Hotel 4-Bintang di Kilkenny, Ireland

Needed a night away and saw an offer on Rorys travel club for the Avalon. Swift check-in, however, I was asked to pay up front, which I found a little offensive. The room was spotless, if a little warm, but a desktop fan was swiftly supplied. For some reason, I was allocated a wheelchair room so the shower was a little crowded because of the equipment required for such a facility. Towels were very rough and no shower caps supplied. So bring your own. Restaurant was closed, so dinner was served in the bar, which was not really comfortable. I ordered the chicken wings, followed by seabass. The wings arrived and unfortunately they were covered in a type of paste as opposed to a sauce. They were more of a casserole constituency. First time ever that I left wings behind. The seabass came out swiftly, too swiftly. Before the server had a chance to place it on the table, I saw the huge pile of food. There was a mountain of diced veg and mashed potatoes. The seabass was placed on top, and the whole thing was smothered in a white sauce. I requested that she return it to the kitchen and replace it with plain seabass with the potatoes on the side and no sauce. This was promptly taken care of and was served as it should be. The fish was excellent, melt in the mouth and well cooked. Perfect. Night passed peacefully, except for a rather loud extractor fan outside my bedroom window, which was eventually switched off at 11.26pm. Breakfast was very good, but you have to queue to make your toast because there is only one toaster. Coffee was strong and plentiful. The Avalon is a no frills, budget hotel, the staff are very friendly and helpful, the food portions are enormous, and there is plenty of outside seating for us nasty smokers. In conclusion, it is a really nice place for the price. I would say they get a lot of business people, passing through and families visiting the nearby discovery park. The jewel in their crown is their staff and you certainly won't leave hungry.

We stayed, my husband daughter and son, as part of a special needs group weekend stay. We were greeted by the receptionist who was warm and extremely professional as all staff were in the Hotel. The food, breakfast and dinner were all fresh and plentiful and delicious. We stayed in rooms on the third floor which were spacious and housed really comfortable beds. There were tea and coffee making facilities and there was a room service menu. There was a safety deposit box and clean white robes in the wardrobe and slippers. There is a leisure center with a 20 meter pool which again was lovely and a separate Jacuzzi. There is a Sauna and a mist/shower room which again was a surprise and which I would recommend. There is a spa which we didn't use but looks beautiful. Everything on their website is true to reality. The only one thing which I was disappointed about was that there is a hair salon located at the Leisure Centre run by a lady called Anne (I found her name from the receptionist at the Spa). This was a Saturday and I wanted to book a wash and blowdry for later in the afternoon. I left messages from 10 am and texted and the reply each time was ”This is Anne please leave a text message or call and I will get back to you”. I later found out from the ladies on the Leisure Centre reception that Anne isn't in situ on Saturday. I was very disappointed whereas if the message on her phone had been that she didn't open on Saturday, it would have saved my disappointment. Just a suggestion as I'm sure there could be others in the same situation. We would definitely however return to Hotel Kilkenny for a stay in the future. Thank you Aoife Myler and family

First night room ok cramped Service and food in restaurant v poor or average at best Staff not organised Veg options poor Second night disaster with rubbish support from reception over repeated complaints about noise from next room Reception had private mobile number of that guest so something v strange going on. Follow up by James manager also poor Expensive for lack of quality and service we received Owners should be alarmed.

This hotel has become our number one location for breaks. It's central with everything on your doorstep, probably one of the cleanest hotels I've ever stayed in. It aways seems very quiet even when it's busy. The staff can't do enough for you and the food is top quality with very generous portion. The only negative is the prices have gone up a lot compared to last year, which I understand is across the board for everything these days.

We stayed, my husband daughter and son, as part of a special needs group weekend stay. We were greeted by the receptionist who was warm and extremely professional as all staff were in the Hotel. The food, breakfast and dinner were all fresh and plentiful and delicious. We stayed in rooms on the third floor which were spacious and housed really comfortable beds. There were tea and coffee making facilities and there was a room service menu. There was a safety deposit box and clean white robes in the wardrobe and slippers. There is a leisure center with a 20 meter pool which again was lovely and a separate Jacuzzi. There is a Sauna and a mist/shower room which again was a surprise and which I would recommend. There is a spa which we didn't use but looks beautiful. Everything on their website is true to reality. The only one thing which I was disappointed about was that there is a hair salon located at the Leisure Centre run by a lady called Anne (I found her name from the receptionist at the Spa). This was a Saturday and I wanted to book a wash and blowdry for later in the afternoon. I left messages from 10 am and texted and the reply each time was ”This is Anne please leave a text message or call and I will get back to you”. I later found out from the ladies on the Leisure Centre reception that Anne isn't in situ on Saturday. I was very disappointed whereas if the message on her phone had been that she didn't open on Saturday, it would have saved my disappointment. Just a suggestion as I'm sure there could be others in the same situation. We would definitely however return to Hotel Kilkenny for a stay in the future. Thank you Aoife Myler and family

First night room ok cramped Service and food in restaurant v poor or average at best Staff not organised Veg options poor Second night disaster with rubbish support from reception over repeated complaints about noise from next room Reception had private mobile number of that guest so something v strange going on. Follow up by James manager also poor Expensive for lack of quality and service we received Owners should be alarmed.

This hotel has become our number one location for breaks. It's central with everything on your doorstep, probably one of the cleanest hotels I've ever stayed in. It aways seems very quiet even when it's busy. The staff can't do enough for you and the food is top quality with very generous portion. The only negative is the prices have gone up a lot compared to last year, which I understand is across the board for everything these days.

Needed a night away and saw an offer on Rorys travel club for the Avalon. Swift check-in, however, I was asked to pay up front, which I found a little offensive. The room was spotless, if a little warm, but a desktop fan was swiftly supplied. For some reason, I was allocated a wheelchair room so the shower was a little crowded because of the equipment required for such a facility. Towels were very rough and no shower caps supplied. So bring your own. Restaurant was closed, so dinner was served in the bar, which was not really comfortable. I ordered the chicken wings, followed by seabass. The wings arrived and unfortunately they were covered in a type of paste as opposed to a sauce. They were more of a casserole constituency. First time ever that I left wings behind. The seabass came out swiftly, too swiftly. Before the server had a chance to place it on the table, I saw the huge pile of food. There was a mountain of diced veg and mashed potatoes. The seabass was placed on top, and the whole thing was smothered in a white sauce. I requested that she return it to the kitchen and replace it with plain seabass with the potatoes on the side and no sauce. This was promptly taken care of and was served as it should be. The fish was excellent, melt in the mouth and well cooked. Perfect. Night passed peacefully, except for a rather loud extractor fan outside my bedroom window, which was eventually switched off at 11.26pm. Breakfast was very good, but you have to queue to make your toast because there is only one toaster. Coffee was strong and plentiful. The Avalon is a no frills, budget hotel, the staff are very friendly and helpful, the food portions are enormous, and there is plenty of outside seating for us nasty smokers. In conclusion, it is a really nice place for the price. I would say they get a lot of business people, passing through and families visiting the nearby discovery park. The jewel in their crown is their staff and you certainly won't leave hungry.