Carton House, A Fairmont Managed Hotel

Unfortunately a disappointing stay at Carton house. The hotel itself is beautiful and very clean, lovely rooms and we had a beautiful meal in Kathleens Kitchen. However, the service was far from a 5 star experience. We informed the hotel in advance and upon check in that we were celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary - this was not acknowledged by any of the staff during our stay. We have stayed in other 5 star hotels for special occasions and these events would always have been acknowledged. We also waited 30 minutes to check in on arrival and had to ask 3 times at breakfast the following morning for our coffees. They finally arrived with no milk or spoon. By this time we had finished our breakfast. The stay was not anything special for the price paid. Instead of inviting "influencers" for free stays, i would suggest taking care of the customers who are actually paying.

Loved it. Did the Pot Still whiskey tasting, as well as the Afternoon Tea. Everyone was so helpful and friendly. Highly recommend.

Just back from a disappointing stay at Carton House. Beautiful Hotel and grounds as expected. Had a nice evening in the bar and a lovely meal in Kathleen’s Kitchen. However the breakfast experience was far from expected from a Fairmont . Started with a 30 mins queue standing outside waiting for a table to become available. Once seated we ordered our tea and coffee . Waiting at least 30 mins for those to arrive . Tea arrived but no milk . Asked for milk which eventually arrived in a paper cup . Of course the tea was cold at this stage. Coffee arrived with no saucer . We had placed our order for hot food which took over an hour to arrive . Sadly my long awaited eggs Benedict were served with raw eggs .. shocking! Pointed this out to a manager who did offer to replace it . However didn’t have the patience to wait another hour Also no plates or bowls available in buffet area. Has to ask staff . Although I understand a kitchen can be under pressure there is no excuse for buffet not to be managed and at the very least for teas and coffees to be served efficiently . Another guest seated beside us asked 4 times over an hour for his coffee . There was simply no service and nothing but dissatisfied guests at breakfast. Lots of complaints falling on deaf ears . I felt sorry for the staff however they were clearly inexperienced.

We stayed two nights at Carton. The first night we ate in the Morrison and found it average at best for a Michelin starred restaurant. Why hunks of bread needs to be served with many course is beyond me. The cheese board was something you would pick up at your local supermarket or maybe it was the remnants of the cheese used at breakfast. To charge a supplement of €15 for sub standard cheese is in my view shocking. I think someone needs to buy Sheridan’s guide to Irish cheese as there are so many Irish artisan cheese makers that would make it a memorable experience not what we experienced which I can only say ruined the experience of eating there for us. I think someone needs to take the whole breakfast experience in hand. Fawlty towers on speed. It was coming to the end of service so I understand why everything might not be right. I think someone should invest in a new juice dispenser as it just made a mess and the staff seemed oblivious to it. It became a bit of a game to find butter, spoons and jam. Got to the stage I helped other guests locate what they needed. After the first experience I thought at least our expectations are lowered. Next morning.. there’s a queue into the courtyard for breakfast. Now I must say this is the first time in my experience of travelling that there’s a line for breakfast. What do you do just join the queue. We got a table and I think it just went down hill. Everyone was rushing about in disorganised chaos. Lucky having had the previous days experience I was like Indiana jones ready for the challenge.., grab glasses for juice before they disappeared… ah butter get it before it’s gone.. spoons we I know exactly where they are get them because for some strange reason they do not come with your coffee. My friend from yesterday came over because guess what he needed assistance again. I found him some spoons. I had the full Irish but let’s get some ketchup but amazingly no ketchup as they were out of it. I feel sorry for the staff as leadership is clearly lacking and when you have a bunch of headless chickens it’s always going to be chaos. We checked out but no one asked how was the stay… hence why I resort to writing a review here. I think I can see a big issue here is leadership… I am sure who ever the GM is a nice person and guess what I expect responding to this review will be delegated. I think for a supposedly 5 star establishment then senior management should be seen on the ground taking charge. recommend the experience. Room only is my recommendation otherwise you will end up like me writing a long review of unhappiness .

Pure luxury. We had a beautiful stay in Carton House on a girls trip. We were looked after from check in to departure, no request was too much and the staff were friendly and so accommodating, especially as we had my 6 week old baby with us. We had a gorgeous spa experience followed by a delicious meal in the Carriage House. Our stay was topped off with a top notch breakfast and walk around the stunning grounds. A trip to remember