Carton House, A Fairmont Managed Hotel

I’m not sure I can properly put into words the Grandeur of this property. When you pull in, the grounds are beautiful and as you make your way up to the resort, you turn a corner and immediately are struck with the beauty of the Property and the “wow” of the resort. Your initial sense will be that you’ve been thrust into an episode of Downton Abbey. The resort itself is beautiful, very well kept , while preserving the uniqueness of the estate… however, as I am discovering about Fairmont properties, it’s truly the people that make this resort shine. From the kindly gentleman who greets you to the reception staff to all of the people that make this hotel come to life. It really was an exceptional experience. By far, the wonderful team at services was outstanding and helped us book many wonderful activities and understand how to truly enjoy an Irish vacation. If you are fortunate to work with a gentleman named Goncalo and his team, you will be impressed. One of the best I have experienced… The food is very good and each of the restaurants have their own vibe. We enjoyed Kathleen’s Kitchen and “lite bites” at the lobby bar very much… Here again the wait staff is what makes it special and you’ll know what I mean the first time you interact with with them. The spa was great and house keeping and turn down service were great. We stayed in a Garden Suite and highly recommend it…We did the falconry experience, a history of fly fishing and casting and toured around the country with a proper Irish gentleman named Brian O’Reilly, who was great. Got off campus a few times and did some skeet shooting, which I loved and ate at few different restaurants in and around the area. It’s a vacation that’ll grow and you’ll see what I mean each day you’re there, it gets better and better. I’m not a golfer, but the golf facilities looked amazing. Go and enjoy, you will be thankful you did…

We had a fabulous afternoon in Carton House. We had the iconic afternoon tea. It was amazing. The details of the cakes and the taste was just divine! We loved the handbag and our own plate of sandwiches! The staff looked after us so well and were all so friendly and attentive. The room of course The Gold Salon is simply stunning!! We had drinks in the courtyard bar afterwards it was so relaxing and we had a wonderful day. Thank you to Maria, Sarah, Max, Alexandre, Flavie and Giota for looking after us. We can't wait to go back!

This place is great. The entire grounds are just fantastic and everyone was very friendly. The food was all outstanding for all of us. If you have time, take the history tour that walks through all rooms. Golf course was also great and we played the Montgomerie Course…lot of bunkers, so be ready. I will make one statement, the food and drink service, well it needs some help. Service for a drink took a long, long time. At meals, we had to remind the staff multiple times for items ordered. This needs to be fixed and it wouldn’t take much. With this said, we would go back again!

From start to finish, our experience at Carton House was truly exceptional. Every member of the team we encountered was warm, welcoming, and highly professional, which made us feel genuinely cared for throughout our stay. Dinner at The Carriage House was a highlight, absolutely superb. I can't recommend the Beef Wellington enough; it was cooked to perfection and full of flavor. Our rooms were beautifully appointed with incredibly comfortable beds that made for a perfect night’s sleep. I rented an electric bike and explored the stunning estate, taking in the peaceful surroundings and rich history. Afterwards, a relaxing dip in the pool was the perfect way to unwind. Breakfast the next morning was equally impressive, with a wide selection of delicious options. This was easily one of my favorite short stays anywhere. I’m already looking forward to returning. Highly recommended!

We were so disappointed by our stay at this hotel. We arrived on a Friday afternoon, having just landed from a family break in Paris and the kids were looking forward to a swim. We got to the hotel at 3.45pm (check in 4pm) and I was surprised there were only 2 desks to check in at. I member of the team told me to sit down on one of the sofas and a member of the team would call me when they were free. We waited and then another couple walked in just as someone became free and they got seen straight away. When I finally got someone, they said they didn’t realise we were waiting (3 suitcases next to us!). We went through the check in process….it was now 4.10pm at this point, only to be told our room was not ready. Very very poor. We explained we needed to check in to get to the pool ahead of our dinner reservation at 5.45pm. I then asked if we could move our dinner reservation but apparently they were fully booked so we couldn’t move. Disappointed, we went to the bar and got a drink. The room was ready at 4.50pm. A poor start to our stay. Dinner on both evenings in Kathleen’s kitchen. To say the drinks service was slow would be an understatement. Both nights, the drinks arrived after we finished our starters. On the second night it was 4 soft drinks - this should be super quick! The up side here was the food was delicious. We went to play tennis on Saturday morning to be told the hotel didn’t have any tennis balls! Luckily, there was a coach taking a lesson and he gave us one ball. The tennis rackets provided were a disgrace, some with no grips, some with grips hanging off. Breakfast was also very poor service. On our second morning, the coffee arrived 10 mins after we had completely finished eating. We kept getting told they were running behind. Ordering water to our room took 40 mins to arrive and 3 phone calls. We witnessed several guests complaining about service while we were there. The night before checkout I spoke with Philipe, the duty manager. He did take some money off our bill but he also promised to email me to address our complaints and to also provide a discount on future stays. We left 7 days ago and still no email which summarises our poor experience. When you look through Tripadvisor, there are so many negative reviews around service. Why are the hotel ignoring their customers and not addressing these issues? The only positive around the service is that the staff we did have were very nice, but clearly over stretched. This was our first visit here, we usually stay at Powerscourt hotel where we’ve never had a service issue. We won’t be rushing back to Carton House. A real shame.