Oranmore Lodge Hotel, Conference and Leisure Centre

The reception staff were excellent: super friendly and constructive and professional when dealing with our concerns. The place turned out to be a pleasant surprise. It looked like it was in an industrial estate, and we weren’t expecting much, but it’s a secluded country house type building, well maintained and clean, with large bedrooms, a bathroom with a bath, adequate power points, and fast, free internet. There’s also a spa and pool, though sadly we didn’t get to use them. At around €90 per room per night, it was a bargain these days, and a great little place away from Galway city’s prices and bustle. Dinner in the Bistro was a letdown. My Caesar salad was very insipid, just chopped lettuce with mayonnaise dressing on the side. The “buttermilk marinated chicken” burger had a pleasant chicken breast, but the deep fried, buttermilk marinated breadcrumbs had a coarse sandpaper texture. My wife and daughter fared better with the chowder and mixed seafood dishes, which I wished I’d ordered. Breakfast was poor too. It was a la carte, not a buffet, and although the service was excellent, the food was badly cooked. For example, I asked for well done eggs and bacon, but they came almost raw. It’s a lovely place overall, but be careful what you order for dinner.

The staff were really friendly and polite, and the price was good. But room 4 had no heat on and no control to switch it on. The bath drain was rusty and water was leaking. I meant to tell someone, but we barely spent any time there and never got the chance.

The building is pretty, and Shannon, the small English girl behind the bar, was lovely. She went out of her way to make us happy after we had a little moan, so the service from her was five stars. The rest of the staff, owners included, all seemed sad. We stayed one night with my husband. The place was average for what it cost, and the menu was okay. We shared the duck, which was so-so for the price. My husband had been looking forward to a Guinness all day, but was unhappy with it and couldn't finish it. It tasted a little like vinegar, maybe.

The room was appalling. Our room at the end of the hallway was shabby and looked like a last-minute squeeze-in. The sheets were stained, there was black mold on the bathroom mat, and there was no air conditioning. The fridge water smelled like sausages or something. The tiny, outdated television in the corner had only one channel, despite the hotel saying it included “television service.” None of the pool showers worked. For a four-star hotel at that price, we expected much better. I won't book again. Booking was a huge hassle too. It took four separate phone calls to get a confirmation. On the first call, I was given a price. On the second, they said a manager would call after the weekend with a “better price rate.” When nobody got back to me, I called myself, and they tried to charge double the original quote. Then, a week before our stay, they called to say they'd charge my account for three nights if I didn't arrive before midnight. They said their system showed I was booked for that night, but I had the confirmation email right in front of me with the correct date, a week later. It was so much unnecessary stress that I felt like cancelling the whole thing.