Trim Castle or Knightsbrook Hotel??

suzins89

Hi guys

Me and hubby to be are taking a trip to Trim in Meath to check out both Trim Castle and The Knightsbrook Hotel for possible wedding reception.

Would love to hear from anyone who has been to either of these and get their opinions on them? I am drawn to both of them at the moment wont no properly until i actually see them th

Thanks guys

D3PO

Personally speaking I prefer Knightsbrook.

I was instantly put off by Trim castle having to enter from a rather dingy underground carpark. The fact its on the main road with no gardens didnt help either.

But thats just me. If you havent been you really need to view them yourself and make up your own mind.

suzins89

Thanks D3PO.

The dingy carpark doesnt sound great at all. Something that would really annoy me!

Penny Dreadful

I'm getting married in June of this year and checked out both Knightsbrook and Trim Castle.
Knightsbrook looks very impressive when you get into the hotel itself, driving through a housing estate to get it was not something that I liked at all.
What really put me off it were the many bad stories that I'd heard from various people. One girl who used to work in the Spa there told me that many people would complain about the service and quality of the food served on the day of the wedding. Also a few people that my Dad is friends with had been at their children's weddings there and they were similiarly unimpressed - people getting starters when other people were finishing main courses, general disinterest from the wait staff, no night porters on, etc etc.
I didn't hear any such stories about Trim Castle.

It should be noted that in the end we opted for The Station House in Kilmessin.

smares

We went to look at both these hotels wasn't to impressed with Trim Castle and the car park entrance,went to Knightsbrook and the drive up to it is a little off putting but when we stepped inside we loved it.
The room is fabulous and the wedding co-ordinator couldn't be more helpful. We are getting married there this day next year:D
I have not heard a bad report about the hotel or staff,I know people who got married there and said everything was perfect.

suzins89

Thanks Smares and Penny Dreadful!

Very mixed review about both so far, but i am very eager to see them now.
I will take a look at The Station House also!

Thanks:)

Penny Dreadful

smares wrote: »

We went to look at both these hotels wasn't to impressed with Trim Castle and the car park entrance,went to Knightsbrook and the drive up to it is a little off putting but when we stepped inside we loved it.
The room is fabulous and the wedding co-ordinator couldn't be more helpful. We are getting married there this day next year
I have not heard a bad report about the hotel or staff,I know people who got married there and said everything was perfect.

I feel really mean now for saying not nice things about your venue. I really hope that the reports I heard were once offs and your wedding day is great.

Borderfox

Out of both I prefer Trim Castle Hotel, Knightsbrook surrounded by a housing estate really puts me off. At least Trim Castle has a nice view. Station House is really nice for smaller groups.

Penny Dreadful

suzins89 wrote: »

Thanks Smares and Penny Dreadful!

Very mixed review about both so far, but i am very eager to see them now.
I will take a look at The Station House also!

Thanks:)

We also looked at Slane Castle but decided against it because the room is divided and so the guests would be separated which I didn't like. I also heard bad things about the food too which put me off.
Ballymacgarvey House in Slane (or its environs) was considered but was too expensive for me. However, the staff were lovely in so far as I had any dealings with them. My sister is attending a wedding there next week so it will be interesting to get her feedback.
We also looked at Boyne Hill House, the Lyons Estate (again price and room divisions played against it).
I liked the Station House for the reputation its chef has, my parents have been there many time and never been disappointed with the food or staff. I like the old quirky side of it too and its had lovely gardens, good choice pricewise on the menus, its close to home for a lot of my relations so they don't have to stay over if they don't want to. The wedding co ordinator has been really good to deal with too.

Good luck with wherever you pick!

Penny Dreadful

Borderfox wrote: »

Out of both I prefer Trim Castle Hotel, Knightsbrook surrounded by a housing estate really puts me off. At least Trim Castle has a nice view. Station House is really nice for smaller groups.[/QUOTE]

This was another thing that attracted me to it. I'd be happy out to have 100 people max (their min number) at the wedding. This is a tall order as my fiance's parents are used to weddings of 250-350 people. I'm damned if I'm going to have a wedding that big and the Station House is wonderful in its size as it limits your numbers. Great excuse for the in laws to be;)

We're at 130/134 now and I'm planning to red pen the list again and hope 20% of those invited can't make it on the day.

lucycat

The Station House is really lovely, but out of the two Trim hotels I would definitely go with Trim Castle - Knightsbrook is nice, but you have to drive though a housing estate to get to it, whereas Trim Castle is literally spitting distance across the road from the Castle itself - yes it doesn't have gardens, but why would you need them with the grounds of the castle about 2 feet away! I got married abroad but had my wedding party in Trim Castle when I came back and I genuinely could not rate it highly enough - we were looked after from the minute we booked it, the food was out of this world and the staff are really lovely. Plus, it is right in the centre of town too, whereas Knightsbrook is on the outskirts which isn't as handy.

