My wife and I stayed for one week at Tyrella House. Our first real vacation since I retired Sept '09. My work colleagues very kindly gave us a "Hidden Ireland" voucher. David (owner of Tyrella)made us feel at home from the moment we arrived. Do not leave this quaint house without sampling David's superb, tasty and inventive dinners! This is a quaint house and full of interesting curiosties which we loved. True it can be cold inside if the weather is such but come prepared and enjoy. The private beach adjacent to the property must be visited, walked and enjoyed. The birdlife abounds here . Thank you again David .. we do hope to return1

Warned about the cold by a recent TripAdvisor review, we arrived at Tyrella House with thermal underwear and cashmere sweaters. Not much good. A few plug-in heaters and two logs flickering weakly at one end of a vast fireplace made almost no impact on this glacial Georgian house. A well cooked dinner served in an icy dining room failed to lift our spirits. Nothing for it but to dive into bed - thank goodness for the electric blanket - and hatch a plan to cut our visit short.

But in the morning, with the sun shining, both the house and its owner David Corbett began to exert their charm. So we stayed a second night and enjoyed Tyrella more - taking time to admire its elegant proportions instead of sighing at its cotton wool window insulation and piles of ancient, faded magazines. We walked on the beach, took the car ferry from Strangford over to Portaferry, bought wine from James Nicholson in Crossgar (one of the most exciting wine shops in Ireland) and had a terrifically tasty lunch in tiny Picnic in Killyleagh.

So, a lovely weekend in the end. We'd almost forgotten that the houses of Hidden Ireland (of which Tyrella is a member) are never less than interesting - and worthy of support.

We had a wonderful weekend at Tyrella House, David couldn't have been a more charming host and the food and atmosphere was really great. Dinner by candlelight in the stunning dining room was delicious and very atmospheric and was only spoiled by the fact that the room was freezing cold. There doesn't appear to be any central heating in the house and the rooms were "heated" by small electric heaters. There was an open fire in the sitting room in the evenings but we could still see our breath! I would highly recommend visiting Tyrella in the summer but any other time of year plenty of woolly sweaters would certainly be required. Thankfully there was an electric blanket on the very comfortable bed. The house and its situation couldn't be more fabulous but our precious romantic weekend away was spoilt by the all pervading cold. Such a shame.

We found Tyrella House by chance, but how fortunate we were! We spent a weekend in this gracious house, situated beside the sea against the backdrop of the great sweep of the Mourne Mountains. Everything at Tyrella comes together to create an exceptional experience - the beauty of the house and grounds, the individual character of each of the lovely rooms, the wonderful meals served in the elegant dining-room - all made even better by David Corbett's warm welcome and friendly interest in his guests. For a horseman, or just for someone who likes the outdoor life, Tyrella has much to offer - but it's also just the place to relax with a book and the prospect of a delicious dinner.