Carton House, a Fairmont Managed Hotel 5 stars

We have just returned from a night away at Carton House and I was really blown away by the fantastic staff. On entering, the doorman walked us into the reception area and introduced us to the lovely Ryan, he chatted with us while we waited on being called to check-in. Arthur checked us in and again very friendly and helpful he just made you feel at ease. After check-in we headed to our beautiful Deluxe King room with balcony, very nice and spacious. We found the bathrobes were very rough to the touch and a little thread bare in places. We had booked ahead for some spa treatments, unfortunately there was a mix up with the reservation and my husband did not get his treatments which was very disappointing. The treatment I had was lovely but I did feel bad for my husband. Later we went to the Courtyard bar for a pre dinner drink, beautiful area but lacked atmosphere, I think a pianist or some music would help, our cocktails were good and again the staff were lovely. We had booked Kathleen's Bar for dinner as the other restaurants were closed. On arriving we were greeted warmly and shown to our table, our server was called Davis, honestly he was amazing, efficient and knowledgeable about the food and the wine. We ordered a selection of breads and meat, they were fantastic, our mains were also very nice. Unfortunately this is where our pleasant experience ended in Kathleen's, they were busy, Davis was serving other guests and another server, I did not catch her name came took our dinner plates and our wine glasses, even though we still had wine left in the bottle sitting beside our table, thankfully Davis saw this and went got us fresh glasses and poured the remainder of the wine for us. Next the lady came back and asked what we would like for dessert, I said we haven't seen the menu yet as we had just finished our mains, she offered us a menu and before we had time to look at it she came back again to ask if we would like dessert, to be honest we felt so rushed and under pressure that we left without ordering dessert and went to the Courtyard Bar to finish our drinks. We were in and out in less than 80 minutes. It just put such a sour note on a lovely evening. The following morning we had breakfast in the Morrison room and WOW, not only was this room gorgeous but the breakfast was amazing and again all the staff were so friendly. Would we recommend Carton House... yes we would, the staff are amazing and the hotel itself is stunning. We will be back, hopefully we will get a little longer to enjoy dessert next time.

We stayed overnight in the Garden Wing. The room was very comfortable with a small balcony looking out on the beautiful grounds. I had a manicure in the spa and my husband used the pool. We had a dinner and B& B package. The food was delicious. We had a walk in the grounds the evening we arrived and also the next morning. The grounds are very peaceful and beautifully landscaped .Although our stay was just one night it was so relaxing and we felt very refreshed on our departure. All staff we encountered during our stay were professional and extremely pleasant to deal with.

I could not recommend this treatmemt more, my therapist was brilliant, she explained the treatement, listened to me when I told her my problem areas, and was the 1st therapist to apply the correct pressure after asking me what level of pressure I preferred. After the treatment I was given a goodie bag of samples , glass of bubbles and a some sorbet, definietly these small touches added to the experience.

We had a lovely stay from the time we got out of the car we were greeted with very welcoming staff. My one complaint would be with the food. The food was laced in rock salt, literally crunching it on everything. The bread at dinner with the soup, I couldn’t eat. I ordered an omelette for breakfast with ham, cheese & tomato and I just couldn’t eat it. Way too much salt Otherwise our stay was perfect, we had a lovely time myself & my husband.

Apart from the beautiful location, the staff members were very friendly and made me and my dog feel welcome. The check-in process is very professional, personal and relaxed. The room very spacious and for my dog also a dog bed was provided together with 2 bowls for water and food. I very much enjoyed the breakfast as well in the Morrison room, everything is managed so well to the smallest details.