Sheen Falls Lodge

This is not the review I was hoping to write for this hotel. I am writing this to hopefully prevent somebody wasting their time on this establishment. I have tried three times reaching out to the general manager Brian to discuss my concerns. I have in fact tried to reach out to Relais&Chateaux who have also not replied. The first time I reached out to discuss my concerns was at the hotel itself, where I found it a perfect opportunity to start rectifying the mistakes being made. After asking to speak with the general manager Brian during our stay we were presented with a duty manager instead. Which I understand is the normal procedure. The second time was when I had left the hotel and wanted to hear from him personally after a confusion made in our payment. ( We have been paid for a dinner in `The Falls` restaurant which was never made available to us) I was told by his duty manager that his decision was final and he will not be speaking to me. The third time was actually via email. I will actually just highlight the main issues to hopefully make you think twice about staying here. I booked this hotel for a luxury stay as advertised on their website. The reviews are mixed as you can see. Some people love this place, some people less so. I had booked three nights, with two dinners and breakfast included to hopefully minimize the planning on my side during our stay. A week before our stay guest relations reached out to organize our dinners. Great I thought, that's attention to detail. It started going downhill when I never heard back from guest relations to confirm our dinners as I was trying to organize some other things for our trip. I phoned the hotel three times to try and confirm. Each phone call I was promised a call back. Nothing. The night before our stay I had an email saying `The Falls` restaurant was not available due to an event they've had in the dairy for months. (Why advertise a package stay if you don't have the facilities for your residents at the time) We arrived at the hotel to be treated by a receptionist not very confident in her position. We kindly asked for the manager to speak with us to clear up the confusion. Scott confirmed that the lack of communication was unacceptable. There was nothing he could do regarding the dinner ( I of course thought there was things Scott could of done to deliver on the package we had paid on. Made an expectation to fit a table for two on one night `The Falls` were open, looking back now I have no doubt with the evidence of mistakes being made across the board if Scott went down this route of making a special expectation then that would be a job on its own. We spoke to numerous guests who didn't have the opportunity to eat in `The Falls` restaurant after paying for the package also. I also believe he could have upgraded our room for the mishap, after years working in the hotel industry I know it's much easier for them to upgrade us and sell a more reasonable economic room at the last minute) We had paid for our package and we wouldn't be able to eat in `The Falls`. But anyway, have some champagne on me. (A gift - this is pertinent to the outcome ) Our room was lovely, big, spacious and quiet with an amazing view of the Falls . We had dinner in `The Stables`, casual dining. It was all fine, and the staff were pleasant enough. Not enough vegetarian options in my opinion but the food was pleasant when we visited and my mum thoroughly enjoyed her steak which was cooked to perfection. We had gone to the spa to hopefully book some facials. The receptionist at the spa was on a personal phone call at the desk and I am partially deaf so background noise is something I struggle with. My mum noticed this and mentioned that I wouldn't be able to hear due to her phone call. The receptionist just sat there and said "yes". We did not book the facials as if this is the first impression it did not inspire faith in the spa facilities. The first person whom the customer interacts with should be the face of the service delivery and therefore no personal phone calls while guests are trying to book a relaxing treatment should be a given. This is a tough one to write even after my stay but I would often be called sir/son ( via email and by staff in the hotel). I have never experienced this sort of inappropriate misgendering, and I never thought I'd face it in a five star luxury hotel. I can't tell you how tormenting this has been for me. I've worked hard throughout my life on how I look. How this hotel treated me in this scenario has brought back years and years of torment and disgust. I wish to say no more on this matter as I am working hard on dealing with this internally within myself. Breakfast was disappointing with slow service. An example of this was when ordering coffee at 0930. We reminded the waiters three times and eventually the wrong order arrived at 1020. We gave up and just drank what we were given. ( This isn't a sentence a five star establishment should be hearing from its guests) Some waiters were lovely but the women host was awful, speaking to guests extremely rudely. In fact when we were leaving the hotel one morning for a drive around Kerry, one of the servers greeted us and told us breakfast was a tricky time for the hotel and he told us to come early at 7am to get the right coffee we asked for. If you have made it this far in reading my review, I want to thank you. I had made every effort to pass my concerns onto the general manager. I felt so strongly about this stay, on check out I was metaphorically slapped in the face with 60€ dedication from the bill. Not even 8% of my stay. The duty manager informed me that Brian the general manager, thought the champagne and the cheapest night off was more than adequate for my stay. I've made every effort to pass on my concerns but the truth is, this hotel like every other is run by example. Their manager appears to show little care nor detail to their clientele and this attitude appears to be mirrored throughout the hotel. I truly have never been so disappointed and deflated by a stay. I still to this day have paid for dinner I didn't receive. I have no further expectations now but this was supposed to be a birthday treat for my mum whose health has not been great. This hotel truly took away my confidence and faith in hospitality. I was presented with a 100 euro gift voucher to stay in a sister hotel but politely declined as if this is the standard then there is little point. It is sitting currently in a drawer at home as I had no wish to embarrass the check out manager Raluca (who was indeed delightful, completely empathetic within the constraints of her position and endeavoured to intervene on our behalf) I advise you to stay away. On my exit I bumped into another guest and we chatted for half an hour about how awful our experience had been. I can only think people don't have the energy to leave a review for this hotel as it is truly that bad. If you have been here and disagree with my experience I am truly thrilled that you had a pleasant stay. It's all I wanted from the outset.

