Summer Hill House Hotel

dub8

Hi all!

Going through the long process of venue searching at the moment , and have narrowed it down to a few ! We both like the look of summer house hotel in ennoskerry, seems to have everything we are looking for , and is reasonable as well ( we are getting in january 2013 hopfully!) ! just wondering if anyone here has any experience of the place , if the food was nice etc!

Thanks in advance !

Moonbeam

lovely venue but we found the customer service not so good.
That was about 4 years ago though.

garhjw

i agree with moonbeam. we were there during the summer and the customer service was not good at all...

watna

We're getting married there in a few months and so far we're really happy. I don't live in Ireland and my parents did all the venue research for us, they had slightly bad experiences with a few place (with one in particular really upsetting my mother!), mainly around the fact that my wedding was "too small"at about 80 guests. Summerhillwere lovely and my parents were very impressed.

Living overseas it can be a bit of a pain but I've found that the wedding coordinator has been really accommodating and helpful with my random email questions.ery quick responses, sometimes I'll email from work when it's 8pm in Ireland and I'll get an immediate response. I was home for a visit a few months ago and went down to see the wedding coordinator, again I was really pleased. It's a lovely venue and they were very accommodating about one or two specific issues we have that I was expecting them to charge us extra for but they didn't. So anyway, so far we're really happy. They know what they're doing and it's been very hassle free. Hopefully I'm saying that after the wedding too!

The only thing I don't like about it is that they basically do nothing but weddings and when we did our menu tasting there were so many other couples doing that or viewing the venue. I got a slight feeling that they're just churning out wedding. In my situation, that's perfect because I'm not going to be in the country to see to everything (the package includes a lot compared to other places) so I need a venue that's used to do doing weddings, you know there'd be no hassles but it slightly put me off as well. Nobody else I know has had their wedding there so I'm ok with it but it might be a sticking point for other people, depending on what you want.

Other venues we (well, my parents!) looked at were Killiney Castle, Bewleys in Ballsbridge, St Helen's House (the Radisson) Druids Glen and the Royal Marine (who treated us apallingly - me and my parents). We also thought about Brooklodge but it was a bit too expensive.

Good luck with the search!

Gatica

oh, thank goodness! (but sorry to hear it for your sakes of course) I thought there was just something wrong with us. We got really fobbed off by the woman who met us at that hotel. I thought maybe she didn't like the look of us, or something, or they were really busy.
One of our acquaintances got married there and spoke highly of it, but she was a local, so I'd expect they're nice to "their own".
As I've mentioned on another thread already, we made an appointment the week before, so were expecting them to expect us, if you know what I mean. However, we got about 10 mins out of her before she stood up and headed off, she barely smiled and was NOT particularly friendly. We didn't get to see any of the bedrooms (which I could understand as they probably had guests still checking out) and they made no offer of a tea or a coffee. I would've thought that was normal etiquette when you want someone's custom, or at least that's the service we got at 90% of hotels we went to see and we saw dozens.
The place itself was of course really lovely and the main ballroom was quite nice. The grounds were also really nice. We decided not to waste our time or money on them if they were gonna be so dismissive of us.

If all you care about is how it looks and how the food is (I can't comment on that), then I suppose it's nice. If you want really great personal service, then it's looking doubtful that they can offer that.

peteb2

I'd have to disagree with you there. You showed up to a busy wedding hotel without an appointment. What were you expecting?

I got married there in February. Whilst i had an issue with a member of staff who subsequently left, we had gone up there on several occassions and they are more than happy to discuss whatever was needed.

They did everything we wanted for the price we wanted. The general price per head is quite reasonable for what you are getting.

The food was gorgeous and the day went off without a hitch. Service was great. And all our guests really loved the place. We stuck around for a second day to have dinner, about 50 of us. Again they couldnt have been more helpful and there was no shortage of wine floating about on either day!

Highly recommend it as a weddin venue! Just as with all venues, make sure you get in writing what you have agreed and you should have no problems!

Gatica

peteb2 wrote: »

I'd have to disagree with you there. You showed up to a busy wedding hotel without an appointment. What were you expecting?

Please read the post fully before you reply. AS I SAID, we made an appointment the week before, I made sure of it. I think it's poor form turning up somewhere and expecting them to give you their time.
Anywhere where we had made appointments we got almost an hour's time from their coordinator, which is why that's how much time I had scheduled for most places we visited. We got barely 10 mins from an older woman, who was supposedly their coordinator and was expecting us.
We had to hang around or find something to do for another 50 mins, before our following appointment. I wouldn't have minded it if it's because all the discussion points were covered, but they weren't. I had more questions, but she stood up and walked off before we had a chance to even open our mouths.

I'm not giving a negative review off the cuff - I've also mentioned we know someone who had a wedding there and were delighted with the place. It does not make my experience of it any less relevant though.

Borderfox

Shot a wedding there last year and loved the venue and the food was excellent, cant say anything about the overall treatment but the staff were very friendly and the manager couldnt do enough for me even though they didnt have to.

clint_silver

Borderfox wrote: »

Shot a wedding there last year and loved the venue and the food was excellent, cant say anything about the overall treatment but the staff were very friendly and the manager couldnt do enough for me even though they didnt have to.

I'll second this as an entertainments providor, I play there regularly. Staff are always nice and prompt and easy going about things if I need any help.

AFAIK They only open for weddings, ie, not open midweek for normal hotel business, I maybe wrong on that but I "think" I heard that mentioned before by one of their staff.

Its a great room to play a wedding in as well. I wont go into which but Other more expensive places do not have great rooms. :mad: in fact, now that I think about it, theres nearly a linear "the more expensive it is, the less great the room is to play" factor to venues in this country. Ohh but the room looks fantastic, why isnt everyone dancing I hear the bride cry as she strolls in from the bar which is located in another county. hrumph.

dub8

Gatica wrote: »

oh, thank goodness! (but sorry to hear it for your sakes of course) I thought there was just something wrong with us. We got really fobbed off by the woman who met us at that hotel. I thought maybe she didn't like the look of us, or something, or they were really busy.
One of our acquaintances got married there and spoke highly of it, but she was a local, so I'd expect they're nice to "their own".
As I've mentioned on another thread already, we made an appointment the week before, so were expecting them to expect us, if you know what I mean. However, we got about 10 mins out of her before she stood up and headed off, she barely smiled and was NOT particularly friendly. We didn't get to see any of the bedrooms (which I could understand as they probably had guests still checking out) and they made no offer of a tea or a coffee. I would've thought that was normal etiquette when you want someone's custom, or at least that's the service we got at 90% of hotels we went to see and we saw dozens.
The place itself was of course really lovely and the main ballroom was quite nice. The grounds were also really nice. We decided not to waste our time or money on them if they were gonna be so dismissive of us.

If all you care about is how it looks and how the food is (I can't comment on that), then I suppose it's nice. If you want really great personal service, then it's looking doubtful that they can offer that.

Thanks so much for your replies ! i guess we will have a better idea when we meet with them! can i just ask if the hotel you are is summerhill, or one that the presvious poster mentioned ?! thanks , just wanted to be sure !

Gatica

Yes, I was talking about Summerhill House Hotel. Please do meet with them and form your own opinion of the place and the people. Looking at this thread there seem to be varying opinions about it. A couple of us may have been the unlucky few.
If you do find something else at the same price range and that you like as much, check their feedback and see if it's all 100% or also mixed. I suppose it's always good to be as informed as possible.