The Ireland Hotel - Murfreesboro, Arkansas

Nikki Padgett

My fiancé and I are always doin road trips and we decided to visit Crater of Diamonds one day. We got there late afternoon and decided to get a room and start digging early the next day. We got a room at the Ireland and loved the charm and history of the building. We thought the price was reasonable compared to the other local motels.

We had a room on the 1st floor and it was a little dated and had a smell, but to me that just added to the character of the place. I mean what do you expect from an old building?

Overall, we enjoyed our stay and the lady that checked us in was nice and informative about the area. Our only regret was we was ill prepared to dig for diamonds especially in the rain that day?

We are planning another trip to dig and we plan to stay at the Ireland again?

Joy J

Spent one night in mid-July at Shamrock's "other hotel," The Ireland. Located on the town square, the building has a quaint, historic feel. Despite being there on a day that reached 99 degrees, our room was a quiet, cool reprieve from the summer heat. This isn't just another cookie-cutter hotel and my husband and I actually liked how we had our own key to the front door of the building. Staff was friendly - heck the entire town was friendly - no matter where we ate, shopped, or stopped. And when we accidentally left an item behind in our room after check-out, we came back later in the day and had no trouble retrieving it.

Pam Murphy

Not sure this building is even up to code, but I was not going to stay another night! we paid for 2 nights but left after the first night. They put us in one room where the ceiling fan was hanging over the bed with only wires and when we brought this to there attention she moved us to a room that had wireing hanging outside our window. Big gaps under the doors, smelled so bad, no breakfast like they advertised, could hear everything going on in the whole building. She had told me that the building was so old that they did not have outside water and that is why they had no ice machines. Oh ya and then there were the bugs! no not bed bugs, but tiny little flying ones that bite.......live and learn!!! This was the worst place I have ever stayed and I am truly not that picky. We got no sleep, between the people walking around upstairs and worrying about a fire.

Lefly

This hotel is owned by the same older couple who run The Shamrock, apparently keeping the Irish theme going. There's no front desk, or staff on site-- it's all handled by the other location, a mile away.||||It's been going through many years' long remodel using the cheapest (or possible blindest) carpenter, or perhaps the least skilled handyman. The room we stayed in had splatter texturing on all the walls and ceiling to try to hide the bad patchwork; every door casing was cut and attached in weird angles, with gaps at every corner; floor baseboards were just 1x4 flat boards attached to the walls, with no moulding or quarter-round. The bathroom flooring was cheap sheet vinyl, rolling up at the corners. The toilet seat was flimsy plastic, while the vinyl shower curtain was found at the dollar store. ||||The room itself was huge, but seemingly furnished with second hand office furniture, without a dresser or even a closet to hang clothes -- just a strange, open box against the wall. Noisy window air-conditioner? Check. Standard hotel amenities like a telephone, coffee maker, iron, minifridge or even hair dryer? Not in this place. There's only a small mirror on a tiny plastic medicine cabinet attached to the wall. And an old 27" tube TV sitting on the same counter next to a tiny "bar" sink (there's no sink in the actual bathroom!) The owners were mighty proud of that little TV, as every chair and even the bed face it -- but being that it's twenty feet away, it's nearly impossible to see. ||||Both the room and halls are decorated with the exact same dollar-store framed pictures over and over. The upper floor hallway even has the same picture multiple times in a row, immediately next to one another. Creepy!||||It's like the owners went out of their way to cheap-out on the remodel, after having blown too much on the place itself. Or, possibly on the "custom designed hand-made cedar beds" that they advertise on their site. ||||And about this bed: it's the first thing you smell when you enter the room. And also see. Because it's right next to the door! Did no one tell them when placing the furniture that the bed goes on the wall opposite the door? ||||The place is also promoted as a "beautiful mid-18th century hotel" -- perhaps no one explained that the Mid-18th century (AKA 1700s) was before the Revolutionary War, and that there were no buildings in Arkansas at that point. (In fact, the oldest building in Arkansas was from 1828.) But more to the point: the Conway Hotel (which this was originally known as) was built in 1914. That's the 20th Century for those keeping count.||||Pros: ||* Good location: close to Crater of Diamonds state park; right on the town square-- literally a square with some tourist-trap gift shops ||* Free wifi, albeit only a decent connection in the downstairs area||* Price is on "introductory" special, which has been going on for years||* Huge rooms, but mostly underutilized ||* Hot showers ||* Probably no body else there. ||||Cons:||* Bizarre room arrangement - the bed placed next to the door, cheap metal chairs and table in the middle of the wall, an old tube TV sitting on the sink counter||* No dresser or closet - I guess you're expected to keep your clothes in your bag?||* No telephone, coffee maker, minifridge, hair dryer or iron in the room.||* Creepy duplicate pictures on every wall of the hotel.||||Bottom line: there might be weirder places to stay... like the Shamrock.

Janna G

I knew we were going to rough it a little and I figured staying here at the Ireland wasn't going to be the Hilton. What I didn't know that our room had only one window Air unit that work. No on and off button you had to plug in. when we went to bed. Every time the compressor came on it was horrible loud. Woke up every time. We had an ice bucket and asked where to get ice . It was a mile down the road at the Shamrock . That is where you had to go in the morning to get your breakfast. We were able to get out of our second night by paying the $25 fee. Won't stay again.

Debra Hojnacki

Beds were not very comfortable, the box springs were nasty looking. Should use covers for them. Very close to the Feed Bin. The food there was great! Definitely need to remodel the hotel. Ambiance of the neighborhood was very nice.

Kenneth Sivard

The room was very clean and the bed was super comfortable. The check in at The Shamrock was a bit strange, as was the breakfast there, but the stay at The Ireland was great! I will definitely stay there again.

Roberta Pickett

I used to stay here with a good friend if mine during high school in the mid 80's but I have not seen her since the night we graduated high school in 1987. I still cherish the memories of staying in the old run-down Conway Hotel which was the name of the hotel at the time. It's great to see it in such beautiful condition today 32 years later! Awesome job and shout out to the people who have restored it and renamed it the Ireland!