Bracken Court Hotel — Hotel in Fingal

Disappointed? That is the BIGGEST understatement. We booked an event here and the planning and execution was handled EXTREMELY poorly.

We booked for an event for May 2022 6 months in advance. Everything seemed to be going well until about a month prior to the event. We are African, and requested the African menu. We suddenly get a call saying we could no longer have the menu we requested as the one African chef they have was going on holiday. Now this is no way directed towards the chef as he’s in his right to take his holiday when he wants, but the hotel knew months in advance we wanted an African menu and if they had one African chef that was going on holiday during our event they should have accommodated and found a replacement in good time. After trying to tell us to change the menu or the date of our event, we had to refuse. We had people coming from Abroad and all parts of Ireland for this… people had taken time off work and booked tickets and paid for accommodation just to be here. There was no way we could change the date, neither were we changing the menu. We suggested bringing in one of our own caterers and simply booking out the occasion room to avoid stress but we weren’t allowed to (which I understand). So after discussing with a manager, they told us they would hire a new BLACK AFRICAN CHEF to cater to our event. A week prior to event we went to the hotel to see said manager to discuss the final bits for the event and confirm the new chef had started. When we got there we found out the manager had resigned and the people taking over her role had no clue what was going on. After asking someone if they had a new African chef, they reluctantly said yes. At this stage I was really uncomfortable with that response but the money was paid and again, people were coming from all over just to celebrate with us. We decided that we could trust the people in charge and we’ll get the food we ordered for. God knows I wished I took pictures of the mess they served us. I’m so sorry to whoever cooked it as I know time and effort was put into it but yoooo a simple YouTube video could’ve given you instructions on how to make ordinary Jollof Rice. No flavour, no colour, so mushy. Broccoli rice that literally no one asked for ? The salad was definitely not Nigerian salad (again just watch a YouTube video). Where was the puff puff (even tho I’m high key happy they didn’t serve it or it would’ve flopped too). Fried rice was dead. All the main food basically had no flavour. However I will say the wings as starters were nice but the rest of the food DEAD. After asking the staff if an African person cooked this they admitted that the person who made it wasn’t African.

Now look, I can understand trying to be inclusive and catering to a wider audience but if you’re unable to do it LEAVE IT ALONE. If you can’t do it properly don’t do it at all. Food is a MASSIVE part of African Parties. The main part. And the Event Staff at Bracken Court Hotel were comfortable messing that up. I can confidently say y’all ruined the event. And this is not the first time it’s happened. The previous manager admitted to us that this had happened before for other African people and they just went with it. I’m sorry but we shouldn’t have to just go with it. If we pay for something that’s what we should get. Saddened and disappointed by this. There’s no way I could ever recommend other Africans or POC’s to host an event at Bracken Court Hotel. The venue itself is good, great set up - if you can’t find a chef to cater to our food, reconsider letting us bring our own food and only booking up the space. I can almost guarantee you’ll get a lot more Africans coming to book for events. Otherwise drop the African menu and stop disappointing people on...

We have stayed at this hotel before albeit a few years ago and was pleased to see it was still open, so many places we’ve visited have since closed since the pandemic.

On arrival there is a car park with about 30 spaces on street level; accessed through an arch. There were barriers but the machine was broken so I just drove through but the receptionist did advise that parking is normally complimentary to hotel guests.

The entrance to the hotel is step free but the doors are manual.

The receptionist that greeted me was very friendly and helpful and was happy to answer my questions.

Our room was on the second floor and there was a small lift. The room was nice with all the things you’d expect: tea/ coffee, hairdryer, nice big bed and plenty of towels in the bathroom. The bed was firm but very comfortable; I did have a good nights sleep.

The TV remote control had been cleaned and sealed in a bag which is a nice touch.

Wi-Fi was really good which in most hotels is not the norm.

We spent the evening in the bar. From reception there are a few steps into the bar area but there is also a ramp/ walkway to the dining area where you can also access the bar.

We wanted to set up a tab to charge the room but was advised that you have to set that up at the reception so we just settled for running a tab and pay at the end of the night. The bar staff are excellent, great service, after the first round the barman brought our subsequent drinks to our table. Nice clean bar and bar area, can’t fault it.

Breakfast was included in our booking and it’s served from 06:30-10:30. On arriving in the dining hall we were greeted by a pleasant lady who took our room number and offered us tea/ coffee before showing us to our table.

All the usual stuff you’d expect, a selection of juices/ cereals, some fruit and a selection of hot food, including white and black pudding you just tell the chef what you want.

I get the ferry from Dublin to Wales quite regular and get up at a ridiculous hour to drive to Dublin but as this is only 20/30 mins away from the port I will definitely stay here the night before.

Overall a great stay. Helpful, friendly staff, nice room, bar on site and a great breakfast to start...

Clean enough rooms however very dated. Service at front desk was terrible. Upon arrival clerk at desk was on the phone which was absolutely no problem, happy to wait. Phone call ended and the clerk apologised and took details to sort our booking, payment was processed and upon explaining room and hotel details the phone rang again, at this point the clerk answered the phone mid conversation when I was trying to ask about parking payment and proceeded to ignore me to deal with call. I wasn’t impressed and it was extremely rude. I then waited until the call was over to ask again about payment and was quickly shooed away and told sorted at checkout.

The room was clean however very dated. One lampshade was completely broken and left hanging, the lightbulb in the other was blown. We were only staying for one night so we didn’t make a fuss and left as is, hopefully they sort before the next guest but not holding my breath.

The final straw came upon check out. We were issued with a ticket to get out of carpark without charge but it is only valid for 10mins. At first this seemed ok but after walking round to carpark, (next door to hotel and on 2 underground levels), we found we could not access the stairs or lift to the lower floor, (the car park is shared access with the hotel and what appeared to be council offices and the court), a keycard was required to allow access to lift and stairs. This meant we had walk round and down the car access to lower level which wasn’t great and meant it was a rush to get out on the 10mins.

All in all the small things unfortunately added up. Not a great stay and wouldn’t return especially as it wasn’t the cheapest place to...