The view and the location of the hotel was amazing. Picture perfect Irish Castle we stayed in the presidential suite for our 2nd honeymoon, the attention to detail was incredible.
On top of that the food at the restaurant was fresh and tasty, and our server Valentina was knowledgeable and very friendly!More
Booking.com
Booking.com
As the title says, Waterford Castle hotel is just simply perfection. I had the most wonderful three days in this lovely place and I was very sad to leave.
My husband had booked a Deluxe suite as a birthday treat and oh wow,what a treat. The suite consisted of a huge bedroom,a lovely sitting room,a bathroom that was a room in itself and a great hallway. The period features in all the rooms(including the bathroom) have to be seen to be believed,I was blown away by the furniture,the decor,the exquisite attention to detail in all the areas. And combined with great modern touches- two televisions and numerous sockets for all our techie stuff.
The food is just superb,some of the best I have eaten anywhere,and I have stayed in other resorts of this calibre. Waterford Castle Hotel's offerings are sublime.The afternoon tea,the breakfasts,the fantastic dinners,lunches in the Bar,along with some very decent pints and very good wines- I was in gourmet heaven.
The walks around the Island,with the cottage,the lighthouse,the badgers setts,by the golf course and along the river are wonderful and very picturesque.
As we approach Christmas,the huge Christmas tree in the main Reception area and covered in hundreds of lights is so beautiful. What I absolutely loved here is that the Castle has used tree cuttings and woven Christmas lights through them- so ecologically friendly and no additions to landfills.
So many small but wonderful details stand out from the three days:
-the Sanitan hand basin and toilet in our bathroom,the chest of drawers in same and complete with an old fashioned jug and wash basin.
- the cedarwood and lemongrass soap
-the hallway with the painting of the jockeys racing on the beach and the table and stool near it
-the blue velvet squashy sofa in the living area,with the green marbled table and two smaller matching tables
-the cream antique furniture in the bedroom and the wonderful headboards
-the changing area in the room
-the perfect temperature in the suite,never too cold or too hot and easily controlled by us
-the marmalade at breakfast
-the great cold buffet for breakfast,so much choice
-the Castle brown bread
-the little amuse bouches and sorbets at dinner,the champagne sorbet,wow.
-the plentiful vegetables with dinners
Finally,the Castle hotel staff are a credit to the hotel itself. From Reception staff to the waiting staff in the restaurant and at breakfast,nothing was too much trouble for us and all with big smiles and pleasant chat.A special mention to the lovely bar man(whose name we did not get) who was a pleasure to chat to and looked after us so well.
We will be back
Thank you for taking the time to write such a wonderful and comprehensive review. We are delighted to know that you both so enjoyed your time with us on the Island Resort, and we hope to welcome you back again soon.
We enjoyed our 2 nights stay in Waterford Castle. We had a lovely lunch the first day and over indulged on afternoon tea on the second day. Both evenings the dinner was enjoyable. The walks around the grounds are well signposted. We stayed in the Roche room. It had a claw bath with an overhead shower. I felt unsafe (as unlike other establishments) there was no mobility handrail\step to aid getting in and out. I mentioned it to the housekeeper and she understood the problem. She mentioned they have rooms with standalone showers. The staff in the dining room and the bar were friendly.
We had such a lovely time celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary at Waterford Castle in August. The room was very nice but it was the hotel grounds and the food that were the highlight of our visit. The castle's location on the island is just idyllic and we enjoyed some gorgeous walks taking in the views of the estuary. We sat and enjoyed great cocktails outside in the late afternoon and then had the most amazing meal in the restaurant that evening - each course was better than the next and we particularly enjoyed the curry bread that accompanied our meal. Breakfast and afternoon tea the next day were also delicious and the staff were really lovely and friendly even giving us some of our favourite brown bread to take home. All in all it was a wonderful visit - thank you.
I stayed here for 2 nights with my mum and we had a lovely time.
The food was great. We booked the gourmet package and both the fine dining dinner and the early bird meal were very good.
The rooms are beautiful.
For comparison purposes, we stayed at Dunbrody House a couple of years ago, and the food and overall value here far surpasses that of Dunbrody (which was very disappointing and overpriced). 5 star hotels in Ireland don’t often offer true value for money, and some I have stayed at have been a downright rip-off, but I thought Waterford Castle was worth it, and I am hoping to return in the future with my boyfriend.
From the booking experience to the food, this hotel lets itself down. I booked on-line with a note to say that it was a surprise for a special wedding anniversary and could we have a nice bedroom. I then tried phoning (twice) just to confirm but got the answering machine. Left a message but no one phoned back. Phoned a third time. Spoke to someone, she had my booking but had not read the note, so I explained again, and asked for a nice room, which she said she'd look after.
When we arrived we were shown to the room which was tiny. Just enough room for two people to stand in. We were disappointed so I went to reception, and again explained that it was a special occasion. We were then offered a slightly larger room.
On the first night we had no internet in the room, and even after giving us a WiFi dongle the staff couldn't get it to work. We were told that we could move to another room the following morning, nearer the Reception, where we would have WiFi coverage. We did move to the new room in the morning, and were told it hadn't been occupied the day before (so we are in our third bedroom). It was a lovely large room, exactly what you'd expect for the price! My question is, why were we not offered this room, either at arrival, or when I asked to be moved from the tiny bedroom?
We were on a "gourmet" package but the food is certainly not "gourmet" it is average/good, it was the same on both nights, this would be fine if it wasn't advertised or priced as a "gourmet" experience.
All the staff we encountered were friendly and helpful, but I feel there is no one overseeing the overall experience, from the front desk to the restaurant, and lots of small things that are not just right add up to a less than optimal experience. I understand that they are probably still finding their feet post pandemic, but if so, say so and adjust your prices accordingly, don't charge 5 Star prices until you're providing a 5 star experience.
