Great National Hotel Ballina

My partner & I stayed here last weekend, booked a DELUXE DOUBLE room & paid almost €600 (that's with 15% discount off for booking direct) I do want to stress that most of the staff that we encountered where lovely. But it seriously needs said, that in no way is this hotel worthy of its 4 star rating. I requested a room with a walk in shower - it was a wet room, with no shower curtain or doors around the shower, so every time we got a shower, the bathroom literally flooded. We explained this to the lady at reception when we where asking for more towels & she just nodded her head, grunted & went back to what she was doing. The water in the bathroom smelled like sewage & was off colour, how is anyone supposed to make tea with that? We bought bottled water the whole time we where there. The bed was supposed to be a Deluxe double - it was 2 single beds pushed together - not 2 single bases with a king-size mattress, which we have had in a few other hotels.... literally 2 single beds - the large join in the middle made it extremely uncomfortable. The TV in the room was pre-historic.... I'm not asking for a 40" flat screen, but it's 2024. Plus it only had 2/3 channels. The fuse box in the room hummed/buzzed constantly. One lady at reception told us to take our card out during the night - we couldn't do that as we take an electric cooler box with us for my partners diabetic medication. Another member of staff told my partner "yeah, they all do that"! The breakfast was good, unfortunately dinner was not. My partner ordered the steak sandwich, which the menu says, comes with chunky chips - it arrived, half a soft sub roll with 5 peices of steak (overcooked) in it, with frozen chips. The cocktails where most definitely made with a pre mix. The noise at all times of the day shows that noise proofing is needed - on the 1st floor anyway. The one saving grace of this hotel is the beer garden... we had beautiful weather and it was lovely to be able to sit out. I accept that this review is quite harsh - reason being, we have stayed in a number of 4 star hotels, so are used to that type of accommodation. This hotel is definitely not up to others standards.

A hitel with great charm and ambiance. The rooms have a unique design and spacious. Bathrooms and big and well maintained. Bottled water and tea and coffee making facilities are available in the room A wide section of hot and cold food was served for breakfast. The staff were very helpful and couldn't so more to make our stay comfortable

Had the most relaxing 2 nights chill out at the Great National Hotel and totally enjoyed our time there and would highly recommend to all my family and friends. Check in was completed fast and efficiently and friendly and our rooms were spacious, comfortable beds, loads of towels and toiletries and spotlessly clean.The added perk of tea/ coffee and scones on arrival for the older guests is another welcoming gesture. Delicious food, beautifully presented was had both evenings and the service was excellent by all the staff, but the accolade has to go to the charming young man Alex who not only was welcoming and efficient to all the diners, he also had a smile and a friendly word for all, he is a real asset to the business and couldn't praise him enough

Comfortable hotel with friendly reception. Large, clean room with a comfortable bed and plenty of towels.Good selection of pillows. Beverage tray was well supplied. Joe lie in reception was extremely helpful.?She gave us great advice and booked our taxi. She couldn’t have been more helpful.

After reading other reviews we were a little apprehensive heading here last weekend... however we were warmly welcomed by reception staff put us at ease. Our room was spacious & spotless absolutely no complaints there. We had a late lunch in the bar & had breakfast the next morning. I felt this is where it dropped a point. Our food at lunch was luke warm & at Breakfast( again Luke warm) they seemed to have run out of quite a few things... however when we asked staff for them they were very helpful. As for the Ukrainian people staying at the hotel we were not aware of them at all. We would have no problem returning to stay here. Top marks for fab friendly staff.. & a beautiful spacious room which was spotless....thank you.

Not a 4 star; disappointing stay. Our deluxe room was tatty and worn with stains all over the carpet and two torn seats. Very Far outside of town which we didn’t realize. Nice big pool but Sauna was filthy, particularly the glass door. At £187 for the night it was way overpriced. Would not recommend. How it’s a 4 star I’ll never know!

Went for a nice relaxing night away. Lovely steak sandwich meal in the bar. Got a great free room upgrade to basically a bigger room, with a settee in it. But nice touch. Found that there are a group of Ukrainians residing in the hotel. Maybe a wee bit intimidating, when they gather outside in the evening. They have breakfast in a different part of the dining area in the morning. No issues for us, but always good to be aware.

Really nice friendly staff. Good sized rooms and really clean. Was supposed to stay for 3 nights but unfortunately due to a health emergency (outside anyone's control) could only stay for 1 night. Hotel refunded us some money which was unexpected but greatly appreciated. Hotels a short drive from the town - may be a bit too far to walk - and looked as though the town had everything you needed in it. Breakfast was buffet style and decent, normal cooked options with cereal, yoghurt, etc be also. Would recommend the home made Banana bread. The evening meal was really nice and great size with lots of decent options - washed down with a pint of Guinness. The hotel is housing refugees and they seem to be segregated away in the restaurant area from hotel guests - I felt awkward when we were being served food in one part and they were queuing for food in the other but that's not their fault and they were no issue. All in all a really nice hotel - shame we couldn't stay here longer.

My spa experience in Eidin at the Great National Hotel was fantastic on both occasions. Indian head massage and also hot stone massage, Niamh is very gifted....a must if you're in Ballina. Also, the relaxation room is a perfect readjustment to reality afterwards