Carton House, A Fairmont Managed Hotel

We checked in early for our recent visit to Carton House. It was our first visit there. On arrival, lots of staff about to help, offer water, luggage ect. Initially we wanted to have food in our room, but room wasn't ready (we were early), so we asked in the bar. The menu had 'Toasties', I asked for a cheese only as I am vegetarian and was told not possible as all are premade. Not exactly 5*. Our room was then ready, so we went there and ordered room service. The phone in the room didn't work, a cleaner tried to help, I rang from my mobile and couldn't get an answer. Eventually, we got to order 2 Cheese toasties, plus one bowl of chips. Very unimpressed with what arrived. 2 soggy cheese sandwiches on plain sliced white pan, 2 bowls of chips, no garnish, no dressing. This was on our bill at a cost of €70. We did complain on checkout and it was taken from our bill with apologies from the receptionist. We booked a suite, the room was nice enough, well equipped, bathroom decent, but very small shower. The room was clean & spacious. We had dinner in Kathleens Kitchen. The food was tasty, interesting experience. Breakfast the following morning was interesting. They have signs warning people that it's busy at 10am (finishes at 10.45am) No tables available when I arrived, I was told to take a seat while waiting. There were no seats free, i had to sit on the window ledge. I appears that they just don't have to capacity at breakfast to cater for the number of guests. Maybe open 2 breakfast rooms? I ordered Tea, everything else was self service. A very disjointed experience. Continental breakfast was at the far end of a long room. Hot food in the middle. At this stage I realised there was no toaster, so I ordered toast. Had to ask for my Tea a second time, and was finished breakfast by time toast arrived, with no butter. The most attention I got was when I borrowed a tray to take breakfast to my partner who was watching F1 in the room. All of a sudden everyone wanted to serve me....something to do with the 12.5% service charge maybe. We didn't use the Spa so have nothing to offer there. Overall, the staff were all very friendly and the hotel was OK. If it was just a normal, ordinary hotel, it would be grand, but we were expecting & paying for 5*. We travel a lot and in comparison to other 5* hotels, Carton House did not deliver. A recent stay in Lyrath was much better. Last April we stayed in the Fairmont in Vancouver - that was 5* Hotel. Very Expensive and 12.5% service charge on everything and just did not deliver 5* experience.

Stayed here for a couple of days early last week for a family get together. I have stayed here before but I think it has certainly improved since the last time a couple of years ago. The room was very nice. Very comfortable large bed and well appointed with every amenity provided. Food is very good throughout the hotel. We ate in the carriage house mostly except for breakfast which is served in an old beautiful room in the original house. It’s very good served all buffet style. I found the service throughout the hotel very friendly, professional and attentive. It’s very well maintained and the grounds are absolutely impeccable if you manage to venture out for a stroll. We even managed a game of golf as the weather was exceptionally good for the time of year. I’d definitely recommend Carton House and it’s definitely good value for money. I will most certainly be back!

THis hotel is pure luxury, from check in to check out you are treated so well. Bedrooms amazing, breakfast fantastic. We only stayed one night as were moving on and had eaten on our way there. The staff were all extremely attentive and friendly, nothing was any trouble. We met the Manageress Ann who was so friendly and wished us well on our onward trip in our camper van. Can’t wait to return to Carton House

Beware the spa! We booked the messages at the spa the same day we were traveling in from the U.S. thinking that it would be a wonderful way to unwind after a long travel day. Our flights got delayed however. We immediately emailed (still the day before our scheduled spa treatment) alerting that we would not be there in time. We were staying 2 nights and they couldn’t reschedule us to another slot OR refund the purchase. If they were that busy, surely they could have rebooked our slot. After trying to work with both the hotel and spa side we got no resolution. I would avoid the spa altogether. Everything else was first class all the way. This just left a really sour taste on the overall experience.

Carton House is a beautiful hotel, particularly the historic main building, which is lovely, elegant, and very relaxing. Many of the guest rooms are in the newer annex, which is comfortable but fairly nondescript and feels much more like a modern, generic hotel. We were staying for just one night during a very short trip to Ireland and had hoped the experience would feel particularly special. There were many things we genuinely enjoyed. The historic tour led by the head concierge was wonderful and taught us a great deal about both the property and Irish history. Kathleen’s Kitchen was excellent, and the service there was terrific. Unfortunately, our room experience significantly detracted from the stay. After checking in and going to the pool, we discovered that our toilet was not functioning. Someone from the hotel came to work on it around dinner time but was unable to fix it, leaving us without a functioning bathroom for part of the evening. We were then told that there was no maintenance person available to deal with the problem, despite it being only around 5 p.m. Later, it became clear that the toilet could not be repaired that evening, so we had to pack everything up and move rooms after dinner, quite late at night. For a one-night stay, and particularly for a room costing around $600, this was a major inconvenience and took away a meaningful part of the evening we had planned to enjoy at the hotel. The following day, there was another smaller issue. Our late checkout had apparently not transferred to the keys for the new room, so we were locked out and had to make the fairly long walk back to reception to have the keys reactivated. We spoke with a manager before leaving, who listened to our concerns. What was disappointing was the suggestion that much of what happened had been outside the hotel’s control. A plumbing problem can certainly happen anywhere, but not having maintenance coverage available at approximately 5 p.m. is an operational choice by the hotel, not something outside its control. We were offered tea or drinks, but since we were already leaving and had only two days in Ireland, that wasn’t particularly useful. We were also given a $50 room credit, which I appreciated as a gesture, although it felt somewhat limited given the disruption to such a short and relatively expensive stay. Overall, Carton House is a beautiful property with some genuinely excellent experiences, particularly the historic areas, the concierge tour, and Kathleen’s Kitchen. I would still recommend the hotel, but our stay was unfortunately diminished by the room problem and, more importantly, how the situation was handled afterward.