The Glendalough Hotel

I ate lunch in the Glendalough Hotel recently and was not impressed. I expected better. There was no atmosphere in the dining room but the server I had was a lovely pleasant young foreign girl. I would like to try the restaurant again as I have heard very good reports of the food from others. There was no soya milk or almond milk available to I had to go elsewhere for tea as I am a vegan. Soya milk is a necessity in this day and age and so is proper vegan food.

Just back from magical Glendalough. We stayed two nights in the Glendalough Hotel on their DB&B package. We got the bus from Dublin and it was only 1 hr 20 mins. We arrived at the Glendalough Visitors Centre and the hotel sat directly behind it in a beautiful idyllic setting. We did one of the many lovely walks and then had lunch in Casey's Bar in the hotel. The first thing we noticed was that it was very busy because it was Sunday but the staff were absolutely fantastic. Kaitlyn and Szle were marvellous, despite having to multitask between the bar and reception. They were also extremely informative and were very happy to answer questions about local walks etc. We checked into our room and literally gasped when we opened the door at our picture perfect view onto the valley and monastic city. The room was clean and bright. Later in the evening we felt very comfortable in the capable hands of Mike over dinner. He was great at explaining the vegan options and telling us what vegetarian dishes could be veganised also. Over the nights wr had hearty veg soup, a spectacular tomato based risotto with beautifully cooked and garnished asparagus and a vegetable pasta dish. The carrot cake was amazing too and everything vegan. I think it would b3 wonderful if they also added a tofu stirfry dish and a vegan pie with all the trimmings, as we would love ti gi back for 3 nights next time and many hotels do a separate vegan menu so there is plenty of choice. Mijebwa grear af passing on his local knowledge and we went back to a hotel in Laragh after he told us they housed first editions of Ulysses and other famous novels. Josef on the bar was also wonderful. Yes, the hotel is a little rough around the edges and I had a desire to redesign what would have originally been a foyer behind the reception area, as it's now just dead space. However, the friendliness and professionalism of the staff, quality of the food and idyllic setting means we cannot waits to return

Outrageous price gouging at their food stall by the lake in "the Barn". Small (tiny) ice creams were 3.95, the tub was circa 200 ml and was filled just over half way, about 120 ml at most. This is the type of tourist gouging that Tripadvisor is designed to highlight. Sprinkles on the ice cream were 75 cents. No, that's not a typo. Yes they were charging 75 cents for sprinkles. I'm all for covering overheads but most places in south Dublin charge 20 cents. This is like something from a bygone era where places think that they can get away with this. For clarity this is not water service. You pay 3.95 for 120 ml of ice cream in a paper cup.