Recently we had a 3 night break in Limerick. We stayed at the Savoy for the first time. It had been recommended to us by a friend. We had a fantastic stay. From the minute we walked in the staff couldn’t do enough for us. From breakfast to afternoon tea to dinner the food and service is top shelf. Have to give a special mention to Sarah and Rebecca who are a credit to the Savoy. We will definitely be back.

Had a great break at this hotel, modern rooms, lovely bar area, great staff and an absolutely super breakfast, could not ask for more. On top of that the hotel is right in the centre and walking distance to bars and restaurants. Thank you to all the staff for a lovely break.

With lockdowns a thing of the past and work patterns returning to normal, frequent trips to Limerick are back. Therefore it was time to look around at a variety of hotels and see which one to choose as the location of choice.

The Savoy will not be that hotel. Outside appearances would appear to promise good quality, but frankly... closer inspection and I would have noticed the overflowing asstrays at the door (which were overflowing when I arrived at 4pm and in the same state when I left at 10am the following morning)

I am always wary when a person on reception makes a big thing about the room that I am about to get being one of the recently renovated. Obviously, there is no sign that there are ones that are not renovated on the booking site... so I am assuming that renovated or not renovated are the same price... I take the statement as some sort of out clause for other parts of the hotel.

Checking in gave me reason to believe that the hotel is mainly used as part of package holidays as groups arrived on a regular basis. The offer of a booking for dinner would have me believe that their dining rooms would be full... not the case as I found out later.

The lift up was the start of the deterioration... broken stone tiled floor, heavily scuffed and marked woodwork ... luxury this was not. Going to the wrong floor initially, I got to see that most corridors were the same... random armchairs against walls in very odd places gave the impression of them being stored rather than inviting people to sit or take a rest. Once again the corridors gave the impression of being scruffy and scuffed... doors to rooms, skirting boards and even parts of walls had scrapes and scuffs... it looks like no maintenance had taken place in a long time. Renovations are never an excuse if guests are not warned beforehand... and prices take it into consideration...

The room itself was spacious... but as you can see from pictures... it was also more of the same scuffing and scratches... obviously newly upgraded, the furniture appeared a mishmash... instead of solid wood, formica furniture with badly finished edges were continued in the built in furniture and walls... loose wires in the wardrobe covered in electrical tape looked very unsafe... and the fact that the curtains were not fully hooked on to the rails showed that there was no attention to detail.

The room was also cold and felt that it was deliberately that way ... despite many efforts at increasing the temperature, nothing worked, so it was a chilly night.

It was quite a feat trying to figure out the light switches... and as a result I spent the night with the lights behind the bedhead on... not good... on what was a lumpy oversized bed... which first impressions showed that little or no thought had been given to the bed linen and the first impression of a badly made bed with badly pressed linens...

The bathroom was spacious, but what was amazing... considering the size and the potential for some form of wet room or open shower, the shower cubicle was tiny... with the rain shower head very low... If was a larger person, I would have had trouble with using it... as it was it was a struggle ...

Food on the terrace was interesting... really friendly and helpful staff let down by their menu... ordering a rare fillet steak... a medium steak arrived ... and pomme frites came...with some form of shake on them that made them overly salty... the Cafe de Paris butter appeared to be almost totally curry flavour without any of the nuances of anchovies etc.

So, this appears to be a review written by a disgruntled person... and it is... why... well, when checking out and asked about how my stay was I very politely pointed out some of the issues... the instant reaction was a very defensive attitude... and dismissive "we will take your opinions on board" This is a hotel where customer service is a script... and front of house could learn a lot from the young table waiting staff... who coped with an almost empty restaurant that still managed slow service.... and what could be terms as soulless atmosphere where the only good thing was their humour.

All in all... The Savoy reminds me of a tired old fashioned type of business hotel trying to put on airs and graces and not getting anywhere close to living up to the name...