The Glendalough Hotel

We went to the bistro bar for lunch after spending several hours browsing around the beautiful Glendalough What a terrible experience. Our eldest child [ 3 & half ] asked for a cheese and ham toasted sandwich . We were told they wouldn't toast it , The sandwich came out and what a sight it was, 2 pieces of a white pan smothered in butter and filled with fatty ham and cheese , I ordered venison sausages and you might as well be eating pure rubber , The sandwich was cost€9,95 and €1.50 extra for the cheese , the 2 venison sausages and a scoup of sloppy mash potatoes cost €22 Such a rip off I questioned the girl at the bar about the €1.50 Charge for the cheese and she sent for the manager This abrupt and ignorant man arrived at the bar and attitude was shocking After a big argument he deducted the €1.50 CHEESE CHARGE So I had to ask the girl again about the rubber venison sausages , and guess what ??? This ignorant manager landed to the bar again and after another argument he deducted €10 towards this meal And not to mention €3 for a small jug of cordial ?????? After our experience here we would advise ye not to dart the door of this Hotel See the managers deduction below on the bill

The hotel is old and dated. Our room really needed a good overhaul. The curtains did not meet in the middle and on one end the hook was broken so daylight streamed in. The blind had dead flies wound up in it when we put it down. The bed sheets were too small for the bed and did not cover the sides. There furniture was very poor and badly marked, chairs had stains in them & just generally felt very drab. We were checked in by a girl at reception who was wearing a shirt that had clearly not been washed for many days. Only one of the staff was friendly, the others either just looked at us and didn’t speak or dropped their head. Both the building and staff need quite a bit of work done to bring it up to acceptable levels.

There is a reason that so many of the recent reviews have been so scathing, because they are absolutely bang on the nail and everything that people have said below, was what we also experienced. In a setting like this, of such outstanding natural beauty, this is a travesty! It is something that frankly speaking, the tourist board of Ireland should step in to manage. Because that is the inherent problem here: there is no discernible management on show! The place is staffed by people who don't look much out of school and who are doing their level best in a situation of neglect and I urge anyone who still decides to stay here, please be understanding to the staff! I stayed here about 20 years ago, and it was a go to place as both a hotel and destination. But whatever has been allowed to happen to sink this place, is shocking. Every expense seems to be spared, there isn't enough staff and those that there are, clearly lack training and good management/guidance. The breakfast: the absolute worst I've had in Ireland! So, you're asked to wait to be seated and having waited quite a while, it was eventually the chef who told us: just take a seat, as he was placing cutlery out near the reception. The tables were dirty and after walking around trying to find one, we decided it would be quicker to clean one. I returned to where the cutlery was and had to re-clean them! Then the food: it felt like it was being rationed! The bread selection was running low and had run out of soda bread. My wife asked for soda bread, the server (more about her later) took the bread bin away. It took an age for it to return and when it did, the soda bread was frozen! The buffet had run out of several items, which no one had checked! So, I pointed this out to the other server and it took forever for items to come out and when they did they were oily and of really low quality. Guests were left just standing around looking bemused. The earlier server referred to, never reappeared after taking the bread bin away, because she had to go on reception and when we called over a problem with the TV, guess who came to fix it? So breakfast was manned by a poor kid who looked 15 or 16, whom no one has trained on how to prioritise. He was running to fill the buffet, clean tables, sit people, handle queries for a service of 30 people. It was so bad, I overheard one guest saying, 'I'd prefer we didn't come here!' and indeed the next day, we didn't bother going and vacated the misery early! The times we came in and out of the hotel from walks, the open area outside the bar were frequently uncleaned and dirty crockery/glasses left there for hours. Indeed on out last night as we headed out to dine elsewhere because Casey's was as nondescript and miserable as the rest of the hotel, we overheard a guest saying to a staff member, 'Could I ask where our order is, because we've been waiting over an hour now!' The room was dated. The bath tub dangerous to use as the grip on the tub is worn