, St Clerans, the neo-classical manor house in east Galway which used be the home of film director John Huston. It's been exquisitely restored by entertainer Merv Griffin who has filled it with antiques and objets d'art from across the world.
If it's pedigree you want, St Clerans was once home to William Horace de Vere Cole, an infamous practical joker. His great uncle was Robert O'Hara Burke who was born in St Clerans and perished leading the Burke-Willis expedition across Australia in 1861.
St Clerans has 12 bedrooms, the same number of bathrooms, sleeps 24 and will cost you about €20,000 for Christmas week.
For that you get to eat your Christmas dinner in the dining room where the Hollywood greats once munched, relax in a library angled to get western sunsets and wander through rooms with roaring, open fireplaces. There's also the Anjelica Suite, a separate octagonal house with a queen-size wall bed and bathroom ( named in honour of Anjelica Huston).
Lismore Castle in Co Waterford is also free for Christmas, at a cost of €10,500 for 12 for three days, staff (including a butler) in attendance, breakfast, dinner and tea (no lunch) all part of the deal. In the Blackwater Valley, it has gardens and walks to die for, or at the very least walk off the Christmas excess.
There's a drawingroom, sittingroom, diningroom and billiards room, high battlements and a dungeon.
Less daunting, perhaps, is Orchard Cottage at Cornucopia Farm, West Cork, away from it all on 72 acres on the Mizen Head peninsula. There's a small lake to swim in and any amount of walks. Quirky and rustic style, it sleeps six, supplies bedlinen and towels, has solar panel video, TV, and a microwave. Christmas week will cost you €750.
A three year restoration project on a 1791 country lodge, Ballinacurra House in Kinsale, Co Cork, has produced what must come close to the ideal Christmas retreat. Well and colourfully lived in through the centuries, surrounded by gardens, 10ft high stone walls and 30 acres of wood and parkland, the owners promise "private, discreet, exclusive" use of today's lodge for up to 30 guests.
There are 13 themed, en suite bedrooms (life in Africa, Japan and England are subjects) a ballroom, news room (a new take on a library) and massage room. In the great surrounding outdoors there's a helipad, small boat jetty and woodland pagoda. It is available for rent over Christmas for €4,000 per day, which includes breakfast and staff. If you'd rather not cook yourself, meals will be provided for an extra fee.
Artramon Farm, near Castlebridge, Co. Wexford, is Georgian and has also been completely renovated with care and thought. Gracious to look at, and partly ivy -clad, you could have reasonably intimate times there since it has just four en suite bedrooms, antique furniture, open fires and a playroom with satellite TV and video. Part of an 800-acre estate, it's well away from the working farm buildings but quite close to lovely Curracloe Beach. Daily cleaning is included in the weekly rent of €2,250 for up to four guests with a supplement of €200 for each additional guest.
For those who fancy a Regency time of it, there's a house of that period on its own island on a lake at Castleconnell, Co Limerick. You get to Island House over a bridge and then relax with log fires and five bedrooms, three en suite. The weekly rent is €3,300 and includes heating and electricity. All three are available through Elegant Ireland.
For those who want to get off the island, without going too far, Scotland's the answer - and the very grand Stable House in Perthshire is the ideal place. Soaked in Scotland's history, it sleeps 10, has a diningroom with open fire and costs €2,564 (£1,750) for Christmas week. That includes a daily maid and housekeeper service - they'll do your shopping and tend to all your needs.
Time was when Bonnie Prince Charlie sheltered there after the Battle of Culloden, when Rob Roy McGregor visited to play cards. There are any amount of nearby things to do, from canoeing to golfing (Gleneagles is five minutes away) to fishing and archery.
Wales is an even shorter hop away and Yr Hen Dy Ffarm, in the Vale of Glamorgan, is available there for Christmas week. It dates from the 1500s, has a couple of inglenooks, a bread oven and rare circular stone staircase. There are dramatic cliff and coastal walks, views across the Bristol Channel and, 30 minutes away, the city of Cardiff. It sleeps eight comfortably and Christmas week will cost you €1,260 (£860) plus €54 (£37) booking fee.
The Willows at Bettws Hall is bigger; a luxuriously converted medieval barn which sleeps 16. The oak beams, oak woodwork throughout and grand oak staircase were all made from trees grown on the owners' estate and handcrafted locally. There are cast-iron baths, wrought-iron bedsteads, open stone fireplaces and views of ornamental lakes. Christmas week costs €3,663 (£2,500) with a booking fee of €37 (£25).
Then there's the sublimely exotic on offer in the sunny Caribbean where you could rent Anguilla Luxury Villa XIII, 2,043sq m (22,000sq ft) of luxury on the east end of the island with a chef and maid, tennis court, white sandy beach, internet access and granite floors. You'll be picked up by private boat or helicopter at St Martin Airport and it's yours for €8,970 ($10,500) per day for Christmas. Or there's the more modest Villa Marrakesh on St Maarten. This has four bedrooms, a fifth for children, and is a three-minute walk from Cupecoy Beach. It costs €16,230 ($19,000) for Christmas week and is staffed and serviced.
St Clerans, Lismore Castle and The Orchard Cottage:
Havens and Hideaways
01 6686463, info@irishluxury.com
Artramon Farm, Co Wexford, Island House in Castleconnell, Co Limerick and Ballinacurra House in Kinsale, Co Cork:
Elegant Ireland, 15 Harcourt Street, D2
01 4751632, rentals@elegant.ie - www.elegant.ie
The Stable House, Scotland:
Club La Costa, Duchally Country Estate
tel 0044 1764 663071 nensor@freshwaterscotland.com
Yr Hen Dy Farm and The Willows, Wales:
Quality Cottages
freephone 0044 800 169 2256.
Caribbean villas:
unusualvillarentals.com/holiday-villas-christmas-villas.shtml
