Bunratty Castle Hotel & Leisure Club, BW Premier

The pool and gym are awesome, and the hotel looks really nice and modern after its update. Everyone on staff was friendly. There is still construction going on, so it can be noisy, but that's part of the process and they keep it to daytime.

We won't be coming back. For the two mains, one starter and three sparkling waters, we paid €61, which felt excessive for the quality and portions. The meal was extremely disappointing, and Bunratty has several good restaurants this place would need to catch up with. We came for lunch on 30/05/26 after hearing the hotel had been renovated, hoping to try an interesting new menu. Instead, the options were very limited and unimaginative. There was just one vegetarian starter, with nothing else for our vegetarian friend except soup. The waitress later offered a bowl of pasta, which our friend declined. The menu gave no guidance for vegetarian, lactose-free, gluten-free, low-fat or halal choices. We ordered fish and chips, with the chips cooked in beef dripping, a regular burger, and a Caesar salad starter as a main. The waitress had to check whether the salad could be served as a main. She knew the person ordering it was vegetarian but didn't mention that it contained bacon. The food itself was poor too. The fish had an odd bright yellow coating, the same colour as the lemon wedge, and it put off the other diner. My burger was two skinny patties stacked together and overcooked. The plates had no salad or garnish, the pale chips were tasteless and seemed like cheap bought-in ones, and no condiments were offered. Halfway through, we finally got vinegar in a small vase-like container, which was bizarre. We never got the mayonnaise we asked for, and they didn't have the cordial we wanted. After we finished, a manager asked how things were. We explained how disappointing the whole experience had been. He said lunch service wasn't due to start for a few weeks and thanked us for the feedback, then left it there. He asked if we wanted anything else but didn't offer to comp anything. Even a complimentary coffee would have been a nice gesture, though at that point we wouldn't have taken it. We went elsewhere for dessert. The waitress seemed untrained, so I don't blame her for the service, but the staff need proper training. The restaurant should use local artisan food, explain dietary options on the menu, stop skimping on ingredients and show more imagination. If the lunch menu isn't ready to launch, they shouldn't launch it. The head chef needs the scope and budget to make a menu that can compete with the other restaurants nearby. One star for the poor service, low food quality and lacklustre menu.

We asked for a refund and left without staying the night. We couldn't face finding out what else might go wrong. This was a shocking and appalling experience, and I'm giving the hotel one star only because there's no zero-star option. Our room wasn't ready when we arrived to check in at 5pm, even though the booking confirmation said it would be ready from 3pm. When we were eventually let in, someone was still hoovering. They were rude and didn't apologise. The door lock was faulty and needed a hard bang to close, but we were prepared to put up with that. Then dinner became another problem. Reception hadn't told the restaurant we were booked, leaving everyone in an awkward limbo, and the waitress was rude as well. The restaurant felt cold and clinical. Two of our three main courses arrived cold and had to go back. I asked to speak to a manager. She noted the faults and offered us a different room. Somehow the second room was worse: the toilet wouldn't flush, and there were blood stains on the side of the bed. By then we'd been there three hours, were at boiling point, and had had enough. Avoid, avoid, avoid!

Dinner here was a real letdown. Such a shame, but it was an extremely poor experience.