Farnham Estate Spa and Golf Resort, Cavan — Hotel in Cavan-Belturbet Municipal District

We stayed at Farnham estate for my boyfriend’s 30th over the bank holiday weekend. We loved the location, the room and the overall ambience of the hotel. The spa was a particular highlight. The staff in the spa were super welcoming, we had a lovely massage and were so impressed with the variety of amenities (I.e outdoor/indoor pool areas, sauna, steam rooms, relaxation rooms etc).

Food/service: We did unfortunately have a few incidences regarding the food/service. After our massage at around 6pm, we were a little hungry and as our dinner reservation was not until 8pm my boyfriend went to the bar to grab us some soft drinks and a couple of snacks. He asked the waitress and she curtly said ‘No we don’t do bar snacks’. My boyfriend then spotted a full cookie jar on the bar counter. Once given the soft drinks, he politely asked could he purchase a few cookies just to tide us over (he had explained our situation at this point). Again the waitress replied sharply with ‘No, they are only for customers who purchase tea or coffee’. As it was 6.15 at this point we obviously had no intention of having any caffeine but my boyfriend felt he had no choice so he purchased one coffee along with the soft drinks. When he was given the coffee the girl gave him just ONE cookie. He had spent the guts of €15 and bought a coffee we didn’t want/need and she gave him just ONE cookie, knowing our situation. I know it sounds completely petty but when he arrived back up and I heard what happened I was SHOCKED. We obviously spent a small fortune for our stay at Farnham and the waitress wouldn’t part with a poxy few cookies, it’s actually hard to believe…!!

We managed to laugh it off (Cookie Monster gate behind us) we were SO looking forward to our dinner. But sadly this is where the joke really began. We were taken to our seats where we were left with a drinks and food menu for over 30minutes. I actually had to go up to a waitress and ask her could she come to us whenever she got a chance. She said yes of course but we were actually left an additional 10 minutes which surprised us. Once our order was taken we felt a bit more relaxed, but then after another 20minutes we had still not received even a drink. I decided I couldn’t BEAR to ask the waitress again so I went up to the outside bar just to grab something. Before I got there the waitress finally brought out the bottle of wine. My boyfriend’s beer didn’t arrive for about another 20 minutes but we were ok with that as the starters had finally arrived at this point. (We had been there an hour at that stage). The food was lovely particularly the mains but unusually we had to serve ourselves the bottle of wine. I know it’s only a small touch but MOST even bang average restaurants would have attentive staff who would top up drinks even the odd time. I felt a bit silly having to get up and down in my heels to grab the bottle out of the ice bath and pour.

Also bear in mind, they stagger the dinner times so it was not particularly busy. I’ve worked in far busier restaurants with far less staff but we were never leaving customers unattended.

The staff were saying sorry to nearly every table around us so I think there is an awareness among the staff that the service is below par.

After our dinner, we went down to the Cellar bar where the staff were excellent and the live music was fantastic so overall the night was essentially saved. I normally would not be so vocal about criticising a hotel stay but I just think it’s important to make people aware of what to expect. I was a little disappointed as I had booked Farnham for a special occasion and I just think the ‘Cookie monster’ saga caused me the most annoyance as my boyfriend would NEVER complain about attitude or say anything about how he was treated unless it was REALLY bad which it obviously was. Overall I would still recommend Farnham BUT may I suggest that you bring PLENTY of your own snacks and potentially avoid the Maxwell grill for any special occasions. It would be absolutely fine for casual dinner when you’re not...

Myself and my husband spent 2 nights with at Farnham Estate in August. We were celebrating our first wedding anniversary and were looking forward to our stay for months before.

We were very impressed immediately with your COVID regulations and how the reception staff gave masks to patrons with no masks straight away. There were lots of hand sanitation stations throughout the hotel and we felt very safe there all weekend.

The Spa was pure luxury and my massage from Ema was amazing. We spent hours there and I would have easily spent another few days relaxing there. The Spa staff were so attentive, ensuring that beds and areas were sanitised frequently.

I'm afraid to say that these positives were far outweighed by the disappointments that we encountered over the weekend. The service was absolutely appalling in the hotel at every opportunity. I tried making excuses for the staff over the weekend at different stages, but really, it was just so terrible that I had to give up making excuses for what we were experiencing.

