The Europe Hotel & Resort — Hotel in Killarney Municipal District

Went to stay in the Europe last weekend as my fiancée and I had just got engaged. They say first impressions count, and it was the worst first impression.

Arrived just after 3pm. We went to check in. Person at reception looked extremely disinterested. Handed the check in sheet to me to sign in full view of my fiancée with the price clearly visible. Thought that was really poor.

We were told our room was not ready despite us arriving after check in time. This is allegedly a 5 star hotel and I don't think that is good enough. We barely got an insincere "sorry". We were told we would get a call when the room is ready. That was it. I had booked a night's stay with dinner included. Not once was that mentioned. I had to ask the woman at reception which restaurant, how do I book, etc. We weren't even told what time breakfast is or where it is served. All of this information is common practice for a 2 star hotel! To apologise for our room not being ready, we were given drink vouchers.

To be fair, a member of staff took our bags and said that they would be put in the room. They were very nice.

We went to the bar and ordered drinks. I then looked at the vouchers and they were for tea, coffee or soft drinks only. Absymal!

The drinks came out and the server asked if we wanted them on our room. I said yes but that we don't have a room number yet as the room wasn't ready. The server rolled their eyes to heaven and in a slightly accusatory tone told us to come to the bar before leaving to put the drinks on our room. It was almost like they thought we were going to run off.

Received a text to say room is ready and went back to Reception. Ensured not to go to the extremely unhelpful person I went to first. The second person wasn't much better but at least was more forthcoming with information in terms of dinner and breakfast.

The room was lovely. Can't fault it. Shower great. Bed extremely comfortable. Nice to have a balcony too.

The pool area is fabulous. Great to relax there and in the jacuzzi, sauna and steam room. The infinity pool overlooking the lake is gorgeous.

We went for dinner downstairs in the Italian restaurant. The staff were lovely but our order was messed up. We ordered garlic bread to pre-start, two starters and two main courses. The garlic bread came out. Then both mains and only one of the starters all at the same time. I said, "sorry, there is a mistake". We should be served this starter and my fiancée's starter (which was nowhere to be seen) at the same time followed by the main courses. The waiter had taken our order and wrote down all dishes so not sure where the confusion came from. I said, take away the main courses and that I'll wait until my fiancée's starter comes out. The waiter told us that they'd have to throw out the pasta and make it again, essentially implying that the kitchen is closing soon (it was almost 10pm) but that is not our fault nor our problem. Another issue with the service was that I'd say at least four waiters came to our table throughout dinner. It was quite haphazard. I get that mistakes happen but the lack of experience is not something I'd expect in a 5 star hotel.

Breakfast the following morning was fabulous. We had a lovely table at the window. They do need to clean some of the bird droppings off the window. The staff were lovely and a special shout out to the chef from Belfast. He was so friendly and great craic.

While checking out, I was asked if I had seen the bill. Of course I hadn't but I asked to see it. The dinner which was included in the price was put on the bill. I also ordered chocolate covered strawberries which was put on the bill twice. The guts of €200 could have been added to my bill if I hadn't inspected it.

All in all, a disappointing stay on what was meant to be a memorable weekend for my fiancée and myself. Definitely not worth the money. Hotel is trading on its stunning location and pool area. Staff need a lot of training to even reach a 4...

The only thing 5 star about the Europe Hotel is the view.

Arrival No concierge service Carried own bags from car to reception and from reception to room Check in staff seemed to be continuously distracted never explained same during process may have been conducting training

Room Lakeview room booked, but given one with no balcony no discount no prior warning even at the point of booking or check in Window and glass safety barrier visibly dirty covered in smudges and hand marks Musty smell in room Bed and pillows were hard, both struggled to sleep.

