i received a voucher for the twelve from my husband a couple of months ago for my birthday and we decided to take the break in july. i knew even from the voucher and brochure that we were in for a treat. i have found sometimes when you book a break with a hotel using vouchers, because it pre-paid you dont get the full service you normally should-well this certainly cant be said for the twelve. booking the break was no problem, voucher or not, the girl i dealt with was so helpful and friendly and we went for a special offfer the hotel were doing at the time: 2nights b&b and one evening meal. again i have to stress that even though we went on a special offer and used vouchers we were treated like royalty. no second class guests in this hotel!!

the twelve has a saying "you have arrived" and truly when we entered the hotel we knew we had arrived at a very special place indeed. the man at reception was so lovely, helpful and made us feel so welcome and at ease. the whole surroundings of the hotel is luxury at its best, without feeilng stuffy or overly posh. it was somewhere all the staff and the ease of the surroundings made you feel comfortable.

our suite was amazing, initially we were a bit apprehensive as our room overlooked the very busy main road which was quite noisy and we were afraid this would be an issue but it was not at all. we ddint even hear the traffic at night or in the morning. you could see the beautiful bay from our room and the room itself had everything one could wish for. from the fantastic personal touches like chocolate dipped strawberries, handmade chocolates,mini cake and hand written card welcoming us by name to the twelve-it was all these little touches that made it special. the room was luxury, most comfy bed i have ever slept in and so big i could hardly find my husband in the morning!! slippers and bathrobes i always appreciate in hotel rooms and the twelves did not forget them. really yummy coffee with a proper coffee pot-not coffee sachets. i could go on and on about everything that was in the room but lets just say they remembered everything! the bathroom was so stylish and funky (if a bit small) with a huge, i mean huge shower and really lovely products.

breakfast each morning was superb. the fact that there is on site bakery really impressed me because all the baked goods were fresh and hot and in constant supply. breakfast was served until 11am which is great, i love that extra bit of time in the mornings. and even though we arrived down both mornings between 10.30am and 10.45am, the food was still stocked up and never ran out! the range of food was brill-croissants, danish pastries, pain au chocolats,fresh fruit salad, cereals, breads, freshly squeezed orange juice, other juices, scones. then you could order from the hote menu which was also delicious, i had pancakes and husband had omlette first morning and both were delicious, second mroning we both had full irish. again i must compliment the staff-i always feel there is no point having a lovely hotel if the staff let it down. the twelve has everything!

we ate in the bar the first night and the food was great. very reasonably priced too and they had good set menu as well as a la carte. the bar seems very popular with locals both for meals and for a few drinks at night. i was very busy on the staurday night but it had a great atmosphere. very good cocktail and drinks menu at the bar. we ate in the west restaurant upstairs on the saturday night. the food was lovely- although being honest myself and my husband preferred the food in the bar. the atmosphere was very relaxed but luxurious at the same time. the waiter that night again was outstanding and treated us like royalty. even though our meal was pre-paid we could choose anything we wnated from menu (three courses), wine &drinks were extra but reasoble price and great selection. the only down side to the west restauarant was that they cater for hen parties. we had one group of hens beside us who were fine, didnt bother us at all but after the main course a big group came in with another hen party and were extremely loud. we couldnt talk at all to each other after that so ate our dessert and made a quick exit!
overall i cannot recomend the twelve enough. truly outstanding!!