Castlelyons Holidays from £216

The room was not very clean e.g. cobwebs near the toilet, the toilet seat didn't fit properly and was fitted at an angle. The shower was poor and not very powerful. On arrival at 8.00 p.m after travelling some distance we found that the hotel could not/would not provide even light refreshments, last orders for food was 7.45 pm. Breakfast the next morning was chaotic, it was busy but only one member of staff was on duty. Our cooked breakfast arrived eventually and was cold. Breakfast did improve slightly for the remainder of our stay. The quality of food served for dinner on our second night was very good but we made sure our order was in by 6.00 pm. There was a contamination issue with the water in Youghal and bottled water had to be used, the hotel had very little bottled water and ran out, we had to buy our own water. There was no ice for drinks at the bar, it was the only establishment that we visited that did not buy ice for customers . The quality of the draught beers were not of a high standard. The parking was excellent as is the location. The staff were very good but there were very few of them. The hotel standard is a two/three star, certainly not a four star establishment. It's a shame as the hotel could be so much better.

Beautiful place, awesome service. Such a great location, beautiful property, amazing dinner, delicious breakfast. Ballymaloe is an experience not to be missed. Particularly loved the water kefir at breakfast, the various fruits prepared in different ways, oatmeal, big jug of cream! Staff were friendly and attentive. Highly recommended.