The Lodges at Glenlo Abbey Hotel & Estate

My daughter and I shared afternoon tea for Mother’s Day on the 15th. From our initial entrance into the hotel it was just a lovely friendly warm welcoming experience. We dined in The River room and it was just exceptional. The staff were so friendly and accommodating. The afternoon tea was just 5 star. We will definitely return.

I attended the Glenn Abby for lunch with my sister and her children the minute I entered the premises I felt watched and uneasy the staff were very rude when I received my food I also received the bill 10 mins later they couldn’t get us gone quick enough there was other couples with children so I didn’t understand why we were getting singled out I’ll never attend it again absolutely ridiculous Good was good thought

My wife & I booked this weekend away a few months back. We'd been once before and enjoyed the hotel. Great this time, too. Perhaps the only annoying thing was the slight griping of other customers about things that seemed trivial. I'm afraid such nice places sometimes attract those with a sense of entitlement! The bar was a wee bit rowdy on the Friday night, too, when we were trying to get something to eat. But I guess the Ireland-Wales rugby wad on. What did we expect! Thanks for a nice weekend.

Where do I even begin? The sheer disappointment of our stay is honestly overwhelming. We had been so looking forward to staying here, but unfortunately we have been left bitterly disappointed, and the whole experience has left a very bad taste in our mouths. We checked in on Sunday, 15th March, for a two-night stay. We had Sunday lunch booked in Palmers, which was average at best. The desserts in particular were very disappointing, and even the waiter appeared to notice this. However, the worst part of our stay was the room. We were checked into Room 202. While the room itself was pleasant enough, the bed was completely unacceptable. We both had a terrible night’s sleep — little to no sleep at all — and woke up with sore backs. On closer inspection, it was obvious that the mattress was old, worn out, and not fit for purpose. There was also a stained, disgusting top sheet and mattress topper, which appeared to be covering up the poor condition of the mattress itself. I have attached photos for reference. As you can imagine, we were extremely upset and frustrated. Before breakfast, I went to reception to make a complaint and asked to speak to a manager. I heard nothing back, so I had to call reception again around midday and ask for a manager to come to the room to inspect the bed. Donal came to the room, sincerely apologised, and confirmed himself that the bed was not acceptable. We were then offered an upgraded room, which we did view. However, given the price we paid and the fact that we had already lost an entire night’s sleep, we really wanted to leave early and return home to a decent bed. I asked about cancelling the second night, but was told that because the room had already been booked for the second night, we would not be entitled to any refund due to hotel policy. We therefore felt our hands were tied and had no real choice but to accept the new room. I also queried a refund for the first night, given that we got virtually no sleep and the bed was clearly not fit for use. The offer made was a paltry €71, or 25% off the first night, which is frankly nowhere near adequate given the circumstances. So now we are left staying in a hotel after a dreadful first night, exhausted from lack of sleep, and with no meaningful resolution. Sleep is the most basic expectation of any hotel stay, regardless of star rating, but I expected far, far better from Glenlo Abbey, particularly as it is marketed as a 5-star establishment. Based on our experience, it absolutely does not meet that standard, and I do not believe it deserves such a rating. We will certainly never return, and I fully intend to raise this matter with the Irish Country Houses & Restaurants / Blue Book and Fáilte Ireland regarding how this property continues to hold itself out as a 5-star hotel when basic standards like a serviceable bed are not being met.

Mother’s Day lunch in palmers. James, Salvador and Giorgio provided great service. Food was excellent.

Amazing experience. Staff were so friendly and the food was fantastic, beautiful setting. Our server Timmy was so lovely.

Stayed in the Lodges for 2 nights - they were perfect, the layout and set-up - we had a 3 bedroom Lodge, very spacious. Welcome gifts set-up in the kitchen on arrival. We dined in the Palmer Bar - food was great, service really attentative Breakfast was not the same expectation we had following dinner and the rest of the hotel experience - limited buffet, table service was good. The distance from the city to the Hotel is just perfect.

Today we had the most beautifully crafted afternoon tea. The staff when we first entered the hotel were so friendly and Tymur and another gentleman who served us were so polite and accommodating. We arrived early and were led to another area where we relaxed and admired the beautiful decor and it was not long before we were guided to the stunning River Room with a table that overlooked the golf course. The food was so delicious, with warm scones and the most beautiful blends of teas. It is by far the best afternoon tea I have had and the staff are an absolute credit to the hotel.

The grounds are phenomenal, the staff are top tier , and the breakfast every morning …. Legendary. Raed did a phenomenal job taking care of us each and every day, customer service out of this world, these people feel like family. Also, Ruehan greeted us and made this experience something out of a storybook! 10/10!!!!

On arrival at the hotel, all seemed very positive - check-in was efficient and when we got to our room, our luggage was there ahead of us. It was a cold evening and there was a definite chill in the room, so we turned up the temperature on the aircon and went out. The room wasn’t much warmer when we got back - the (large) bathroom was particularly chilly and the heated towel rail didn’t seem to be working. When a staff member called to the room to see if there was anything we needed that evening, we mentioned the chill in the room - he appeared to do something with the aircon controls and the towel rail and left, but it made no difference. The chill in the room meant that it lacked the cosiness that is so important in a hotel room - especially on a cold evening. We had dinner in the Pullman restaurant and while we had no complaints about the food or the (lovely) setting, it finished on an abrupt and very disappointing note after just under 2 hours when we were told that our time at the table was almost up (we didn’t realise we were on a clock). Our coats were then brought to us (we hadn’t asked for them). This left a very bad taste in our mouths, we didn’t feel that we had the special experience we (and others) would expect of what is now a Michelin star restaurant. We had been very much looking forward to our trip to Glenlo Abbey, however the overall experience was very disappointing and we could not recommend it to others. I contacted management after our trip to provide them with this feedback, however their response compounded matters - confirming that the issue with the cold in our bedroom had been rectified and saying that they were glad that we enjoyed our experience in the Pullman Restaurant! Clearly, the feedback we sent had not been read properly, which added to our overall disappointment with this entire experience.