Clontarf Castle Hotel — Hotel in Dublin

Let me preface this by saying that Clontarf Castle IS a lovely venue. It is in a wonderful location and is perfect for afternoon tea or a nice lunch or a wedding. But our meal for our first wedding anniversary could have been a lot better.||My husband and I got married in Clontarf Castle a year ago, and part of our wedding package promised that we were entitled to a free meal in Clontarf Castle for our first anniversary. So we thought 'That would be nice. Let's book a room for that night and we will be able to tie in a short stay as well as the meal'. We were told when booking the room that the Fahrenheit restaurant would actually not be available for our anniversary meal because we would be staying on a Monday, but that we could have a meal in the Knights Bar. We accepted this as the Knights Bar is quite a cosy location.||At reception when we mentioned the meal as we were checking in we were told that as the Knights Bar doesn't require bookings, we could come in at any time that night (we had already booked a reservation for 7), so we thought we could drop in at 6 or so, or whenever we felt hungry. Our room was a wonderful suite, so we were very happy with it. However one slip up was that the reservations team got my husband's name and gender wrong. Initially this was kind of funny, but he was quite annoyed by this, particularly since we had been married in the castle last year and he expected for our details to be on file, and the name on the card we used to pay for the room is his actual name. The card they sent us to congratulate us also had the wrong name on it, as did the screen in our hotel room.||We went down to dinner in the bar at 6 and were standing at the host stand for a few minutes before someone greeted us and showed us to a table by the service station. We thought this was fine, not particularly special but the Knights Bar is a cosy spot and it was a busy Monday night. It took a while for our order to be taken, even our drinks order, and when we eventually got our food and our drinks my stomach was bothering me so I cannot really comment on the meal itself. I wanted the salted caramel cheesecake for dessert, but they were out of it by the time we gave our dessert order. I ordered the apple tart instead - do NOT order this. It is small, it is cold, and it is bland. Go for ice-cream instead.||So the meal was lackluster but still, it was fine, because I had been able to chat with my husband and enjoy his company, so I was content enough with that. However, when my husband went to see about the bill, he was gone for some time. And when he arrived back, he said that he asked about the meal and they charged the the food to the room, and he decided not to push it as we had already gotten a discount on our hotel room.||Now, the ONLY reason we were spending our first anniversary in Clontarf Castle was because we were promised a complimentary meal. Otherwise, we could have, in theory, gone on holiday or stayed in another hotel like the Shelbourne or something. Instead, we came back to Clontarf, and then it turned out that we did NOT get what we were promised. And we were were in a different restaurant to where they usually service people, and the staff kept getting my husband's name wrong, and we were sat next to the service station. I was annoyed. I said as much to my husband as we sat there.||Then as we rose from our seats, a manager showed up. We had not seen this manager all evening. He approached, sheepish looking, and asked us if we were celebrating our anniversary. We said yes. He said that a table had been set up for us in the back part of the Knights Bar (the cosier part). He also said that the meal should have been complimentary. I said yes, I know. I was visibly annoyed by this stage. He then apologised and we explained that we were told we did not have to come to the bar for a certain time, no-one checked for our names or made any indication that there was a special table laid out for us. And then we were charged for the meal anyway. The manager asked if we were staying another night and we replied no, we were only going to stay for the anniversary. That was always the plan. He then refunded the meal, apologised again, and that was that really. The following day we were able to pick up a mug and teddy from the reception, and we were not charged for these as a means of apology. We were also given a box of chocolates. ||All this is to say that Clontarf Castle did not make us feel special on our first wedding anniversary. We felt like an afterthought, forgotten about. So if you are planning a wedding in Clontarf Castle, please do not be swayed by the promise of an anniversary meal, because you will not get what you were hoping for. I decided to write this as a kind of warning. Again, Clontarf Castle IS a fine place to stay, and we still had a lovely anniversary. But the meal kind of soured the experience, which is ironic because it was the whole reason we decided to spend our anniversary there. I appreciate that a number of things were done to apologise and to mark our anniversary, but they felt tacked on and poorly organised. The staff themselves? They were polite and nice, but there were some communication issues and a lack of attention to detail when it came to...