Overall I'd give our experience 3 stars We booked a suite it was just fabulous with open fire and Christmas tree etc. couldnt fault the suite. It was the highlight of our stay, it was so relaxing we got to put fire on and watch movies etc which having 4 kids at home is a rarity to down. Staff were amazing, friendly and couldn't do enough for you. We were very disappointed with the food. Breakfast was very poor. We had full Irish and it felt reheated both mornings. It was tasteless and overcooked. We also had lunch in the hotel. I ordered a toasted sandwich and got two soggy slices of bread covered in butter and a thin slice of ham. It was more of French toast. It was absolutely terrible. I sent it back straight away didn't order anything else as table beside us had to send their soup back 2 times as it was cold. I had ordered a West Coast cooler with my lunch (small can of it) €7 and they tried to charge me 18 euros for it. Always check your bill. We ate in the stables both night again food was very disappointing. Fish cakes terrible, food portions tiny and overall very bland, I was starving on both nights leaving the restaurant The restaurant also felt more like a canteen rather than a 5 star restaurant. Overall very disappointed with it. We were also very disappointed with the pool and spa area It was pretty basic, is normally spend hours in pool/spa.. only went once and was out in 30mins. It wasn't what I would have expect from a 5 star hotel. Overall the hotel could do with been done up lots of areas old and outdated. I'm not sure why this hotel won best hotel in Europe. It has a lot to improve on. We got engaged in the hotel years ago and thought it would be lovely to return. In conclusion I wouldn't return to this hotel given what we paid and overall experience

Just returned from a 3 night stay at sheen falls ...underwhelming to say the least. Was expecting so much more after its recent Michelin key and conde nante award would make you wonder who reviews for these awards but we were left disappointed On arrival we were greeted and offered a weak warm at best hot whiskey shown to our room with yes a gorgeous view of the falls but a smell of sewage in our room clearly coming from a drain in bathroom (note this was rectified upon our return to our room but only after we had to place a towel over it covered in perfume) Room was spacious but some very obvious areas of improvement simple things in bathroom especially The shower tray was delaminated around the plughole leaving it sharp and just grubby and the bath surround needed upgrading with obvious screws showing Bed was comfy and turndown a nice touch but overall room needs updating Food was just average breakfast on all mornings was without flavour and we tired many of the dishes Dined in the stables food was just ok ...thai fish cakes tasted like processed spicy turkey burgers The bar area in hotel had dirty cushions and just a general feeling of just being dirty and far from a deep clean The only positives was the cocktails ... the staff and the open fires On returning from being out all day yesterday not a one to be seen at reception or concierge wouldn't want to be checking in..! The spa area is definitely not even 3 star grubby floors drains and part of floor and surrounding pillars have pieces coming away the hot tub just looks dirty Sauna has wood coming away The surrounding furniture tired and cheap looking Overall a disappointment and the hotel needs a serious upgrade and reinvestment it has so much potential and is such a shame for the local area is so beautiful

If I could give 6 stars, that’s what Sheen Falls would be ! We recently got married here and we cannot say enough good things about the hotel and the wonderful staff! We had the best weekend and we felt at home as soon as we walked in the door! A special mention to the wonderful porters Ger and Sean who couldn’t have been more helpful throughout our stay! A credit to the hotel! If you are thinking of getting married in Sheen Falls, don’t hesitate, it was a dream wedding, thank you so much to Clodagh who went above and beyond for us! You have something really special and the boathouse is just beautiful ! We spent a few nights in the hotel where we dined also, food was wonderful and service was top class, another special mention to Cian in the bar, Cian you were fantastic, thank you. We will be back !!

