Waterford Castle Hotel & Golf Resort

After spending three fabulous weeks touring Ireland, this was our next to last stop. I cannot state how horribly upsetting this stay was to us. 1) There was no porter to greet us outside so our chauffeur brought all of the luggage into the lobby for us. There were 3 employees behind the desk & they were not assisting any customers. Finally, after a few minutes, one of the gentlemen looked up & said come down here. 2) The gentleman that checked us in said we had to pay for our room right that minute. We have always given a credit card at check-in. But we have never been told that the room was charged in full that minute. Contrary to what the company director Louise stated in an email- this is not common practice in Ireland. After three weeks in Ireland, I can assure you this never occurred at any other hotel. He then asked if we need help with our luggage. I said yes we do. He said no problem. He will bring it up. 3) He then proceeded to show us the way to our room. He started up a staircase, and I said my husband is scheduled for knee surgery next week and I was assured there was an elevator. He said the elevator was broken. It’s only one flight. In the email Company director Louise stated that the Lift problem was out of their control but when you look at my photos you can see that this didn’t just happen. 4) There was a strong scent of mildew throughout the hallways leading to the room. Company director Louise said that I was not being truthful & that the castle did not smell of mildew in her email response. I understand this is a very old castle & that is a possibility, but what comes next is totally unacceptable. 5) Upon arrival in our room, which looked beautiful since it had three separate areas, the bathroom, lounging area,& a bedroom with an additional television & seats. As he proceeded to show us the room, the far window had many many dead flies. The flies(see pictures) were on two window ledges & on the carpeting. he said this is totally unacceptable & I said yes it is unacceptable & totally gross. He said that he would send housekeeping in to remove them immediately. Company director Louise in her email response said that when windows are open flies will come in because we are surrounded by nature. We never opened the windows after we arrived. Then why were we were surrounded by dead flies again the next morning? 6) The housekeeper arrived within a few minutes with a can of bug spray. She said the bug spray was going to smell strong. Did we really want her to spray it. We asked her to remove the dead flies. She totally didn’t see the dead flies. She left to go get the Hoover. A few minutes later she returned to remove the flies. She did ask if we needed anything else. I would like to state did she did what she was asked & none of these problems where caused by her. 7) One of the first things I do when we get to our room is to secure our valuables in the safe(see pictures). I tried numerous times but the safe would not lock. I proceeded to call the front desk & the same gentleman came upstairs. He tried numerous times himself & basically said “well what do you expect for something that was built in the 1500s”. He assured me that nothing has ever gone missing at the castle & that everything would be fine. 8) We then proceeded to check out the living room furniture since the flies were gone. The couch was impossible to sit on in the bedroom area. I was still grossed out by the flies & had no plans on really sitting in this area anyway. We moved our luggage to the lounging room with the couch & chairs. I refused to unpack my luggage kept everything inside and just opened it when we needed to because I was terrified that more flies would come. And the flies did return the next morning. You will see by my pictures how dirty the surfaces were in the room. 9) I asked the gentleman if there was any form of AC. No this is a very old Castle we do not have air conditioning, but it will be quite cold tonight & you will be fine. He offered us a fan that looked like it was from the dollar store(see pictures). Company Director Louise stated in her email that this was a standard commercial fan. You only need to look at my pictures to see that she is wrong. 10) The provided bath robes(see pictures) were threadbare & very very old looking. Cracks in the windows(see pictures). Company Director Louise responded by saying this was also not true. Just look at my pictures and you will see that I’m being truthful. 11) Onto the bathroom(see pictures). There were many chips & cracks in the wall tile.We went into the bathroom only to discover that the shower was inside of the tub. When I looked at the shower curtain, the bottom of it was completely disgusting. The tub itself was clean, but after everything else we had witnessed upon since arrival I chose not to get in the tub. Again company director Louise said I was not telling the truth. 12) We were staying in the Wedgeford Suite. The bed was only slightly larger than a full size(see pictures).The bed was so uncomfortable that I woke up with a backache. Company director Louise responded that this was a king size bed. She needs to stay at a true five star resort. She also needs to grab a measuring tape. A king size bed is the same in any country. Again, she’s blaming everything on the customer. 13) Breakfast which was included was the worst of any place for our entire trip. We were the first ones to arrive & Fiona showed us what they had to offer & that we could offer order off the menu. We went and got our own coffee, and others began to arrive. The other guests were provided a pot of coffee we were not. I asked for a cheese omelette & some breakfast potatoes. I was told the potatoes were in the containers out front. I tried several & I can assure you that frozen potatoes that we get at home were better than what these were. The omelette that I ordered was so full of cheese & inedible. As I found out later by Louise Hurley, the company director in an email that my omelette was made special for me since it is not on the menu. Her response was that we didn’t inform Fiona of any problems. 14) Upon checkout I told Lucia I’ll pay for the room, but I do not want to pay for the extras. She said there wasn’t anything she could do & she would call a manager. An assistant came by & also stated there wasn’t anything she could do. I stated I just want the extras taken off & that the room was already payed for. The only thing that they took off the bill were the tips that we had left for the employees at the restaurant & bar area. This is totally unacceptable. The bartender & the servers at dinner deserved their money. The company director, Louise responded in an email blaming us for all the problems. She even said Lucia was so upset for days by how I spoke to her. Perhaps Louise should spend time sleeping with dead flies & with the filth that we encountered in these rooms. Perhaps I was a little loud, but she should understand how disgusting it was staying here. This company director should be ashamed of herself for responding to me in such a negative light. She was never present on the property. We were guests of this property & she placing all the blame on us. I just want others to know how Waterford Castle treats guests. I am sure that Louise or whoever the company director is at this time will respond to this review. If you look at my reviews you will see that I am a truthful reviewer. I realize that our standards are high. We normally stay at five star resorts. You can read my other reviews to understand my standards with hotel stays. Waterford Castle doesn’t even deserve one star.

