Ballymaloe House Hotel

Wonderful food. Wonderful service. You need to make a reservation. Even though the kitchen was swamped food arrived quickly. The mixed pickle with the pork terrine was not very spicy. It was delicious. Their cider was a great complement to the meal.

This is a difficult review to write as we are unsure how to rate it. We both found the dinner and breakfast just wonderful - full of flavour, lovely choices, attention to detail and just great service. Friday night buffet starter is just such an superb idea and, of course, the sweet trolley - different choices and you can try anything. Breakfast - real orange juice, gorgeous scones, fresh smoked mackerel, a lovely full Irish. I could go on and on about the food here. The staff are really friendly, helpful and attentive. The house is set in beautiful countryside and looked fabulous for Christmas. The bed was lovely and comfortable, the room decor pleasant and the bathroom was of a high standard with lovely fluffy towels. So all the above is worthy of a five score. We're just not sure if the bedroom itself is value for money. There are none of the facilities that you get in other 4 star hotels e.g. television, coffee/tea making facilities. Whilst you could ring and get coffee and tea at any time - sometimes it's just nice to make your own and drink it in bed whilst relaxing in the morning. Some of the furniture also looked a little worn and battered. So, it is this and just this bit alone, that has bought it down from 5 to 4. We would go and eat there again any time - absolutely fabulous. We won't stay there again - we just didn't get the luxury feeling.

I dont recall ever writing a bad review, but very much feel the need to write of our very poor experience at Ballymaloe. We travelled from the UK to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary We were given a courtyard room which seemed ok but rather dated. No tea and coffee making let alone any special touches. We discovered the following morning that our room was directly above the housekeepers station and the noise from them and the equipment they were moving around was so loud it seemed they were in the room with us. Dinner was at 7.30 but by 9.30 we and other customers had only been served the first course (of five). No explanation given, nothing offered, not even a glass of wine even though after 2 hours our bottle was almost finished. People were leaving before they had finished their meal because they had taxis waiting. The dinner when it did arrive was nice, not great just nice. The cheese course was 3 tiny morcels and the desert trolly was like something out of the 70's. Not the fine dining experience we had hoped for. Dinner on the 2nd night - a choice of one of two soups or hummus to start! Second course was a buffet which came as a surprise. Tables were called to the buffet by turn which was reminiscent of school dinners. The buffet was excellent with oysters, mussels, clams, lobster, crab plus terrines and salads. Again though the other courses underwhelming. Early in the marning my husband and I became violently ill. We had not eaten anywhere else as we were booked in to Ballymaloe for 2 night bed, breakfast and dinner so there was absolutely no doubt where this had come from. We phoned reception at 10am as we had a tour booked and had to cancel and explained how ill we both were. We were brought some soda water but we couldn't even keep that down. At 12 o'clock when we were due to check out I phoned reception to explain that we were too ill to leave the hotel yet so they eventually let us have the room until 1.30, obviously not wanting us in reception or the lounge because of the state we were in and especially as they had a wedding that day. When we left the hotel we were headed to my brothers house to celebrate his 70th birthday, a journey which should have taken approx 1 hour actually took 2hrs 20mins owing to making several stops in layby's for obviously reasons. Arrived at my brothers and went straight to bed for 2 days as we were so ill missing all of the celebrations. All Ballymaloe would say was it was 'unfortunate' and 'we take this very seriously'. Didn't help us much. When we arrived back home we sent an email asking what measures they had in place as they 'took it very seriously' which they couldn't confirm. Fern Allen said they would refund us the nights accommodation for which we paid E.650 but in fact only refunded E.427.50 as they unwilling to refund the cost of the dinner which caused the poisoning. As one other reviewer said this place is stuck in the past, operating on the legacy

I had dreamed of staying here and having a meal or two for years and it finally came true. I was able to book a package that included dinner and breakfast with an overnight stay. It is an experience and it is meant to be a break--nothing is in a hurry. We were actually greeted in the parking lot by a family member who had just driven up and carried a bag for us to the house. Incredibly kind. It's such a sweet place and it is old world and relaxing. Voya bath products, a fabulous shower, turn down service. Really lovely. Dinner was amazing and our server was INCREDIBLE and KIND! Breakfast was the lovely as well. I think my only disappointment was that check in/out felt a little transactional, which didn't match the rest of the service. They weren't unkind, they just weren't more than ok. As we dragged our two bags up the stairs I was admonished "why didn't you call me?" . I told her than frankly I didn't know that I could or should. I would do it again and I would stay two nights so that I really had time to explore the property.

High expectations of Ballymaloe based on reputation. Sadly not met during our 2 night family stay. Beautiful setting and hopes were high as we pulled into the car park but very quickly dashed by the rude and offhand English receptionist who left us all quite bewildered by her attitude and completely ruined our initial impressions. Never experienced a ‘welcome’ like it. Rooms are nicely furnished and spacious but no tea/coffee making facilities or even a welcoming piece of shortbread (unlike everywhere else we stayed in Ireland). Whole impression is of a penny pinching profit driven enterprise. A coffee ordered via room service attracted a 7 euros ‘tray charge’. Disgrace at these prices. Pre-dinner drinks on terrace pleasant enough but no nibbles on offer and cocktails underwhelming. Dinner a real let down given the history and reputation of the place. Bland, boring food and the fabled dessert trolley distinctly lacking proper puddings. Overall very disappointed.

Sublime food to die for . Beautiful surroundings and the weather was simply glorious. We stayed in the river room which was pretty and comfortable with double doors opening onto the garden . However we were a bit disappointed with the bathroom ( 4 star room versus 3 star bathroom) A special thanks goes to all the team we encountered who were very kind and attentive. We will definitely be back