We dined in Maxwell's Grill on Friday 13th of August. The lady that took our order, Orla, was really lovely and efficient but unfortunately she didn't serve us any of our food. My husband had ordered steak and I had ordered seabass. When the waiter brought our mains he asked who had ordered seabass, I raised my hand, he then left my very hot plate on the very right hand side of the table, not in front of me. He didn't even ask if my husband had ordered steak, he just plonked it down in front of him. He then turned on his heel and was gone. Not once were we asked if we needed anything else or if everything was ok. It took us 5 minutes to get someone's attention to request a steak knife for my husband. We ordered a coffee with our dessert. After finishing our desserts and waiting for some time for someone to clear our empty plates (they never did), we still hadn't gotten our coffee so we left without it.

At breakfast the next morning I was given both of our portions of toast (4 slices and 4 butters) on a cup saucer. The server of the hot breakfast had to go through 3 dirty plates before there was a clean one to use for my breakfast. Again our coffee didn't arrive, but after waiting for a long time I asked another waitress for two coffees and they did arrive this time. We were starting to think that the hotel didn't do coffee.

Saturday evening is where the service really became inexcusable. We were given the All Day Dining Menu in the Lobby Bar early in the evening, when I went up to the bar to order (as table service is really not a thing in Farnham, I spent the majority of the weekend trying to get the staff's attention) I was told that food is no longer served there and we had to go to the Cellar Bar. I ordered a bottle of Prosecco from the 6 options of sparkling wine that were on the menu. The one I choose was sold out and there was only two that were in stock. That was strange but I ordered one of the other bottles.The Cellar Bar appears to be run by 6 18year olds who do not have a clue about the food menu, drinks, or times that the bar opens/ closes. That door behind the bar is where the staff spent the majority of the night. We watched many people walk into the Cellar Bar, see that no staff were present to seat them and then leave. There are two tall men that work down there that have the absolute worst manners that I have even experienced in my life! I wouldn't expect it at Mc Donald's. Our food here was very tasty however, seasoned much better than the previous night in Maxwell's Grill.

A family of four were sitting beside us and ordered only main courses at 7pm. They had two young children with them. They had a few questions about the children's menu that your staff were unable to answer, nor did they offer to go off and check with the chef. At 7.45 they had still not received any food. The father complained and the food arrived at 7.50. The waiter explained that the...

This was our second time to visit Farnham Estate first visiting in August 2019. We were very excited to return but our experience really didn’t live up to our expectations. Pros: Beautiful estate with lovely walks, fabulous spa , pool & thermal suite Cons: Our food experience & the service provided was very poor & we ensured we gave our feedback to the reception staff (but it appears to not phase her very much) Considering the price you pay for this hotel & it’s services, you expect it to meet a certain standard. We arrived on the Sunday & checked into our room which was fine. We decided to go for lunch in the lobby bar area; my husband described it as like something from Faulty Towers. Staff v young & inexperienced with limited supervision to guide them. There were lots of staff but no head nor tail to their approach. There was one young girl greeting everyone, writing orders & requests in her notepad but didn’t appear to follow through on any of them. One lady placed her order for two burgers & sat in the lower lobby, the burgers came out but the servers couldn’t “find” her so sent the food back to the kitchen. The lady came up to the bar ten mins later & the server handed her the food and cutlery to take back to her table. We tried to order several times but no one approached our table so we ordered at the bar. After this again about 10 mins the girl came to our table to take our order that we had already placed. At this time, the lobby bar wasn’t even busy, just a few tables here & there occupied. The chips on both our plates were from the bottom of the fryer & seemed to have been sitting there for a long time. We returned in the evening for a late dinner & while there appears to be a lot more organisation of the staff, delegation & servers seemed to know what to be doing; the food was shocking. My husband ordered a buttermilk chicken fillet burger (there was hardly any chicken and mostly breaded!) and like the chips earlier in the day, the burger was entirely dry & as if it were cooked hours previous! The couple next to us sent their food back twice & ended up leaving in the end without eating. We both had spa treatments on the Monday, I am heavily pregnant so I could only have a facial but the therapist didn’t seem to understand that I needed the bed to be raised as it’s not advised to lie flat on your back when pregnant & I had to ask her a number of times to stop so I could get comfortable. When leaving we gave our feedback but it didn’t seem to be really received or heard by the receptionist. Ultimately when you’re paying the prices that Farnham Estate charge; you expect the experience & service to align with this & this did not reach our standards at all. I see the responses from the Hotel GM on this page but really what’s needed is a dedication to resolve the issues at hand in experienced management for the staff & adequate training & if you cannot turn out the food for the prices being charged, recommend that you review your pricing structures. Unfortunately, we are very disappointed & don’t intend...