I think I am having a lucky year - I enter every competition and have won 8 pairs of shoes from a rather trendy Dublin store, tickets to gigs in town, CD's, a blind date last Valentine's weekend compliments of E-merge.ie, and best of all, a weekend break for two in the International Hotel in Killarney. So I asked my friend who celebrates her birthday one week after me to join me on a much needed break as a birthday present!

We found ourselves in the centre of a lovely clean town, with friendly folk and a warm welcome at our hotel, and indeed all around the town. It has been quite some time since I've stayed in a hotel so I was only too delighted with our cozy room over looking part the horses and carts outside. The hotel is beautiful and boasts a popular pub, serving food, and a small restaurant. It was here we decided to dine on our first evening. After a leisurely stroll around the town, we took the best seats beside an open gas fire. The room was full of tables, but well spread out so as not to invade privacy. As the first customers, service was prompt. The two young girls waiting on us, one from Australia, were very pleasant and accommodating throughout the whole meal.

We ordered from the a la carte menu. From starters of soup, melon, garlic bread, mixed salad with pine nuts and bacon, I chose the garlic mushrooms with garlic mayo and Ciara chose the garlic bread with mozzarella. A quarter bottle of white (Jacobs Creek) for myself and red for herself (£3). They had a nice selection of wines, full bottles as well as half-bottles. Our starters arrived almost instantly. Three large slices of French bread smothered in cheese, but overly garlicky, and a side salad proved rather tasty, as did my six very large mushrooms and salad. The dish of mayo was 'yummie' and was the sort you would eat with everything, which we did! My only quibble was the slight greasiness from the batter. Deep fried food should, in my opinion, be very well drained, to leave it crisp, not greasy. A basket of brown scones arrived - delicious, but even more so warm??!!

Main courses included steak, lamb cutlets, salmon, chicken vol-au-vents and veal as well as some other choices on the bar menu - burgers, steak or chicken baguette sandwiches. Ciara's steak arrived with fried mushrooms and onions and a salad, as well as a portion of chips. My Cajun salmon topped sauteed tomatoes and onions and was accompanied by broccoli and salad as well as a side portion of more veg and mash. The extra veg was hardly touched and I only made a slight dent in the chips (as they went great with the mayo!!). We just managed the mains. Good decent portions, that's what I like to see! Desserts included strawberry gateau, lemon cheesecake, black forest gateau and a meringue. Ciara opted for the selection of ice cream - vanilla, strawberry and peppermint smothered in hot chocolate sauce, while I, for a change, chose the hot apple pie with vanilla ice cream and some of that lovely sauce. Rather nice!! But I felt too full after, my own fault of course!!

The service was tremendous and the girls were oh-so-friendly. One other quibble was the butter on the veg; I don't understand why chefs insist on drenching healthy, tasty veg in melted fat. However, the waitress replaced it with fresh veg at my request. The room was half full when we left for the cinema. Our starters and main courses cost around 17 together, but this meal was included in our weekend. Nonetheless, well worth it for the quality, quantity, ambiance and most of all service with a smile!!