When We arrived at the castle we went up to the reception desk and there were three staff. No one greeted us. We stood there for several minutes until eventually one person decided to acknowledge us and check us in. We were brought to our room on second floor. We noticed bad condensation on the windows with window open. There was a space heater in the room. It was very cold. Went to have a shower and couldn’t as there was no water pressure. The hand basin was blocked. We went to bar for a drink and asked the barman could he turn up heating as it was freezing. Barman was very friendly. Dinner was delicious in the restaurant, however the staff were untrained. Service was extremely slow between courses. Tea poured onto the tablecloth and only a half cup poured. The dining room was very cosy and warm. Breakfast was disappointing as “full Irish breakfast” was buffet style and tea/coffee was self service. I realise it is a castle but I expected to be at least warm especially for the price charged. The hotel badly needs updating and bathrooms especially need full renovation. Setting is just lovely. However we will not be returning. Such a pity as it used to be such a lovely hotel.

Had a fabulous one night stay with my mom. Excellent customer service from the minute we walked into reception. An amazing 3 course dinner in The Munster dining room. Beautiful bar. Great walks on the grounds. Even spotted the white kangaroo.

I wish I had read the reviews before booking. I mirror a lot of what other reviews about the lodges have said and similarly, have had no further contact with the hotel management. In short, the Lodges are a waste of money. There are far better experiences to be had with Castle hotel counterparts. Essentially, you are renting a 3 bed house. You are excluded from the hotel and have to enter and leave through a side door. We were told that we could enter the hotel at 12pm… but with check out at 11am were we to stand in the rain for an hour? We were notified that the hotel was booked out for a private event before we arrived and that we could dine in the golf clubhouse and to “book early to avoid disappointment”. We were the only hotel lodge guests dining there that night. The bar closed and we were out the door at 9pm. Our only option was to get a taxi to come by ferry to bring up to town if we wanted to have a drink together. I echo what all other negative reviews have said in that, if there is a wedding on, don’t book the lodges. This was even more amplified by the fact that the Santa experience was also on so by 9pm, we were just in the way. €430 to be sent to our rooms with nowhere to go on an island on a dark winters night. Maybe they’d be worth it if you were booking them for golf purposes, or if you were part of the wedding party. But for a few adults booking them with the intention of having a relaxing time, a nice meal, some Xmas ambience and a few quiet drinks, it was a waste of time. Zero thought is put into the experience of those not in the wedding party.

Santa experience was such a let down. No welcome, no entertainment for the kids, no atmosphere, badly staffed, no fun or enjoyment. So disappointing. Would not recommend