Ballyknocken House

While Catherine had been kind enough to make a golf tee time for us in Wicklow and the food was good (though odd flavored jams), we were otherwise disappointed. The staff who greeted us and attended breakfast in the morning were from the continent and spoke/understood English poorly. Because of our early tee time, we needed breakfast before 8:30. There was no budging on the timing other than to agree to set out the cold buffet of cereal earlier. At 8:15 the follwoing morning, the dining room door was locked and we were told by the kitchen staff that we needed to make arrangements the night before for early buffet. After explaining that we'd done so, they finally let us in. No one was around to provide directions to the golf course, which we fortunately managed to find based on pamphlets at the desk. The two nights we stayed were not dinner nights. After returning from golf, there was no one around (between 4-6) to recommend places to eat and no book of local menues, etc. in the living room. We ended up with an unsatisfying dinner at Ashford House down the road. The hot water cycles off during the day (heaters and showers on the same system?) so after a a cold wet day outside, I could not, even after 15 minutes, get the water hot enough to shower. While the bedrooms and sitting room have lovely antiques, the bedrooms are quite crowded and the furniture in the sitting room is uncomfortable to hang out in. Finally, if you get one of the two rooms at the front of the house, you will want to find the switch for the outdoor lights. There is a huge floodlight pointed right at the house that will shine in those two bedroom windows all night long. At 10 pm I could not find or rouse anyone (it was not an emergency) to turn it off, but managed to find the switch at the bottom of the stairs. This place has sucH potential but missed the mark on many levels.

Hello: We used your guide to select Ballynknocken House in Ashford, Ireland, staying three nights last week. This was our tenth trip to Ireland and we have used your listings several times in the past. I've never sent a comment reviewing an accommodation, but our stay at Ballyknocken prompted me to add a personal endorsement.