Incredibly disappointed with the level of integrity for this hotel. In specific the Knights bar. We have been guests at the hotel for almost 4 years, with my family staying there frequently when visiting. The hotel itself is stunning but the knights bar restaurant and service appalling. From the first time we went in there, the management was rude, unfriendly and completely ignorant to any guest there. We even witnessed an occasion where the same manager asked an elderly man to leave the bar accusing him of having wet himself. Despite the old man insisting he had been sitting on a bench outside after the rain. This was so humiliating for him, as well as anyone witnessing it. Since then we have been back a few times for convenience as it’s situated closest to where I am based, but as mentioned. The hotel is lovely but the Knoghts bar severely disappointing. The final and last straw will be that my mum and I have very clearly walked out of there with food poisoning. And although mentioning “investigations” being done, not once did we receive an apology. Even after specifying we were not looking for a refund or anything but just to be careful as other guests may experience the same, not one apology. We were also informed that it couldn’t of been them as the timing didn’t add up. My mum and I are the day before at 12.30 in that bar, and from 5pm the same day began feeling ill. I began feeling clammy, nauseated, and later into the evening committing and a bad stomach. And have since then not eaten anything else and continue with these symptoms. My mum began with stomach cramps, and began feeling the same symptoms the following day with nausea, vomitting and bad stomach. We hadn’t eaten one other thing since the Knights bar. (Which was chicken, seafood and fish. Therefore even more likely to react quicker and badly if not cooked or prepared properly) After the last call with them and saying that we sincerely disagreed, but still appreciated and thanked them for returning the call, we were met with attitude and rudeness. The hotel is stunning but the Knightsbar experience lets it down 100% every single time. And I’d say the incredibly high turnover rate in staff is another sign too that. The hotel guest bathrooms opposite the knights bars are also always in poor conditions, even the day of the food poisoning, when using the facilities there was no paper, paper on the floor, unflushed toilets and soap missing from the dispensers. You can’t tell me if the bathroom is kept like that, that the kitchen is any better. Incredibly disappointed and absolutely never going back again, despite the hotel itself being such a wonderful place. It’s...

This was one of the most unique and rewarding as well as educational and pampered hotel experiences for us to date! The Clontarf Castle Hotel Dublin is an exceptional and extraordinary luxury/boutique hotel, bringing the (very) old world into the contemporary in so, so many ways. This hotel has taken a real ancient historied structure and esthetically beautifully built accommodation into a one-of-a-kind exceptional destination. It is fascinating that there has been a castle on the site since 1172 – it brings you a strong sense of its historic magnificence with a latent amount of historic eeriness and modern luxury. This is all thanks to it being re-opened as a four-star hotel in 1997. Having the opportunity to regularly stay over many accommodations across and occasionally outside the country, not a professional hotel reviewer by any means, and not a regular business traveler - but as a primarily pleasure and needs wanderer, I have developed as what I believe is my concise method for scoring the worthiness of each hotel visited. My criteria are as follows and the results are: 1) ease of access to and from public or private ground transportation [Score: 4.5]; 2) convenient and safe parking [Score : 4.5]; 3) access, accuracy and convenience of check in and check out [Score: 5.0]; 4) atmosphere, ambience, public facilities, lounging areas and access to an office center and Wi-Fi access [Score: 5.0]; 5) overall customer service - including but not limited to Hospitality, Support Services, Concierge knowledge, communication, attitude and demeanor of staff [Score: 5.0]; 6) quality, cleanliness, value, convenience, amenities (i.e., ironing board, iron, TV, charging access, phone, et.al.) and comfort of rooms, beds, room safe and/or valet services [Score: 4.5]; Taking all the aforementioned categories in a scale of 1 star to 5 stars with 1 being the worst and 5 being the best a hotel can be! This hotel rates an astounding: 5.5. Most positive points at this hotel are: almost everything, from exceptional fine dining at the Fahrenheit Restaurant or lounging at the Indigo or my fave, the classy modern Knights Bar, to the subdued historic elegance throughout the property. And my most negative points found here are: I really cannot think of anything. My price to value to overall assessment is exceptional. When staying in Dublin, this is a must-do experience and stay. Kudos to the staff and management for the exceptional job done in every facet of hospitality – allowing us to explore the past, enjoy the contemporary while feeling at home...