Had one night in Sheen falls lodge for my birthday,bought for my husband and I as a thank you gift from my daughter and her husband after their wedding. On arrival we were greeted, checked in and walked to the lift and given inaccurate directions to our room (it was left and left again not right and right again) Immediately the decor looked tired and it was clear where repair works had been carried out to a very low standard. We eventually found our room which had a fantastic view over the waterfall. We even had a balcony we could sit or stand on if the concrete slabs that were on it hadn't been lifting, uneven broken and so covered in lichen they were a slipping hazard. We decided to go for a walk around the grounds and eventually stumbled upon the queens walk (no sign postage to help us out here, just dumb luck!) On returning to the room I decided to treat myself to a hot bath before dinner. Unfortunately the bath water runs yellow and i think better of it! - while in the bathroom though i do notice a row of cracked floor tiles in front of the vanity and a rusty plug in one of the sinks. We head off to the Brasserie for a pre dinner drink. We arrive to an empty bar where there is american football blaring from the television, despite commenting on this there was no offer to adjust the channel or volume. The young and obviously inexperienced bar man looked absolutely petrified as we approached the bar. He had to get his phone out to google a basic cocktail and then when I asked if he could make it he just said 'No'. So I ordered a gin and tonic and took a seat on the sofa.....that had a hole in it. We had our meal and the food was actually very nice, but i was frequently distracted by the previously mentioned barman who was trembling carrying trays of food and drink to tables. He had clearly having not received adequate training to give him the confidence needed to carry out his duties and watching him struggle made me feel really anxious. I slept relatively well but my husband nearly fell out of bed on a couple of occasions as the bed was leaning so badly to the left. Breakfast was 'fine' - a pretty average hotel breakfast but with a nice view, unfortunately a view was framed by mouldy window frames and obscured by a Christmas wreath that had clearly been squashed in storage. So off to the spa for a quick swim before check out. More disappointment here. The spa is T-I-R-E-D. The flooring is lifting around the pool. Trim is falling off or missing around pillars. There are tiles missing round the edge of the pool. The wood in the sauna looks rotten. The towels provided are thin and feel worn out. After showering back in the room (and trying to forget that the water is probably urine yellow) i attempt to blow dry my hair. The fight I have to have with the hairdryer to make it reach the mirror means i need one hand holding the cord and one hand holding the dryer making any styling attempt utterly impossible. On check out I began to mention how underwhelmed we were and almost immediately we had our drinks in the brasserie deducted fro our bill and were give 2 €100 vouchers - one for us and one for my daughter as she had booked the stay. I thought this incredibly generous and left the hotel feeling much more positive as a result. Upon our return home I explained all this to my daughter who was (understandably) upset. She suggested that we use the vouchers to go for afternoon tea together so she'll still feel like shes been able to give me something nice. So I rang the hotel (the number on the website wouldn't work so i had to find it another way) and asked if i can use the vouchers to book an afternoon tea. This is when I am alerted to the fact that the vouchers are for accommodation only, for a minimum two night stay in any location EXCEPT the one who issued the voucher and they are non transferable - despite both vouchers being in my name when one was supposed to be for my daughter! I explained how this made the vouchers essentially worthless to us. My daughter cannot use hers as its in my name and i would have to purchase two separate 2 night 'luxury' trips in the next twelve months-which simply wont be possible and requires a spend of circa €700 to redeem them. I requested that they exchange these for afternoon tea as a good will gesture but was informed that they could not. When they offered to let me speak with the hotel manager i accepted and was told they would call me back but they haven't bothered to. The speed with which the vouchers were produced leads me to suspect they are routinely given to those of us that speak up, in the hope that we shut up and go away. They have however left me feeling more let down my the hotel than I was before I raised my concerns. The hotel needs an urgent upgrade and I'd suggest starting with the customer service.