Carton House, A Fairmont Managed Hotel

Very disappointing stay – not worth the price From the moment we arrived, the experience was poor. We had to queue just to check in, and the same situation the next morning at breakfast — long queues and unnecessary waiting. The staff appeared inexperienced and unsure of procedures, which added to the frustration rather than making us feel welcome. Never received a glass of wine ordered twice !! The room itself was extremely basic, more like a 2-star standard, and didn’t even have a bath also fan not working so shower steam lingered in the bathroom. For the price charged, this was completely unacceptable. There was absolutely nothing warm or welcoming about the place, and certainly nothing that reflected Irish hospitality. On top of that, everything was overpriced, making the whole stay feel like very poor value for money. It was also very cold none of the fires lit only a candle in its place !!! I have never wrote a negative review on a hotel before but feel poor tourists need to be aware & stay in the Kclub which is so much more superior Overall, a disappointing experience and not somewhere we would return to or recommend.

The facilities, building, grounds are 5 star but there are too many service glitches for a 5 star hotel 1) When we arrived there was one reception desk open out of 3 and they were operating a sit and queue system. This was a minor ten min inconvenience but first impressions etc. 2) there are huge amounts of staff, all of whom are polite and friendly but felt like they weren’t fully trained or there was a shortage of experienced supervisory staff giving proper direction 3) One receptionist in Spa area who was dealing with a customer buying vouchers etc. this caused a build up of people getting towels for the pool 4) No door man. There was a customer in the bar ( non resident) who was clearly causing hassle for junior staff. He would have been refused entry by any experienced doorman 5) There was a 20 min queue for breakfast which in itself was chaotic. The queue was on an icy cold corridor. In a previous stay kathleen’s kitchen was dealing with overflow. Felt there was a very obvious need for an overflow to be in operation. 6) €5 surcharge for an Americano v filter coffee is petty ( you only discover this after reading small print on menu and after ordering the americano) 7) 5 star hotel should be a served breakfast not a chaotic buffet. no glasses for juice, no bread for toast. No water. 8) the courtyard bar are is not comfortable. very cold and drafty. Still an enjoyable stay in pleasant surroundings but if they want to charge 5 star prices the service and in particular supervision/management needs to step up a level

Stayed at Carton House for my first wedding anniversary and was very disappointed. I informed the hotel when making the booking that it was a special occasion - There was nothing in our room when we checked in. No note, no celebratory bottle, nothing. Not off to a good start. Not only that but the king balcony terrace room we received had a poor view of a dirt track around the side of the building and no garden view (unless I craned my neck around the side) as was advertised. I expect we didn’t even get one of the better rooms for our special occasion. I tried to contact reception or room service through the room phone three times and couldn’t get through. Eventually I just called the front desk on my mobile and got through, I just wanted an ice bucket for a bottle we had brought. Once the ice bucket came I asked the member of staff if he could bring up two champagne flutes also and just leave them at the door when he got a chance as we were heading to the spa. He never did and I had to ring reception again to get those. When we went to the spa, the hot tub was cold, and the swimming pool was colder - We spent less than ten minutes and left as it wasn’t a very relaxing experience. We went to one of the lounges for a drink before dinner. It was the big room next to the whisky bar. It was freezing in there. Not very inviting despite the gorgeous room and nice music - My advice would be to ditch the fake candles and light a real fire, properly utilise the space you have so guests actually want to stay there and enjoy it. Dinner in Kathleen’s kitchen was delicious, the staff were efficient and friendly. However, the prices are far too high. Two starters, two mains and bottle of wine cost the same amount as a Michelin star set meal we had recently. Breakfast in the carriage house the next morning was tasty, but should be table service with the number of staff present. Real work needed on the service side of things across the board. Overall, not what I expect from a five star establishment. Very disappointed that our very special occasion was overlooked. The lack of personal touch surprised me and as a result it’s unlikely I’ll return. Hope you take this and other feedback seriously.

We booked a special afternoon tea with prosecco as a Christmas treat. Since i had experienced afternoon tea in the Empress in Victoria two weeks earlier, another Fairmont hotel I had high expectations. The staff were friendly but clearly inexperienced. They did not check the booking so had to be reminded twice about the Prosecco and the food restriction on the booking was confirmed and then ignored and served. This is a very pricey afternoon tea which should be executed with perfection. The food was good though the scones were-over salted with a megre amount of cream and jam provided. Sandwiches were lovely. The room itself was chilly although it is a stunning beautiful room. I advise checking out The Empress Afternoon tea. Chalk and cheese comes to mind.

We switched hotels a couple hours after checking in. Even though there were many issues, I’ll narrow it down to the big one. Our shower was only capable of delivering scalding hot water. We called down to the desk at 7:40pm and asked for maintenance, they said there’s no maintenance. How is there no maintenance person? The front desk clerk then proceeded to lecture us on how to turn shower knobs. We know how to turn shower knobs, it’s broken. She then said she’d send housekeeping. We waited over 20 minutes, no one came. The correct answer when a customer calls is “I will send someone to your room to assist you,” not “you must not know how to operate the shower.” Then you actually send someone to assist. Based on all the other things, including the elevator that got us stuck when we tried to go to the pool, we decided to check out. The staff at the front desk was rude again, and argued with us that all hotels don’t have maintenance this time of the night (not true). It was 8:30pm, not 4:00am. So, according to them we were wrong to expect maintenance for our room. The F&B manager was also serving as the hotel duty manager, and we had to wait for him to come over from a restaurant. We asked when does maintenance leave for the night, he said 8:00pm. The front desk clerk told him they left early that day. At that point, the F&B manager offered to get us a different room, but we already had our bags packed ready to go. I did not want to pay money to stay in a hotel with rude front desk staff. This hotel is not maintaining the property or properly staffing. Its staff also needs training on customer service. Considering the amount of money they charge and they want to be a five star hotel, this is unacceptable.