Racket Hall Country House Golf & Conference Hotel

We booked this for a family night away as the location and price range suited everybody in the group of 8. I would usually book 5 star or 4 star at least when staying away, so I knew beforehand that we would need to adjust our expectations. We received a few mails from the hotel prior to arriving. I think these were meant to be welcome mails but felt more like instruction manuals. The price was fairly reasonable compared to what we would normally pay for a night away (€220 for a suite). When we arrived the hotel had a bit of character and the lady on reception was lovely. The suite itself was reasonably big and had an electric fire. The decor was seriously dated and felt like Hyacinth Bucket decorated it. We booked a meal in the restaurant and our table was in what can be best destroyed as a cold hallway outside the toilets. The toilets themselves are located beside an entrance, so whilst I was outside it was impossible to not notice people using the toilet (if it wasn’t For the frosted glass nothing would have been left to the imagination). The standard of the food for the meal was poor (cheap quality and poorly cooked). The service was an absolute shambles (mainly young staff who were clearly new and not properly trained. Again they were friendly but that didn’t make much difference when orders were mixed up and most of our group was finished eating by the time some got theirs. My Caesar salad arrived without dressing and the chicken/bacon was undercooked. They apologised and offered free desserts but then splitting the bill and paying was a disaster so I’m fairly certain we paid for the desserts. Breakfast was an absolute disaster also. The simplest of orders were messed up. Whoever is managing the kitchen needs retraining. There were signs plastered around the place about strict checkin and checkout times. These were totally unnecessary as we had no desire to stay until checkout let alone to stay beyond it. On checkout reception was very friendly and efficient. The lady apologise profusely for the restaurant service. It was an experience but not one I’ll repeat again. If you want to stay somewhere that feels like Mrs Bucket designed it and Basil Fawlty is managing it then this is the place for you.

Pure Chaos: Pre the pandemic my husband and I encountered frequent bad service here waiting including 2 hours one evening for a meal that still has not arrived or a response to our complaint following this! Anyhow in the hope it had improved we decided to try it again & you might ask why - because this is where I met my husband. It is special to us. However The word chaos does no justice for what we experienced. Absolutely ridiculous! So many staff on duty but no one knowing what to do and it wasn’t that busy. Credit to HR they were all in uniform and well presented but you need a training plan! Ordered our meal. No drinks order taken. 4 glasses dropped to the table but no water. Ordered starters and mains for me & my husband, mains only for my two kids. 45 mins later all 4 mains arrived & no starters! I said to the f&b assistant that we had ordered starters and he was oh ye didn’t get them. I said no but take them off the order we will go with our mains. Few mins later after serving our mains he arrives with my husbands starter. No sign of mine. We sent him away he said the kitchen thought you wanted all together! My sons order was wrong. Supposed to be mash & veg. Got fries. No problem he changed it. Got mash and no vegetables! Why put veg on your menu? My own order was wrong. Ordered Vegetable stir fry with rice. Got chicken stir fry with rice & chips. I’m not a vegetarian so I ate it. My husband got fish & chips. Supposed to come with mushy peas but no sign! Burnt chicken balls instead of chicken nuggets. No one checked on us, no offer of dessert menu, tea coffee - nothing! Had the starters been removed from our bill when we went to pay - nope! Manager came out to make the voids but offered no apology but to be fair to this girl I expect she was busy dealing with complaints and sorting the mix up in orders given that so many appeared to be going back in.

I have to start off this review on such a high, I booked a deal online which included the room and two course meal, The hotel were extremely helpful to help me arrange a room upgrade also. The room was spacious and so clean. It had a fire place which was an absolute amazing touch. When we arrive the rugby was on so we were met by the receptionist area have a little roar at the telly which made us laugh. The food was nice, we even got offered two glasses of Prosecco for Valentine’s Day. The staff in the restaurant were absolutely lovely but just really run off their feet as there was a dinner dance on the noise in the bar / restaurant was extremely off puting before they went into their function room. Overall the trip was great breakfast was really tasty and we will return

I had not visited Racket Hall in many years, walking in to reception it looked as though it had been updated since I was last there but sadly I was to be disappointed. Whilst the rooms are very clean & they are comfortable they are a little dated. As we were using it as a pitstop on our way elsewhere the room as fine however the food was utterly shocking. Starters were clearly Musgraves/Pallas Foods at best, bland tasteless nothing and the mains were no improvement, one of them was straight out of the microwave, the other a deep fryer. The manager on duty to his credit seemed to be aware of the issues that exist, it felt like he heard these complaints a lot and we ended up going elsewhere. Breakfast the next day was no improvement. Two domestic toasters on a sideboard to make your own toast and one with a broken handle. The breakfast was super hot, as in microwave hot and the mushrooms I am sure were deep fried, crispy on the outside oily on the inside! All in all the food was not worth it at all. Also the rules, statements like check-in strictly 3pm, there are nicer ways to deliver that message, try "unfortunately we cannot accommodate early check-ins". Soften the language so that people feel welcome. The staff were great, friendly & helpful but on balance I would not be returning any time soon

I was attending a wedding in another hotel but booked into Racket Hall, our first mistake. Wedding was at 2pm but was informed check-in was not until 3pm I was not even offered a room to change in so had to change in the car. On our return at 11.40 no one was on reception and myself and another lady searched for someone to speak with. There was a band playing but the people on the door knew nothing about anyone who worked there. Eventually I found the most rude 'Manager' Jason I have ever had the misfortune to encounter. He completely blanked me when I informed him we were in earlier in the day. He actually turned to another person who like myself was looking for a member of staff and he said it was because I was being rude for stating that I had not been offered a room just to change for the wedding. He is the most rudest person to encounter and I would suggest in no uncertain terms that this individual be promptly sent on a customer relations course. I have never written a poor review about anywhere before but this was truly a horrendous experience and feel that the owners of Racket Hall and other patrons be made aware of my experience. I will definitely not be returning.

Visited the Racket Hall last Friday with my parter to which we were both pleasantly surprised. The staff were so friendly and helped us with our every request. The room was clean with a fantastic garden view and very comfy bed!! We ate in the bar and were certainly left satisfied, portions were good and prices were reasonable. There was libe music in the bar afterwards ehich brought the place to life. Its great to see the world finally getting back to normal and life being restored in the hospitality industry. Breakfast the next morning was good with lots of choices to choose from including buffet options,carvery and made to order dishes. Overall we were very pleased with our paddy's day stay and would definitely return with friends.

My wife and I booked into the hotel for a midweek break and were looking forward to it However at short notice we received a phone call from the hotel cancelling our reservation. This is very disappointing and I would have expected better, based on their advertising. We were told that the reason for our cancellation is to accommodate asylum seekers. The hotel showed no trust or loyalty to us. Not to be recommended and we will not be seeking a future reservation. Seamus & Nenette.

Two kids in charge not their fault .. management didn’t care … poor kids on minimum wage left to deal with an array of clients… serving drinks, food and dealing with weary travellers with a back of frontline staff unwilling or unable to accommodate requests ..

From the moment we arrive to the time we left we were treated so warmly and welcomed by all the staff, who always treated us with a smile and kind words. Our bedroom was warm and comfortable. The food was outstanding. Best meal we all ate in ages. We loved the location and not having to worry about parking. We cannot recommend Racket Hall enough and have already booked our return stay.