Thermal Suite Windows in thermal suite visibly dirty Dark facility in thermal suite Windows around pool and outdoor jacuzzi dirty Particularly small thermal suite, 1 small sauna, 1 small steam room, no cold shower just a cold pipe for post steam/sauna. Shower facility in thermal suite very dark and difficult to differentiate tap functions Taps damaged and no cold water dispenser from shower just a pipe with cold water, would expect a good pressure, cold water shower post heat treatments No quiet room in thermal suite Sauna step broken and floor peeling away

Brasserie Dinner in Brasserie Maitre D' was particularly sharp, short and barely made eye contact. Waitress took long time returning for orders during a relatively quiet sitting at 8pm on a Monday night Special monkfish ordered, veg lasagna given, when questioned waiter, is that the special monkfish, he confirmed dish was monkfish. Restaurant wasn't full on a Monday night @8pm but challenge to get attention of wait staff Discussed with another waiter and replaced lasagna for monkfish which was overcooked and cooled from the wait Chicken was dry, pasta was limp and floppy disintegrating on contact with the fork also overcooked, delicious tomato sauce was the only saving grace to this dish Coffee Panna Cotta more like jelly, no delicacy not soft or creamy but stodgy and sickly, accompaniments good including delicious sorbet

Panorama Breakfast full Irish was over cooked burned bacon pudding and sausage. Fork and butter knife tucked into napkin- had to request additional cutlery Breakfast eggs Florentine hollandaise sauce was curdled may have been under a lamp for some time Dinner in the panamora was delicious apart from the Halibut main which was bone dry sitting in an overly salty jus and left uneaten. Waitress advised she would pass same to chef but no other remark made or discount on dish €38 Breakfast french toast was soggy and dangerously undercooked, I had to leave it after 2 bites and couldn't consume any more of it

Spa Happy with spa for booked treatment and spa individual thermal suite- why is the standard so different between the two thermal suite areas?

Lounge/Bar Cocktails were very well made and delicious

Overall The experience we had was definitely not of a 5star standard. This was definitely not good value for money. My husband and I were celebrating our 1 year anniversary and we were extremely disappointed with the service food and quality at the Europe. We fed back our comments at the restaurants and no discount was given. We filled the online questionnaire and received a reply saying apologies, we'll...

What a beautiful hotel with stunning views of the lake and mountains , the team there were fantastic, the breakfast chef was a true gent with a nice bit of early morning banter and an amazing breakfast to go with it, from the porridge to the continental breakfast and full Irish, everything was a delight. The ladies smoked Salmon on the next table over looked scrumptious and unfortunately that's where most of my delightful dining ended. I had dinner in the fine dining restaurant the evening before and WOW it started off amazingly, the amuse-bouche nearly brought me to my knees, but then,, I ordered what could only be described as a poor man's chicken liver pate on 2 tiny halved puffed bread rolls. The mains "Beef " was unfortunately horrible, I like mine medium to well done ( I know - sacrilege) but what arrived on my plate was just a piece of meat with a suavi of crema di balsamico ( no doubt) and that was your lot. The meat was so under cooked that you couldn't cut through it. The staff were fantastic however. The second night we decided to eat at the hotel brasserie, we had to wait over an hour for a table ( fair enough) but you then have 10 mins ( according to their text message) to get back to the restaurant or you lose your table. The starter I have to say was disgusting, it was prawns in a garlic purée. Now I have eaten alot of prawns in a lot of hotels and restaurants across the world in ever shape and manner but I have NEVER EVER NOR WILL I EVER eat under cooked prawns. I was a chef myself many years ago and I know how long it takes to cook them. When I was asked by the waiter was everything ok with our meal? I brought it to his attention and he seemed to srug it off with a huh type of attitude - and that was it. I did'nt say anything on the first night because opinions differ when it comes to beef and cooking them but on the second night I wasn't going to let it pass, but the staff were, yes that was it, there was no mention of it to the restaurant manager, there was no amendments made or even a complementary drink offer, nothing, not even an apology and this left a sour taste in my mouth ( pardon the pun) as the Duck I ordered for main course was quite delicious. My over all experience of the Europe Hotel was one of awh, As I said at the start of this review, the hotel is stunning, the staff were amazing, the location is mind blowing, the Spa is a lil bit of heaven on earth, just let down by the...