Ashford Castle

What a pleasure! Beautiful grounds, lovely spa-exquisite experience. Horse carriage ride was charming, boating to the island was a blast complete with Irish song. Hawk walk was unique and very educational. Granny tea blend was awesome too�

The attention to detail, of the details, was unbelievable! The grounds are spectacular, and the service was top notch. We could have done every activity that was offered, but didn't have enough time. Meeting the Irish Wolf Hounds was a highlight as well.

My all time dream was to stay a night in this place, I thought was only fit for a queen. And for the price of it, only a queen could afford! The staff were of friendly, professional, and overall excellence. The room was of amazing character, with a view of Lough Corrib and exceptional qualities. However my praise ends there. We went for dinner to the Cullens Cottage. Oversalted, overcooked, dried out starter, which was the platter for 2. Steak for main course. With what I can only hope to believe was cold smash, instead of mash, steamed vegetables, that had quite the bite to it and could have been left for a few minutes extra, cauliflower fritters! The floor was absolutely disgracefully dirty, but I still had no choice to put my child on the floor as she was becoming impatient. 95euro for quite a heap of crap. I'm not a food critique but I do expect good food when you pay a high price for it. The morning breakfast, was not cooked to order, reheated and dried out full Irish breakfast for one, and smoked salmon on a slice of stale cold toasted bread. These places with 5 stars sometimes need to be reviewed especially for food standards. The swimming pool was very short, pretty, but no lifeguard on duty at family times. The spa was of poor quality. With little to choose from. The grounds are lovely. Failed to get a good sense of character from them though. It's such a terrible pity that my dream wasn't all I imagined it would be.

To celebrate our 44th wedding anniversary we chose to visit Ireland and stay at the Ashford Castle for four nights. It was the perfect choice. From the moment we drove up we were greeted at the gates to the entry by a man dressed in period formal attire. The staff are dressed formally in Tails during the evening. We never felt rushed or surrounded by groups of visitors while dining, visiting the elegant bar or Billiards Room/Bar, strolling the beautifully manicured grounds or the lovely carriage ride made us feel as if we stepped back to another time. Highly recommend at least spending one night and enjoy an elegant dinner. I felt like royalty and my lady felt like a princess.

On a recent trip to the area we had afternoon tea at Ashford Castle. From the time we arrived and were greeted at the gate it was an amazing and incredible experience. We arrived on a very wet and misty afternoon and the Castle was shrouded in mist and rain which meant we could not visit the gardens and walk the grounds. This was more than made up for by the Beautiful Afternoon Tea we had. Service and Attention by the staff, surroundings and the presentation was superb. Quality of the food presented was first class, my favorite was the Chicken / Avocado with Almonds, plenty of tasty treats and when we were leaving each of us presented with our own box of Ashford Castle Chocolates. Thank you to everyone for making it such a lovely and memorable experience and especially Ajay and Meghan for their patience and kindness. Will definitely be back for another visit and can recommend it as a nice treat - its great value for money and worth it.