Ballymaloe House Hotel

Sublime food to die for . Beautiful surroundings and the weather was simply glorious. We stayed in the river room which was pretty and comfortable with double doors opening onto the garden . However we were a bit disappointed with the bathroom ( 4 star room versus 3 star bathroom) A special thanks goes to all the team we encountered who were very kind and attentive. We will definitely be back

We had a really wonderful experience on our recent visit. All the staff we met from reception, bar, restaurant and housekeeping were lovely and went out of their way to meet our every need. The house is super comfortable and beautifully furnished. The food is the jewel in the crown. Dinner was a truly farm to fork experience in the tradition of the pioneering Myrtle Allen. Every course was delicious, the only difficulty was what to pick. Breakfast was also great. Fern's house tour was very interesting and really highlighted the love and attention the family poured into the enterprise to make this a very special place.

I went here with family on recommendation by friends and there was somethings we did enjoy about it and others we didn’t. The food was delicious. The pool was nice and there’s lovely walks to do. The staff were nice. The service was quick. The rooms were what we didn’t like we had booked a single bed which I was in and I didn’t like it, the bed was uncomfortable and small, the room had a damp smell in it.

Beautiful, authentic, old Irish hospitality and charm. Visited with my father for his 84th birthday and it was perfect. We had tea and cake on arrival and were assigned two sumptuous rooms. On a frosty evening in February both rooms were toasty and beautifully presented.

A delightful place with lovely drawing rooms, conservatory and extensive gardens. The history tour was delightful. The bedrooms are beautifully appointed. And of course the food in this place is exquisite - it’s not without merit that it’s widely hailed as the home of Irish cookery.

After a disappointing greeting from a very distracted front desk, we grew to like this place a lot over our two night stay. It also helped that we had one very sunny day. Our room was the honeysuckle, and it was pretty comfortable. One odd thing was we could hear the water running through the wall of our room every time the group above us flushed the toilet. We especially liked our solarium room attached to the front. We took a bio diversity tour and that allowed us to get a nice introduction to the spacious grounds at the resort. If you get a chance, be sure to visit the herb garden. You might want to also seek out the chicken coops. The very friendly staff include Fern Allen and the sommelier, as well as the groundskeeper. The restaurant is foodie heaven, and a must visit despite the expense.

We had heard of Ballymaloe House before we travelled, and it had also been recommended by friends but the whole experience from the moment you drive through the gates to the time you depart was both uplifting and delightful. The essence of good hotelkeeping (I speak from experience) is to not realise you are being looked after, but everything happens on cue just the same. Despite the grandeur of the house and gardens, the wonderful staff are the stars, and make everything come alive. Service is carried out with a smile and a lovely line of chat, and you want for nothing. Ballymaloe thoroughly deserves its fine reputation, carried on magnificently by the present Allen family and those who make it happen. Thank you - we shall return.

This is a very expensive and highly rated hotel so I had high expectations. We were disappointed. It’s a beautiful old country house stuck in a Time Capsule - we were reminded of Fawlty towers on several occasions. I don’t normally write long reviews but feel the need to do so here. We happened to arrive at the same time as several other guests so the single receptionist was doing her best to deal with everybody quickly. That may explain why I didn’t know there was tea and cake on offer until I read other trip advisor reviews just now. We had a courtyard room and it was raining. No tea or coffee making facilities in our room, or a TV for what that’s worth. The room was fine. Spacious but dated, especially the bathroom. On arrival I’d checked the time, 7:30pm, that I’d booked dinner and asked if we could eat a bit earlier. Of course said the friendly receptionist who suggested we have a drink in one of their sitting rooms while perusing the menu. Great idea I thought so we arrived at 6:50. It took quite some time to find a spare sofa to sit on as everywhere was full. We eventually found one in a lovely little room just next the restaurant. We then asked a passing waitress whether we should go to the bar to order a drink or whether somebody would come to take our order. She said if we were in a hurry to go to the bar but otherwise somebody would be with us very soon. 10 minutes later we decided to head to bar for a drink only to be told that we couldn’t order ourselves but had to wait for somebody to come to us. There were lots of waiters and bar tenders running around very busily. After a further 5 minutes, a waiter came for our order, to be followed swiftly by several more. We were given the menu and told that we’d be called when our table was ready. The only real choice is for the main dish so quick to choose. At 7:40 we gave up and went into the restaurant asking if we could go to our table. Firstly we were told that we’d not made a booking. I explained that I’d confirmed it with reception on arrival. The lady on the desk told us to return to our sofa while she spoke to management. She returned eventually to say that the problem was there was another male guest with the same name which had led to the confusion (unlikely I think as our name is unusual and it was me, female, who’d made the booking). She led us to our table only to discover that another couple was already there. So back to sofa. Called again for another table next which was a bottle of Prosecco. We said we’d not ordered it. They said it was a gift and there was a card with it. Card said happy anniversary. Not our anniversary we said, this bottle is intended for another couple. We were told we were wrong. Eventually the senior waitress agreed that there’d been a mix up and removed the bottle. We weren’t going to leave the table having now at last sat down at 8:05. Service still a bit slow ( a case of lots of waiting staff running around frenetically