We were excited to end our anniversary trip in Ireland with a night at the Clontarf Castle Hotel. Staying a night at a castle seemed the perfect way to end our incredible trip.
Good:
Everything looked as advertised. The history was there on display; there was some beautiful art and other artifacts. The room I booked through Hotels.com looked like the room I got.
Some of the staff were at the level I'd expect for this type of hotel.
Not so good:
Our rooms weren't ready when we arrived; we were told we'd be informed when they were ready but I had to go ask. The bed was on rollers and wouldn't stay put (we tried!) There was a mini-bar fridge but nothing in it. There were no toiletries in the room, you have to request them separately. There was no air circulation in the room.
The food was not great. We did the lunch buffet & that was probably the best food we had there. For dinner, we tried to go to the hotel restaurant but were turned away for not having a reservation; the host was pretty rude about it. We went to the more pub-like restaurant but the vibe there was very kitsch, felt aimed at older American tourists. The menu was really mid, the tables were dirty and service was unbearably slow. We tried a signature cocktail, soup and salad & decided to leave & try room service. The wine was corked, the burger was dry, the cheese plate selection was odd.
We received a refund for one of our meals upon checkout.
We wanted to love this place, but we just couldn't.