Room and bed was awesome. Property location is great. Tricky layout and and a few stairs up and down on 4th floor. Awkward with luggage. Parking garage tough to find and small but valet moved cars as needed. Front desk tucked away and easy access to all rooms for anyone. Security could be better . Galway traffic is bad all the time . Great town with lots of places to eat and drink.
Booking.com
StayForLongStayForLong
Mini bar was extortionately expensive & goods on offer were stored in a paper box on the dresser.. not chilled or stored. Yet still expensive. Hotel priced at 1 price then when I got to the actual booking it was a different price. Charged 100€ deposit even though the room is charged at a much more expensive price than it should be anyways. I travel a lot & usually boom through booking.com I have never encountered a property charging deposits! Later I discover why this is their "policy" the 100€ was not returned to my account. I had to contact the property as i was not informed about this unlawful deduction from my personal bank account. The hotel then informed me that they took my money due to "significant damage that had to be repaired in the room". This statement was extremely distressing as we had left the room spotless! The hotel then went on to accuse me of smoking & stated the "significant damage" they were speaking about word for word was a cigarette butt left on an outside windowsill & ashes on outside. This could hardly be considered as "significant damage ". As I mentioned I am a non smoker. I have had the misfortune of trying to kindly resolve this with the Hotel Management & I have been met with only passive aggression & repetitive untrue comments. I now have to lodge a small claims case & a consumer rights case. This could have been resolved so easily with a little bit of managerial judgment & customer service concern.
Dear Michelle,
I would like to start off by saying that this review is completely untrue and is filled with misleading facts. This is deeply upsetting to us as a small family-run hotel.
Firstly, you paid for your room through booking.com, we did not charge you anything when you checked in. No deposit was taken however card details were taken. We take card details from all guests on check in, something that is hotel policy and standard in many hotels. We take card details in case of any extra charges or incidentals that may occur during a guests’ stay.
You were charged €100 as there was strong evidence of smoking in the room once you checked out. There were cigarette butts, ash and a strong smell in the room. As a result, we were unable to sell the room the next night due to the smell. We are a non-smoking hotel as are all hotels in Ireland, something you would know if you travel a lot as you claim. There are also signs in the room to say no smoking and you signed a check in form agreeing to our terms and conditions, which includes no smoking inside the hotel.
In relation to your claim our rooms are more expensive than it should be, our rates are very competitive given our location and compared with similar hotels in the area. I’d like to also point out that you chose to stay here and accepted to pay this rate on booking.com. If you felt our prices weren’t acceptable you could have stayed elsewhere.
We never said you caused significant damage, it was you who mentioned the words significant damage. If you read through our messages you will see that we said “Unfortunately you were charged this amount as their was strong evidence of smoking in your room. There was a strong smell, ashes and cigarette ends on the windowsill. On check-in you signed a check-in form which reads ‘I’m aware that smoking in rooms and other not designated areas is prohibited and will result in a €200 fine’”. We did mention “an expensive procedure to repair the damage” as oftentimes when people smoke in rooms we need to hire carpet cleaners or other outside services. Luckily this time we did not require cleaners but could not sell the room the day you checked out, hence why you were only charged €100 for the loss of revenue and not the full €200.
You then tried to justify the smoking in the room by saying “I am a non smoker & my fiance is from the Middle East & is completely unaware of the smoking rules here in Ireland” – the booking was made in your name and you signed the terms and conditions on check in. It also states on booking.com that we are a non-smoking hotel. It was your responsibility to abide by these terms and conditions and to ensure any of your guests did as well. Once again, there are signs in the room and throughout the hotel stating that we are a non-smoking hotel, along with all hotels and indoor spaces in Ireland.
You have told us in previous messages that you would write an honest and factual review, but you have not. We did not take a security deposit from you. We did not say you caused significant damage. We rightfully and legally charged a smoking fine because we could not sell the room the day you checked out and therefore lost revenue.
You are more than welcome to lodge a small claims case however at the end of the day you signed the terms and conditions and broke them.
We have provided you with the evidence of smoking in the room along with the form you signed on check in.
We also do not claim to have a mini bar as you put it however have some snacks that do not require refrigeration for purchase in the room, Again we do not say we have a minibar.
We thank you for taking the time to write this review, even if it is factually incorrect.
Kind regards,
Management,
Great location and staff were extremely friendly. Walking in the corridor to our room there was an old fashioned smell, once we got into our room it was spotless and smelled clean. Only issue in the room was although the window was fully closed, it was not fully sealed meaning it can be quite loud and cold at night especially with the room being at the front on a main road
This place had wonderful sheets and mattress. The location is perfect to explore Galway. Free parking. I really liked this place. The bar was wonderful in the evening with traditional, live Irish music not even one complaint!! Awesome!
My wife, son, and I had the pleasure of staying at the Western Hotel for our brief time in Galway. It was a great experience. The staff was extremely helpful with recommendations for us and the hotel restaurant served delicious food. On our last night, there was live music in the bar which was wonderful. It is a weekly occurrence. We would definitely go back if we have the opportunity to visit Galway again.
The check-in was great, Conor was very professional and efficient.
My room smelled badly of smoke, it was on the third floor. Conor tried to book me into a room on the first floor but there was a noisy party going on, so I chose to stay in the top floor for the one night.
The breakfast was fantastic but was served by a grumpy waiter. I would have liked a boiled egg and he said "only fired or scrambled, we don't do boiled".
