Inside Trump's resort in Doonbeg, Ireland, where Mike Pence visited

US Vice President Mike Pence was widely criticized for staying at the Trump International Golf Links and Hotel in Doonbeg, Ireland, this week.

Critics including Sen. Ted Lieu of California questioned the ethics of the vice president staying at a resort owned by President Donald Trump.

Lieu tweeted that Pence's actions were tantamount to “funneling taxpayer money” to Trump.

Doonbeg is approximately “an hour's drive plus a 40-minute flight” away from Dublin, where Pence was due to meet with Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, according to CNN.

White House officials confirmed that the visit of Pence's entourage was paid for by US tax dollars, Reuters reported.

But the latest fracas involving Pence isn't the first time the tiny coastal town of Doonbeg has been embroiled in a Trump-related controversy.

Varadkar was once criticized for lobbying on the US president's behalf in an effort to block a nearby wind farm.

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Vice President Mike Pence found himself in the rough on Monday, when criticism erupted over the ethics of his visit to US President Donald Trump's Irish golf resort.

As part of his trip to meet with Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Pence and his entourage lodged at Trump International Golf Links and Hotel in Doonbeg, Ireland. The hotel did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

The resort is on the opposite side of the country from Dublin, with CNN reporting that the location required Pence to make “an hour's drive plus a 40-minute flight” to get to his destination.

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A Pence representative told Reuters that the president suggested that his second-in-command stay at the resort.

“It wasn't like a 'you must,'” Pence's chief of staff, Marc Short, told reporters. “It wasn't like a 'you have to.'”

Short also confirmed that the visit was taxpayer-funded, adding that the vice president paid for the stay of his mother and his sister, who accompanied him.

This isn't the first time Pence has shown a preference for Trump properties. The Daily Beast reported that Pence's political team had poured $224,000 into stays at hotels owned by the president since 2017. But this latest visit has prompted a fresh backlash from Trump critics including Sen. Ted Lieu of California, who tweeted that Pence was “funneling taxpayer money” to the president.

It's also not the first time the president's Irish golf resort has attracted widespread scrutiny.

Here's a look inside Ireland's Trump International Golf Links and Hotel, which has faced questions over its funding and a debacle involving a wind farm: