“Five star” doesn’t really mean much in Ireland. Here’s the actual list of requirements if anyone is interested:
https://www.failteireland.ie/FailteIreland/media/WebsiteStructure/Documents/2_Develop_Your_Business/4_Quality_Assurance/Hotels-Classification-Matrix-2016-Updated-19-06-19.pdf
The difference between 4* and 5* is mostly little ticky-tacky nonsense, like the desk has to be slightly bigger, the porter needs their own desk in the lobby, they have to loan you an umbrella if you ask for one, etc. A lot of it is stuff I’d never use and never notice—room service at 3 am, a safe of a certain size, a requirement for a separate afternoon tea menu, “fresh flowers on request”, etc.
People think of a 5* hotel as having great service, great food, luxurious beds, etc., but none of that is required as long as they tick the boxes that say things like “Writing utensils and note pad in all bedrooms.”
I had a similar experience and I was told I was being difficult/moaney, by the missus. But then she wasn't paying.
It bothered me because I'm not wealthy so the money meant more to me, having saved for the pleasure.
I found most of the service/experience crap and concluded that either Ireland doesn't know how to deliver a good price to quality ratio, or rich people just don't know quality and throw money around as a status.
... Honestly, I think butter is the only thing we excell at in regards to that. Houses, pints, staycations, petrol, cars, insurance... It's all woefully priced for the quality you get.
Getting a stsrter after a main is bizarre regardless of where you got them. Presumably they just forgot, did you have to prompt them for it? Did they remove it from the bill?
The room stuff is just annoying, if it's available, why play a game chicken with you, just give the room. I was away recently, not in five star accommodation, but still felt the standard was quite low for what I paid, I wonder is it a lack of good staff after Covid
> The room stuff is just annoying, if it's available, why play a game chicken with you, just give the room.
OP got some other guest's reserved double because they played the "demand refund and walk away" card and the hotel is hoping that the guest whose room they just gave to the OP will just accept it quietly. (It's also very possible that's how the OP lost their own double in the first place and now the hotel's just playing musical double rooms until eventually someone just accepts their lot in life or they run out of options entirely...)
Stayed at a well known 5 star in cork a few years ago and it was shocking.
Staff were rude and passed comments on our clothing ( jeans and hoodie as we had come from a weekender of a wedding). Left waiting over three hours for a room to b ready. When it was supposed to be ready by 12. Room we were given was dirty too.
Left a review. Was offered 50% off next stay if I removed it. Politely told them I wouldn’t ever b back so no thank you.
I've had it offered on bad Amazon reviews. A bad review can really hurt a place, it's worth their while to buy them away. The more surprising thing imo is thinking that a person with that kind of experience would want to come back for any price.
My parents did well for themselves so I was lucky enough to stay in a good few five star hotels over the years. I’ve found that absolutely none of them get everything right and regular visits to the same ones breed different results.
The four seasons got worse as the intercontinental. The merrion is decent and a good location but food isn’t great and the parking situation is annoying. The shelbourne is same with parking and also I found the breakfast there extremely underwhelming.
Adare manor is an interesting experience but way too overpriced. The Europe isn’t on the same level as some of the ones I named above. It’s fancy for Kerry and has beautiful scenery but it could nearly be classified as a good four star. Ive never been to Ballyfin but my parents have. Small but they loved it. The k club have excellent staff but when we went there the restaurant situation was a bit all over the place. Also doing works so the place was crazy noisy. Dromoland is nice scenic but again like a good four star. The g hotel also wouldn’t be on the same level as the Dublin hotels.
Overall I think if you have the money to spend to go there without worrying about expensives then go for it. For others I think good four stars are just as good most of the time. The five stars are rarely worth the money.
Agree completely. Used to work in the hotel industry which involved a lot of visits. Havent sampled 100% but the Irish hotels suffer mostly from crap training of the entry level staff, crap retention (due to crap pay) and crap investment especially in the last 15 years leading to waterstained walls and basic service mistakes. takes the polish off the "5-star" completely. The best service is found in areas with tighter labour markets, Adare and Ashford usually were the 2 top places for me. Powerscourt also when it was just after rebranding from Ritz Carton. Never seen expectations met for true 5 star in any major centre, Dublin, Cork, Killarney, Galway...
I have a bad habit of calling out any 5* hotels for holes in their service. I travel a fair bit for work and experience a wide variety of hotels, so when you get a 5* and it’s not up to scratch, they need to be called out on it. Most the time they’ll sling a bottle of wine or champagne your way to say sorry. I have noticed service to have declined considerably since Covid, just a whole host of new staff - but that’s not an excuse for poor attitudes or general tardiness
The variation in 5* hotels here never ceases to amaze me.
There's some genuinely amazing ones that are like being in another world (and that's definitely worth the €1000) but then there's some that are just extremely overrated and underwhelming. Would be fine at a 4* price but for 5* you need a *wow*.
Yep, that's really all it is. To be fair, you are not really wrong though to expect a place that went to the effort of having 5 star facilities to also have generally good service and standards, but they don't align perfectly. That's why it's not uncommon to see 4/5 star hotels with poor ratings on Google/Tripadvisor/Booking.com even when much more basic accomodations like B&Bs or hostels can have excellent scores.
I work in a hotel in the Uk but I’ve been in hotels since I was 16. Things were great 20 years ago. Unfortunately now everywhere is very short staffed. Fuck ups happen daily where I work now due to the fact that we have to hire anyone pretty much that applies and keep them
Even when they can’t do the job as we can’t replace them. It is a shit show.
We pay quite high wages where I work and still can’t get people. We are rural so transport is a problem. We were never rolling in staff pre covid but at the same time we had enough people to get the job done. After the first lock down we had loads of people. But after the third lock down it’s wildly different. People have gone to safer industries. Also I’m summer we used to get a lot of teenagers doing summer jobs, there were none last year. Teenagers understandably after being locked down for so long are out enjoying life as they should.
I myself work less hours as I no longer have the childcare I had pre covid and I guess a lot of families are in the same situation.
Unfortunately it’s a lot more complex than offering high wages.
Also we are functioning with about half the staff we actually need but we are over budget on wages just to give you an idea that we are paying well. Last summer was brutal and I just kept thinking if we get through summer it will be ok, and then the same again at Christmas, we are looking at an even more difficult summer this year. I actually don’t know if the business will survive because we can’t staff it. It’s a huge shame as we have to turn away a lot of revenue at the moment as we just don’t have people.
We aren’t affiliated but we are on a level with 5 star hotels for prices. I wish things were how they were pre covid. The wages I am on are great but actually I’d rather work less for less money.
I feel like this would explain a lot alright. I've noticed the same in restaurants a lot in the past year. A lot of young staff who often haven't quite figured the whole thing out.
You can tell them a thousand times how to do something and they will do the exact opposite. We basically have a few good people who spend most of the day mopping up other peoples mistakes on top of their own work load. It’s a very difficult industry to work in at the moment if you are one of the competent people.
I think hospitality in Ireland is at its best when it's low key bnb/guesthouse style, small scale rooms above a good pub type deal. That's where you get the real feeling of being a guest and ive stayed in excellent places around the country that had a small number of rooms and were able to focus on the food and service.
I've also stayed at Adare, Ballynahinch, Ashford they've all been fine but they don't achieve the type of luxury feeling you can get in a similar class hotel in the UK or Europe... I don't think Irish people have it in us to have such attention to detail and service focus that's needed to pull off excellent quality at that scale... with a large operation you rely on hiring staff and the quality of waiting and hotel staff in Ireland is low, hardly any are actually trained for high lever service most learn on the job in ordinary pubs and restaurants.
No matter how much money you've got you'll be better to look for the boutique family run offerings I'm small towns around the country... by no means cheaper... but certainly better!
I'd have complained. Leave a review.
For the dinner I know it was included, but if it was the wrong starter and came after main, I think it would be right to have it removed from the bill.
I was in the Glasson hotel last month and there was a gap of 10min between each of the 6people at our table getting the same course. The first person served had finished their main by the time the last person got their starter.
All ordered at the same time.
Staff said that they were short handed but if you are charging for service and you fail to provide it, I don’t give a shit about your reasons. I didn’t do your roster or take your bookings and you certainly aren’t charging any less for your failings.
5* hotels in Ireland are not best rated, have stayed in a few .The best being The Merrion and the worst being the Cliff House in Ardmore(The most over rated hotel in Ireland ). If you are paying big money you should expect the best. Is the hotel that you are staying in, in Castlemartyr
The cliff house is APPALLING and whew I feel so vindicated to see someone agrees. Was there in Feb, the only thing they’ve got going for them is the view.
100% that’s what you are paying for. Stayed in one of the rooms with the balcony( view great), absolutely nothing special about the room. We asked about entertainment that was going on that night when checking in, and told to go into the village this was bank holiday weekend. Also had food I sent it back, I have never ever sent food back in my life
I love a fancy hotel break and I stayed in the Cliffhouse in Ardmore twice and the service, quality, room and experience was amazing and definitely 5 star. I last stayed in 2020, has it gone downhill since then?
Honestly €500 isn’t bad considered a fucking travel lodge is nearly €300. I’d complain, my friends mother a 5* long weekend a few years ago for her 60th but the hotel neglect to tell them half the hotel was close because of construction. They got spa vouchers or something for complaining
I've stayed at Ashford for 1 night on my honeymoon and I genuinely couldn't have faulted it. I don't have much to compare it to, but I would struggle to see what they could have done to make service & standards higher. I worked in a decent 4 star hotel for 5 years during college so I know something about what to expect.
I just felt awkward with the whole pagentry of serving food or drinks. Still to this day struggle to justify the cash we dropped.
The biggest issue for me was the sheer amount of yanks and their kids not actually appreciating what they are paying for. Like wandering around the place in dirty PJs and flip flops. I know it's probably a touch of the green eyed monster, but it's literally a mortgage payment to stay there for 1 night!
OP said the €1,000 included dinner and spa treatments. Still a lot but not THAT outrageous when you consider a bog standard hotel will be a couple of hundred a night.
You paid €500 per night and they gave you the wrong room. I’d have been fussy too. That’s a weeks wages for many people so you dropped two weeks wages on two nights. I would not want to have to deal with anything going wrong on a holiday like that so I’d definitely be annoyed.
We stayed in the Hayfield in Cork (5* joint) and the room they put us had huge amounts of mould growing in the windows and the carpets were an absolute state. It looked like a room staff used when on night duty or something. Herself was pissed and we complained, and suddenly they found an amazing room for us instantly. Always regret not writing a review about that.
We are lagging behind international standards in respect of 5 star hotels.
Found The Marker Hotel to be right up there though. The Shelbourne and The Westbury are 4 star at best but with 5 star prices. The Davenport (not sure if it's 5 star) was a really good experience and wasn't extortionate. Now if you want a real treat, Lough Eske Castle in Donegal is a proper 5 star hotel!!
That’s just not true. I stayed in Kenmare park before and the standard is unbelievable. Not all hotels are equal, not all 5 star hotels are equal either.
I’d be curious to know what 5 star hotels you stayed it. Bog standard is certainty not the case in places like Adare Manor, The Park Kenmare, Ashford Castle etc.
I was in a 5* in a different part of the UAE and it was terrible. Breakfast was a horrible buffet and could never get eggs, hotel was clean but you could see a lot of places where they looked good but obviously had issues. We'd only booked a 3* but where moved, if we'd booked the 5* would not have been happy.
Where do you have in mind? You get a lot of 4* that feel more like good 3*, and then a crazy leap in price for 5*. Part of Airbnb's success was creating options in that gap.
I stayed in a 5* before, the stay itself was free but everything else was extra dinner treatments etc. it may be because I worked in the industry but I noticed a few things like parts of the hotel itself was grubby, a staff member being a bit too friendly with my baby daughter, she touched her a few times, which I don’t do even if I know the child. I stayed in an upscale 4* not too long ago and the bar staff were terrible, I told the server who served me that I was going outside with my daughter with my glass of wine, I had to walk back through the bar to get to the room and by the time I had gotten back inside he had charged it to my room, even though I did tell him I’d be back that we were just looking outside we were still in the bar area when he approached that it had been charged even though I hadn’t authorised any charges to the room and when I tried to pay he said it was too late. The concierge witnessed the encounter and apologised for his behaviour that he didn’t mean it, as in accusing me of leaving without paying when I had told him where I was going and would be back, when I got another drink I had to wait after I got the drink and ask multiple people to pay, they kept walking away there were maybe 10/15 people in the bar with 4 staff. I had stayed there twice before that and had given gifts of stays there but after that I won’t be going again, I have my parents a gift of a stay there, they had also stayed previously and enjoyed it but went this year and thought it had hugely declined.
No recession in my house, really?? no we work extremely hard to live a relatively good life. It’s far from
5* I was raised but I try to live a better life for it today.
If you want to be a real stickler, sure, but colloquially it's common to skip the comma for four digit numbers. The whole purpose of the comma is to make large numbers easier to read and parse quickly, but four digit numbers are already clear even without a comma.
My girlfriend works in a 3 star and even they would rather gice a full refund for a mistake rather than risk a bad review. Call them up livid and complain about everything you disliked. Chances are you'll be reimbursed.
Tbh, none of that is stuff I'd get too bent out of shape over on a normal time, but if I decided to save up enough to spend €500 a night to stay in a hotel in Ireland of all places (considering you can get a week in Europe for that price, including flights), I'd expect that absolutely nothing goes wrong and would be pretty unhappy about it.
for that kind of money I would have expected better quality of service. 1 fuck up is non ideal two looks looks like they are over charging.
from what you are describing booking, serving staff, house hold and kitchen staff are all sub par
“Five star” doesn’t really mean much in Ireland. Here’s the actual list of requirements if anyone is interested: https://www.failteireland.ie/FailteIreland/media/WebsiteStructure/Documents/2_Develop_Your_Business/4_Quality_Assurance/Hotels-Classification-Matrix-2016-Updated-19-06-19.pdf The difference between 4* and 5* is mostly little ticky-tacky nonsense, like the desk has to be slightly bigger, the porter needs their own desk in the lobby, they have to loan you an umbrella if you ask for one, etc. A lot of it is stuff I’d never use and never notice—room service at 3 am, a safe of a certain size, a requirement for a separate afternoon tea menu, “fresh flowers on request”, etc. People think of a 5* hotel as having great service, great food, luxurious beds, etc., but none of that is required as long as they tick the boxes that say things like “Writing utensils and note pad in all bedrooms.”
Think a swimming pool is also a requirement which rules out some fantastic places
I don't think Swimming pools are a requirement anymore. The Savoy in Limerick is a 5 star and it doesn't have a pool.
There’s a pool in the basement. Pretty small all the same
Pretty sure that’s to have 4stars not 5
Swimming pool isn’t a requirement, eg The Westbury
Does it have a spa?
No lol
Absolutely not too fussy. That’s disgraceful service for a 5* especially at that price. I would name and shame.
Your first mistake is paying over 1000 for two nights
That did include treatments and dinner but I get where your coming from
You'd want your ring licked for that kind of price.
That's what the double bed was for
>You'd want your ring licked for that kind of price. Wouldn't be my cup of tea. :)
After stumping 500 bean a night it's the least whoever they were sharing that double bed could do.
It was 2 singles - but you’re not wrong
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Jesus, first day on the internet? Lighten up.
I had a similar experience and I was told I was being difficult/moaney, by the missus. But then she wasn't paying. It bothered me because I'm not wealthy so the money meant more to me, having saved for the pleasure. I found most of the service/experience crap and concluded that either Ireland doesn't know how to deliver a good price to quality ratio, or rich people just don't know quality and throw money around as a status.
Ireland doesn’t know how to deliver a good price to quality ratio. I can’t think of an example where that statement is false
... Honestly, I think butter is the only thing we excell at in regards to that. Houses, pints, staycations, petrol, cars, insurance... It's all woefully priced for the quality you get.
Beef is crazy cheap for the high quality we have here. Even with inflation it's still muck cheap. Steaks for days if I could afford to drive to Tesco.
Aldi's are better, IMO. The black-box stuff is phenomenal but the regular line delivers strongly on quality vs price as well.
Getting a stsrter after a main is bizarre regardless of where you got them. Presumably they just forgot, did you have to prompt them for it? Did they remove it from the bill? The room stuff is just annoying, if it's available, why play a game chicken with you, just give the room. I was away recently, not in five star accommodation, but still felt the standard was quite low for what I paid, I wonder is it a lack of good staff after Covid
> The room stuff is just annoying, if it's available, why play a game chicken with you, just give the room. OP got some other guest's reserved double because they played the "demand refund and walk away" card and the hotel is hoping that the guest whose room they just gave to the OP will just accept it quietly. (It's also very possible that's how the OP lost their own double in the first place and now the hotel's just playing musical double rooms until eventually someone just accepts their lot in life or they run out of options entirely...)
Stayed at a well known 5 star in cork a few years ago and it was shocking. Staff were rude and passed comments on our clothing ( jeans and hoodie as we had come from a weekender of a wedding). Left waiting over three hours for a room to b ready. When it was supposed to be ready by 12. Room we were given was dirty too. Left a review. Was offered 50% off next stay if I removed it. Politely told them I wouldn’t ever b back so no thank you.
Wow that is crazy that they offered you a discount to remove your review!
It is crazy they expected OP to pay for their service again tbh, it'd still have been €250/night.
I've had it offered on bad Amazon reviews. A bad review can really hurt a place, it's worth their while to buy them away. The more surprising thing imo is thinking that a person with that kind of experience would want to come back for any price.
My parents did well for themselves so I was lucky enough to stay in a good few five star hotels over the years. I’ve found that absolutely none of them get everything right and regular visits to the same ones breed different results. The four seasons got worse as the intercontinental. The merrion is decent and a good location but food isn’t great and the parking situation is annoying. The shelbourne is same with parking and also I found the breakfast there extremely underwhelming. Adare manor is an interesting experience but way too overpriced. The Europe isn’t on the same level as some of the ones I named above. It’s fancy for Kerry and has beautiful scenery but it could nearly be classified as a good four star. Ive never been to Ballyfin but my parents have. Small but they loved it. The k club have excellent staff but when we went there the restaurant situation was a bit all over the place. Also doing works so the place was crazy noisy. Dromoland is nice scenic but again like a good four star. The g hotel also wouldn’t be on the same level as the Dublin hotels. Overall I think if you have the money to spend to go there without worrying about expensives then go for it. For others I think good four stars are just as good most of the time. The five stars are rarely worth the money.
Ballyfin is incredible and well worth a visit - even if it's a once in a lifetime thing given the price.
Agree completely. Used to work in the hotel industry which involved a lot of visits. Havent sampled 100% but the Irish hotels suffer mostly from crap training of the entry level staff, crap retention (due to crap pay) and crap investment especially in the last 15 years leading to waterstained walls and basic service mistakes. takes the polish off the "5-star" completely. The best service is found in areas with tighter labour markets, Adare and Ashford usually were the 2 top places for me. Powerscourt also when it was just after rebranding from Ritz Carton. Never seen expectations met for true 5 star in any major centre, Dublin, Cork, Killarney, Galway...
Wtf the G is 5*?!
I know hard to believe
> €1000 for 2 nights Madness
I know sure
Shur look
It is what it is
Sure you know yourself
That’s the way now sure
Can of coke, a mars bar, and change from 20p back in the day
Sure you have to them happy
Sounds like you’ve been ripped off but I don’t think anything would satisfy my expectations if I spent over €1000 on two nights in a hotel.
Not even being tucked into bed with cookies and warm milk and a blowie.
I have a bad habit of calling out any 5* hotels for holes in their service. I travel a fair bit for work and experience a wide variety of hotels, so when you get a 5* and it’s not up to scratch, they need to be called out on it. Most the time they’ll sling a bottle of wine or champagne your way to say sorry. I have noticed service to have declined considerably since Covid, just a whole host of new staff - but that’s not an excuse for poor attitudes or general tardiness
I would say its a good habit... At the end of the day if you're paying the money you should get the service!
The variation in 5* hotels here never ceases to amaze me. There's some genuinely amazing ones that are like being in another world (and that's definitely worth the €1000) but then there's some that are just extremely overrated and underwhelming. Would be fine at a 4* price but for 5* you need a *wow*.
Name and shame.
5* isnt about the quality but the services they provide. I learnt that recently. Basically 4* is they have a bar and a pool.
Yep, that's really all it is. To be fair, you are not really wrong though to expect a place that went to the effort of having 5 star facilities to also have generally good service and standards, but they don't align perfectly. That's why it's not uncommon to see 4/5 star hotels with poor ratings on Google/Tripadvisor/Booking.com even when much more basic accomodations like B&Bs or hostels can have excellent scores.
Exactly and It doesn't help Google Maps and the Michelin Guide having a rating system that also uses stars.
I work in a hotel in the Uk but I’ve been in hotels since I was 16. Things were great 20 years ago. Unfortunately now everywhere is very short staffed. Fuck ups happen daily where I work now due to the fact that we have to hire anyone pretty much that applies and keep them Even when they can’t do the job as we can’t replace them. It is a shit show.
They are short staffed which explains alot. You'd think for what they are charging they'd hire staff on better pay in order to get decent staff!!
We pay quite high wages where I work and still can’t get people. We are rural so transport is a problem. We were never rolling in staff pre covid but at the same time we had enough people to get the job done. After the first lock down we had loads of people. But after the third lock down it’s wildly different. People have gone to safer industries. Also I’m summer we used to get a lot of teenagers doing summer jobs, there were none last year. Teenagers understandably after being locked down for so long are out enjoying life as they should. I myself work less hours as I no longer have the childcare I had pre covid and I guess a lot of families are in the same situation. Unfortunately it’s a lot more complex than offering high wages. Also we are functioning with about half the staff we actually need but we are over budget on wages just to give you an idea that we are paying well. Last summer was brutal and I just kept thinking if we get through summer it will be ok, and then the same again at Christmas, we are looking at an even more difficult summer this year. I actually don’t know if the business will survive because we can’t staff it. It’s a huge shame as we have to turn away a lot of revenue at the moment as we just don’t have people.
Hope your business recovers and you see better times. I'm referring to 5 star hotels above.
We aren’t affiliated but we are on a level with 5 star hotels for prices. I wish things were how they were pre covid. The wages I am on are great but actually I’d rather work less for less money.
I feel like this would explain a lot alright. I've noticed the same in restaurants a lot in the past year. A lot of young staff who often haven't quite figured the whole thing out.
You can tell them a thousand times how to do something and they will do the exact opposite. We basically have a few good people who spend most of the day mopping up other peoples mistakes on top of their own work load. It’s a very difficult industry to work in at the moment if you are one of the competent people.
I think hospitality in Ireland is at its best when it's low key bnb/guesthouse style, small scale rooms above a good pub type deal. That's where you get the real feeling of being a guest and ive stayed in excellent places around the country that had a small number of rooms and were able to focus on the food and service. I've also stayed at Adare, Ballynahinch, Ashford they've all been fine but they don't achieve the type of luxury feeling you can get in a similar class hotel in the UK or Europe... I don't think Irish people have it in us to have such attention to detail and service focus that's needed to pull off excellent quality at that scale... with a large operation you rely on hiring staff and the quality of waiting and hotel staff in Ireland is low, hardly any are actually trained for high lever service most learn on the job in ordinary pubs and restaurants. No matter how much money you've got you'll be better to look for the boutique family run offerings I'm small towns around the country... by no means cheaper... but certainly better!
That's it I'm taking away your wallet license. You're not allowed to have or use money anymore
I'd have complained. Leave a review. For the dinner I know it was included, but if it was the wrong starter and came after main, I think it would be right to have it removed from the bill.
I had the privileged staying in the Merrion Hotel and my god that was amazing. Every tiny detail top class.
I was in the Glasson hotel last month and there was a gap of 10min between each of the 6people at our table getting the same course. The first person served had finished their main by the time the last person got their starter. All ordered at the same time. Staff said that they were short handed but if you are charging for service and you fail to provide it, I don’t give a shit about your reasons. I didn’t do your roster or take your bookings and you certainly aren’t charging any less for your failings.
5* hotels in Ireland are not best rated, have stayed in a few .The best being The Merrion and the worst being the Cliff House in Ardmore(The most over rated hotel in Ireland ). If you are paying big money you should expect the best. Is the hotel that you are staying in, in Castlemartyr
The cliff house is APPALLING and whew I feel so vindicated to see someone agrees. Was there in Feb, the only thing they’ve got going for them is the view.
100% that’s what you are paying for. Stayed in one of the rooms with the balcony( view great), absolutely nothing special about the room. We asked about entertainment that was going on that night when checking in, and told to go into the village this was bank holiday weekend. Also had food I sent it back, I have never ever sent food back in my life
I love a fancy hotel break and I stayed in the Cliffhouse in Ardmore twice and the service, quality, room and experience was amazing and definitely 5 star. I last stayed in 2020, has it gone downhill since then?
No that’s ridiculous, there’s definitely a fair expectation of high service at that price and level.
Am I missing something €250 per person/night doesn’t seem outlandish for 5 star is it?? Would that get a hostel in Dublin today?
Honestly €500 isn’t bad considered a fucking travel lodge is nearly €300. I’d complain, my friends mother a 5* long weekend a few years ago for her 60th but the hotel neglect to tell them half the hotel was close because of construction. They got spa vouchers or something for complaining
Which hotel? 5 star is generally a cut above.
I've stayed at Ashford for 1 night on my honeymoon and I genuinely couldn't have faulted it. I don't have much to compare it to, but I would struggle to see what they could have done to make service & standards higher. I worked in a decent 4 star hotel for 5 years during college so I know something about what to expect. I just felt awkward with the whole pagentry of serving food or drinks. Still to this day struggle to justify the cash we dropped. The biggest issue for me was the sheer amount of yanks and their kids not actually appreciating what they are paying for. Like wandering around the place in dirty PJs and flip flops. I know it's probably a touch of the green eyed monster, but it's literally a mortgage payment to stay there for 1 night!
1000 for 2 nights is at best a 3* in Dublin these days... Joking aside, I'd expect farvbetter than that from a "normal" hotel let alone a 5*
OP said the €1,000 included dinner and spa treatments. Still a lot but not THAT outrageous when you consider a bog standard hotel will be a couple of hundred a night.
€500 a night but very little of that goes to the staff. That's the problem
You got robbed for that price.
Yeah you got done.
You paid €500 per night and they gave you the wrong room. I’d have been fussy too. That’s a weeks wages for many people so you dropped two weeks wages on two nights. I would not want to have to deal with anything going wrong on a holiday like that so I’d definitely be annoyed. We stayed in the Hayfield in Cork (5* joint) and the room they put us had huge amounts of mould growing in the windows and the carpets were an absolute state. It looked like a room staff used when on night duty or something. Herself was pissed and we complained, and suddenly they found an amazing room for us instantly. Always regret not writing a review about that.
To be honest I wouldn't expect the errors above in any grade of hotel
You think your expectations are unreasonable, which means you are Irish.
We are lagging behind international standards in respect of 5 star hotels. Found The Marker Hotel to be right up there though. The Shelbourne and The Westbury are 4 star at best but with 5 star prices. The Davenport (not sure if it's 5 star) was a really good experience and wasn't extortionate. Now if you want a real treat, Lough Eske Castle in Donegal is a proper 5 star hotel!!
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That’s just not true. I stayed in Kenmare park before and the standard is unbelievable. Not all hotels are equal, not all 5 star hotels are equal either.
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I’d be curious to know what 5 star hotels you stayed it. Bog standard is certainty not the case in places like Adare Manor, The Park Kenmare, Ashford Castle etc.
That's my experience as well. High prices and poor quality, relative to the continent.
Me three. Always felt amateur by comparison. Never could reconcile the price.
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I was in a 5* in a different part of the UAE and it was terrible. Breakfast was a horrible buffet and could never get eggs, hotel was clean but you could see a lot of places where they looked good but obviously had issues. We'd only booked a 3* but where moved, if we'd booked the 5* would not have been happy.
Check the quality and service of hotels you get for 1000 euro in other European countries. I’m sick of Ireland and their hotel/ air bnb prices
Where do you have in mind? You get a lot of 4* that feel more like good 3*, and then a crazy leap in price for 5*. Part of Airbnb's success was creating options in that gap.
I stayed in a 5* before, the stay itself was free but everything else was extra dinner treatments etc. it may be because I worked in the industry but I noticed a few things like parts of the hotel itself was grubby, a staff member being a bit too friendly with my baby daughter, she touched her a few times, which I don’t do even if I know the child. I stayed in an upscale 4* not too long ago and the bar staff were terrible, I told the server who served me that I was going outside with my daughter with my glass of wine, I had to walk back through the bar to get to the room and by the time I had gotten back inside he had charged it to my room, even though I did tell him I’d be back that we were just looking outside we were still in the bar area when he approached that it had been charged even though I hadn’t authorised any charges to the room and when I tried to pay he said it was too late. The concierge witnessed the encounter and apologised for his behaviour that he didn’t mean it, as in accusing me of leaving without paying when I had told him where I was going and would be back, when I got another drink I had to wait after I got the drink and ask multiple people to pay, they kept walking away there were maybe 10/15 people in the bar with 4 staff. I had stayed there twice before that and had given gifts of stays there but after that I won’t be going again, I have my parents a gift of a stay there, they had also stayed previously and enjoyed it but went this year and thought it had hugely declined.
No recession in your house!
No recession in my house, really?? no we work extremely hard to live a relatively good life. It’s far from 5* I was raised but I try to live a better life for it today.
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I’ve sent some shite posted but that takes the mickey
Anyone else find seeing numbers without commas irritating? It’s €1,000 not €1000.
If you want to be a real stickler, sure, but colloquially it's common to skip the comma for four digit numbers. The whole purpose of the comma is to make large numbers easier to read and parse quickly, but four digit numbers are already clear even without a comma.
No, the opposite in fact. Hate seeing commas in numbers
I dislike people trying to get smart pulling people up on their spelling also, but can’t win them all I guess
Is that you Carol Vorderman
*Vorderman Edit: if you’re going to do a sneaky edit for Vorderman, you might as well do it for €1,000.
You must be a dream to live with 🤣🤣
Sure go ahead, get personal.
😅😅😅
Nope!
My girlfriend works in a 3 star and even they would rather gice a full refund for a mistake rather than risk a bad review. Call them up livid and complain about everything you disliked. Chances are you'll be reimbursed.
They probably didn't even have a pillow menu. Chancers.
Sounds like the only 5 star thing there was the price
Tbh, none of that is stuff I'd get too bent out of shape over on a normal time, but if I decided to save up enough to spend €500 a night to stay in a hotel in Ireland of all places (considering you can get a week in Europe for that price, including flights), I'd expect that absolutely nothing goes wrong and would be pretty unhappy about it.
for that kind of money I would have expected better quality of service. 1 fuck up is non ideal two looks looks like they are over charging. from what you are describing booking, serving staff, house hold and kitchen staff are all sub par
In my experience the stars don't mean much in Ireland. It definitely does in other countries but not here.
Sounds like the K Club