Dunboyne Castle Hotel & Spa

For the price, I would not recommend the Dunboyne. The room was a standard hotel room and had a very stiff bed. The food (both the restaurant and the breakfast buffet) were both akin to frozen food. Overall, we were expecting a “castle experience” and felt like we were at a standard 2-star hotel or motel.

Everything was great, the only issue was that the walls were not very well sound proofed, snoring one side and kids the other. The bed was very comfortable though.

Our 4 night stay was thoroughly enjoyed, especially during our sessions booked in the Spa. The breakfasts were very good and we had a lovely evening meal in the Bar, where Staff were especially friendly and helpful. The July downside was our experience in The Ivy Restaurant where, on a Saturday night, it was incredibly noisy. After sitting at pur table for 5 minutes, being unable to hear ourselves think, let along hear ourselves speak, we decided to make our apologies and left, going to The Bar downstairs to eat instead. Advice: there are specialist Companies who can help with your noise problem in The Ivy Restaurant; noise absorption and noise reduction Specialists. Instead of the noise from talking bouncing off and around so many hard surfaces, until it becomes unbearable, there are simple things like adding materials to Decor to absorb sound. We would not choose to eat in The Ivy Restaurant, unless noise reduction improvements were made.

A

Our stay at the hotel was overall just about acceptable. Nothing was fundamentally wrong, and we did have a good time, but it didn’t quite meet expectations in several areas. The food was quite average across the board. Breakfast in particular was rather limited in selection, and while everything was fine, nothing really stood out. The pub food was similar — generally OK. The fish and chips were actually quite good, but most of the other dishes were fairly ordinary. Service was a bit mixed. The breakfast staff were friendly and welcoming, which we appreciated. However, the experience at reception was less consistent — most of the ladies came across as somewhat lukewarm, and one or two interactions felt outright rude. Another downside was the noise insulation. The walls are extremely thin, and you can hear almost everything from neighboring rooms, which did affect the comfort of our stay. That said, the hotel does offer good value for money, and for a short stay it works. However, given the overall experience, we would likely choose a different hotel in the area next time.