It was considered Ireland’s finest Regency mansion in its heyday, described by Lady Kildare of neighbouring Carton House as ‘much beyond any place I have seen in Ireland’ (apparently, she was wildly envious of the 28-acre man-made lake on the grounds, the largest in Ireland, the cost of which almost bankrupted the estate).

It became a hotel in 2011, and this year Ballyfin in Co Laois was voted the Best Resort Hotel in the UK and Ireland by Travel+Leisure magazine and the Best Hotel in Europe by The Telegraph (number 2 in the world).

But is it?

Well, it’s certainly attracted a lot of high profile guests, including lords and ladies and, in more recent times, the honeymooning Kardashian Wests and George and Amal Clooney.

Of course, you don’t need to be aristocratic or a celebrity to stay at Ballyfin – you just need the funds to finance it. And with rooms starting at €810 (and running up to four figures) you’ll need to dig deep. But Ballyfin was built for entertaining (you don’t plan sumptuous reception rooms including a Gold Room, Saloon and 80-foot library in your house for cosy family tete-a-tetes) and the entertainment here is lavish.

Our very grand entrance

It starts as soon as we reach the end of the long driveway where six people are lined up at the foot of the mansion’s steps to welcome us. Car doors are opened, luggage is deftly removed, and we’re in the great entrance hall in front of a roaring fire sipping glasses of champagne before you can say ‘I bet that lake was expensive’.

The current house dates to the 1820s and was home of the Coote family for one hundred years. Keen to impress the neighbours, the Coote’s spent lavishly (their family motto is appropriately ‘Coute que Coute’ – ‘cost what it may’), fitting out the house in Carrara marble, scagliola columns, marquetry floors, Bacchanalian friezes and Roman mosaics, including a floor from the ancient city of Pompeii. Yes, that’s right. An entire floor was shipped over from the Italian UNESCO World Heritage Site (cost what it may, remember?).

The Cootes moved out in 1928 and, after a stint as a boarding school, Ballyfin has been picking up awards as a hotel ever since. ‘But we don’t want it to feel like a hotel,’ say the staff, ‘we want to keep that relaxed and friendly country house feel’ and indeed it does feel like staying in a friend’s home, if you have the type of friends who own vast country piles kitted out with antiques and an art collection dating from the 17th century.

Wandering around Ballyfin

Every room is a treasure trove of beautiful things, many purchased from the Coote family who put much of the original furniture into storage after selling the house. Staff are always on hand to offer cups of tea or fulfil your random desires. Can’t find that copy of the Irish Times you saw on a coffee table earlier? No worries, here’s a fresh one, so uncreased it looks like it’s been ironed. Want to know more about the history of the house or the provenance of that urn on the mantelpiece? No problem, everyone seems to be a walking catalogue of knowledge.

And nobody more so than Lionel, who takes us on a tour of the 600-acre grounds in a horse and carriage and shares his vast store of Ballyfin history. We rattle along through woodland (51,000 trees were planted as part of the restoration of the grounds), past walled gardens, tennis courts and the helipad, before driving up to the stone tower, built during Famine times to provide employment for the locals. You can see 16 counties from the top on a clear day.

We circle the orangerie with its 4,000 panes of handcut glass, once used for growing exotic flowers and fruit, including pineapples so revered they couldn’t be eaten. We pass the pretty cascade waterfall, pouring down from the temple (yes, there’s a temple) to the lawns outside the dining room. And we catch glimpses of the tunnels, burrowed underground so the servants could scurry about their business unseen.

There are just 20 rooms in Ballyfin, all individually decorated (you didn’t think George and Amal would be bunking down in Premier Inn style uniformity now, did you) with canopy beds, chandeliers and marble bathrooms galore. Our beautifully wallpapered bedroom, with cosy armchairs and a fireplace, has an entire terrace overlooking the garden. The Georgian vibe is brought right up to date downstairs in the super-plush spa, with a grand swimming pool surrounded by luxury thick-mattressed recliners and sauna and jacuzzi nearby.

At dinner that night, we go for the tasting menu with wine pairing and enjoy delicate plates of seafood tartare, pork ravioli, Sika deer, salmon with fennel and a few extra little courses the chef sends out – just for fun and not because we needed the extra food, but we lapped it all up appreciatively.

Had we so desired we could have gone clay pigeon shooting or horse riding in the grounds or even tried our hand at archery or falconry. But for our one-night trip into luxury we were content to assume the role of ladies of the manor, feet up, fans gently rustling.

Ballyfin, Co Laois, Ireland; visit Ballyfin.com. Double rooms from €810.