Carton House, A Fairmont Managed Hotel

Great family stay in Carton House after Feb bank holiday. Brian gave us a fantastic tour of the house and its history, a must for anyone staying there. He’s hugely knowledgeable and an absolute gentleman. Many thanks

Booked for 2 night stay on 28th and 29th October 2025 -double room for myself and my husband .We were attending our son’s graduation .We arrived at hotel after 3hr 30min drive and checked in and went for dinner , returned to hotel at 9pm went to bar and requested extra water as I needed it for medical purposes and went to our room as graduation was early the next morning. I waited for it to be brought to room to no avail .We also realised that the heating was not working in the bedroom.i phoned reception to enquire about extra water and report heating problem but to no avail , was told someone would come to room to access what was wrong , waited further 15-30 mins still no one came , eventually my husband went to reception to report problem and eventually after a lot of explaining to staff again , the night porter arrived with water and a Dyson heater . We were reassured that the heating would be fixed the following day .Unfortunately this did not happen , we were offered another room but as we had been up very early that day we were very tired and declined the move We were offered any apology and a bottle of wine

Stopped in for breakfast one morning as we were passing and were told the carriage house serving breakfast is only open to hotel residents, so we were turned away. Disappointed, we left hungry and went to a cafe in Maynooth nearby.

Three friends went to Afternoon Tea today at the Fairmont managed Carton House in Co.Kildare Ireland. This National Momument has been Stunningly restored and lavished with fine antique furnishings including Sevres porcelain vases and amazing stucco work and landscaped gardens. Sadly, the afternoon tea service which was served in the Manor House could not hold a candle to its exquisite surroundings. Tea had to be re-ordered four times before it arrived hot and strong. Food was served after 45 minutes and the order for my friend who is a diabetic was a barely acceptable tomatoe, radish and greens salad. Scones were tasty with cream and straberry jam. The patisserie chef made an interesting effort in presenting the deserts in an unnovative way. For my diabetic friend, desert was pineapple , strawberry and frozen fruit skewers. I ordered a pot of Coffee instead of tea which was just okay. Brian & Liam who are mature and experienced staff at the hotel supported us with valet parking and a personal historic tour of the magnificent house. This is a Fairmont managed hotel where serving ataff need serious training to ve attentive to customers who pay EUR 65 each for an afternoon tea service which was memorable for the wrong reason. Lack of attention by serving staff and willingness to observe the needs of disabled customers. Not recommended.

Carton House is a wonderful hotel in many ways — the grounds, scale and day-to-day staff are excellent. We stayed for a weekend family get-together and the rooms and lobby areas worked very well. Service throughout the hotel was warm and professional, with the front desk particularly good. Unfortunately, the food offering let the experience down. Value for money was poor overall, and The Carriage Restaurant did not work for us. On arrival, we were told the set menu was the only option: €60 for two courses or €70 for three. This was frustrating, especially as several dishes were cheaper on the standard menu, which we were not allowed to order from – despite another group behind us doing exactly that. With teenagers in our group who are past kids’ menus but don’t justify €60 steak-and-chips-plus-dessert meals, this was an annoyance. When we queried this, the manager was unhelpful. In the end, we ordered the set menu. For the price, the food was standard, and attention to detail was lacking, and the overall impression was that our group was more of an inconvenience to the kitchen than welcome guests. Carton House is a great hotel, but the food offering — particularly in The Carriage — feels overpriced, inflexible and access poorly thought through. It significantly detracts from what should be a premium but welcoming experience. We all enjoyed the hotel, but the drive home was dominated by discussion about the poor value and limited food options – which was a shame.