Waterford Castle

Lodges were very nice, warm, and well laid out.

There was nothing to improve.

Stunning grounds. The lodges is clean, warm and comfortable.

The biggest waste of money ever if looking for a normal weekend away. We came down for the Xmas markets. As the hotel is on an island we went shopping during the day and the plan was to check in, go for dinner, have a few drinks and an early night. From the check in it was clear that if you’re not in the wedding party or the Santa Experience in the golf club, there’s really no place for you here. The ferryman was unhelpful. We dragged our cases around unnecessarily because no one gave us clear guidance as to what to do. For a 4 star, a call could’ve been made from ferry check in that we were on our way. As the Castle was hired out, it felt as though we’d to leave through the maids entrance after checking in. Again, a new procedure could be put in place to avoid this. We’d booked a year in advance, our arrival wasn’t a surprise. I will make is very clear that we had been told the Castle was booked for a private event. We knew this. We were told to book food at the golf club if we wanted to dine on the island. We did this thinking we could have a meal, relax together and head back to the house. Dinner was like something from the twilight zone. Stragglers from the Santa experience who hadn’t left and then just us. When the Santa experience families left it was just us. Staff cleaning around us, no atmosphere, moved into a draft lobby with no music. We had to leave at 9:15pm. No bar open, no where to go. Our options were to get a taxi to come over to the island and head into town. Bizarre. Surely it’s not too much to ask to just have a normal night away. It was never, ever made clear to us that the golf club would be empty and close so early. Myself and my party are clearly just in the way here. Nothing has been catered to our desire to enjoy the weekend. The focus is the private hotel party and the Santa experience. I understand the hotel want to make good business, but don’t accept my business if this is the case.

The property was very luxurious, clean and quiet! Liked the idea it was on an island! Clubhouse was very friendly with good value food and drinks!

Nothing really only that we couldn't access the hotel facilities as there was a wedding on!

Lodges were extremely comfortable, well fitted out, warm and welcoming. It was a real break away as soon as you drove on to the ferry. We even had a peacock greet us each morning outside our hall door!

Beautiful lodges, excellent staff and the island

Nothing

The romance of staying on an island with a castle pulled us in. There was an event on the Friday so we couldn’t stay in the castle but the lodges seemed like a fabulous alternative. All the family can stay together including easy access to all adults for the toddler family member. There was so much space with three good size double bedrooms all with a balcony and two with an en-suite. Open plan kitchen and dining and a full size laundry room and downstairs toilet. Kitchen fully kitted out with all appliances. Lovely gas fireplace which was welcome when the rain was pouring down outside! The ferry obviously adds half hour to every journey but it runs continuously throughout the day and night. Also Ardkeen, an excellent supermarket 5 minute drive up the road selling all manner of fresh produce and groceries.

The lodges are underwhelmingly furnished. The management are really missing a trick here. The acoustics are absolutely terrible because of the distinct lack of soft furnishings. It needs some rugs and upholstered chairs. We had to leave all our coats and shoes in the dining area and hallway to try and soften the echoing. All very dated. The settee is plastic mock leather and was actually broken so very uncomfortable to sit on. We had to use the settee bed due to our group not being 3 neat couples and we were charged for extra linen. It was awfully uncomfortable and just felt like metal springs. A ‘welcome pack’ was promised but this constituted 8 individual long life cow milk pots, a couple of drink sachets and a couple of dishwasher tablets. So zero effort for guests. There was an excellent recycling cupboard which we all religiously followed only to find there’s no recycling apart from bottles. Everything else went in the general waste which was disappointing. And these bins were totally overflowing despite all the lodges not being full. So these obviously aren’t emptied very frequently. Towels were just hand or small bath with no large ones.

The Castle and the grounds were stunning. What a beautiful, serene place to get away for a bit!

The lodge we stayed in needed an update. It was nice, clean, and functional, but little things like having to use wine glasses for our whisky because they didn’t have tumblers could have been better. Also, there was 4 of us staying there, but they only provided 3 packets of instant coffee, and one of them was decaf 🤦🏻‍♂️