Hotel berhampiran Birr Castle Gardens, Offaly

This was stop night two on our visit. When we first arrived the receptionist was on the phone with a customer. No problem, we just stood quietly waiting for her to finish. She never once looked at us or made eye contact, she completely ignored us. Finally another lady came into the room, she appeared to be a manager, and very quickly got us situated and ready to head up to our room. Here is where we felt a little let down. We stayed in the original part of the castle. We understand, that that comes with some challenges. We had two suitcases with us and a very heavy backpack. One suitcase was a very large travelling suitcase you would need for international travel for over a week. As you can imagine it was heavy. You needed to go up about two and half flights of stairs to get to our rooms. I would expect for a ”luxury” hotel to have male staff on standby to help guests get their luggage up those stairs. That was not the case. By the time my husband and I made it to our room we were huffing and puffing and exhausted. We had just driven two hours to get to the castle and this was not the start we had hoped for. Now, the castle -I would recommend you tour the grounds, as that is where the magic is at. Visit the fairy trail and stop and pet the horses. The food in the dining room was very good, especially the sticky toffee pudding we had for dessert. Again, the staff was polite, but not chatty or friendly. They were there to serve you food, nothing more. We wanted to have a drink in the dungeon but for some reason it was closed so that was a bummer. We wanted to take a tour of the inside the castle but were told that was not an option. We wanted to do the whisky tasting but again was told that was not possible as we did not have enough people in the group. That is a disappointment. We were so excited for this stop but really it was just ok. Not horrible by any means, but not the experience we had hoped and expected. Most people were polite but not out of your way accommodating. It was very much a 'take it or leave it” attitude. Were happy to have you but not really interested in making your stay memorable. If we had to do it over again, we might skip this spot.

Reservation was made very easy by the staff. Check in with Laura was very good, Laura was very helpful and friendly. The AGM Dinner went like clock work with Alana and her great Team, great credit to the Kitchen Staff. The Bedroom was very well laid out and comfortable. Louise in The Spa was fantastic, the treatment I received was first class, Louise was friendly and Professional. I hope to be back very soon to The Spa & hotel.