Hope you have a beautiful day whichever one you pick

clint_silver

I know all 3 well and would have no hesitation recommending any of them. It'll be a personal choice once you see them.

Some things to note, knightsbrook is for the larger weddings, room can look bare with less but is probably the better of the 3 for 150+. It can do smaller ones with a half room size but Im not mad on it for that. You might not like the drive up to it, but the back has nice views.

The entrance thing in trim castle may be point against but its great spot, staff, food are some of the best. You can use the castle for shots if youre going to knightsbrook as well, its no more then 3-4 minutes drive.

station house is small and cosy, seats 120-130 perfectly (although they will say they can seat more), nice scenery, you do have to leave the room post dinner to get dancefloor down but this is no real biggy, everyone heading to the bar and their rooms for a few minutes isnt a problem.

jonnybravo

We're also looking at both for August 2013. Find positives and negatives to both. Both have minimum numbers of 140 for the summer and won't budge on them. Both get good reviews from any wedding reviews online that I’ve read. I’m happy with either one but it’s hard to choose which one is better. I have listed the pros and cons as we see them below.

Knightsbrook;

Pros

Reception area is lovely and you get some great indoor photos on the stairs if it’s raining outside.
Have houses outside which your guests can rent at reasonable rates.
The coordinator is very helpful and seems really good at her job.
The room is lovely and the lighting in it is cool.
The grounds outside it are very nice for photos & the castle is close enough to go to for photos.
Bridal suite is class.
Cons
The room is very big. I seen the whole room set for 100 people and you’d be lost in it.
It is more expensive than Trim Castle. Package price is the same but Trim has more included (rooms and toast drink).
They make you take 10 rooms.
It says in their T&Cs that speeches have to be after the meal.

Trim Castle

Pros
The room where you have your drinks reception and where the residence bar is overlooks the Castle. They also have a terrace bar on top which would be cool if the weather was nice.
They are more flexible on their packages.
The room is a nice size for any weddings between 100 and 200.
Cons
They have no gardens or nice indoor areas for photos.
We found that they’re wedding coordinators were very slow to respond to our emails and when we met them we weren’t that impressed.
When we were there the carpets in the main room weren’t in great shape and could have done with a good clean but that might have been just after a wedding.
They’re getting some bad reviews on Trip advisor from guests.

confused couple

Trim Castle, recently went to view the venue, the chap we met with had no interest with us at all, price per head is ridiculous, they think they are in the same league as knightsbrook and there not. It boggles my mind why it is classed a four star, no spa, no leisure facilities. Rooms are priced reasonable for your guests.

Knightsbrook, I can understand how people feel about entering a residential area to access the town but if the hotel was in the middle of the town you would have the same problem, the views at the back of the hotel are scenic, you get a first class service at a first class rate, I have been to two weddings here and the service that was given was excellent, good food and good staff. There was a large crowd at the wedding. Its expensive and room for negotiation is limited.

We have opted for a venue in another town, 40 minutes away, excellent menu and they defiantely had room to negotaite for price per head and for rate for guests rooms, the other two were mifted that we were trying to negotiate a good deal for guest room.

Good luck with the viewing

clint_silver

jonnybravo wrote: »

Cons..

It says in their T&Cs that speeches have to be after the meal.

hi Jonny, I wouldnt list this as a con. Speeches before a meal are great for the speakers as they dont have to be sitting through their meal worrying about it.

However the hotel could have 200 meals sitting ready to go timed to go out within a 15 minute time window, ie, starters at 6:30, mains at 7

If the speeches go first, due to their varying nature they could last anything from 10 to 70 minutes. If they last 70, youre going to have 200 people complaining about dried up meat&veg.

jonnybravo

clint_silver wrote: »

hi Jonny, I wouldnt list this as a con. Speeches before a meal are great for the speakers as they dont have to be sitting through their meal worrying about it.

However the hotel could have 200 meals sitting ready to go timed to go out within a 15 minute time window, ie, starters at 6:30, mains at 7

If the speeches go first, due to their varying nature they could last anything from 10 to 70 minutes. If they last 70, youre going to have 200 people complaining about dried up meat&veg.

Ah I know what your saying and the wedding coordinator was saying the same thing. I'd just like the option and if we go late then its our fault. I know the people giving the speeches would prefer to have them out of the way so they can enjoy their dinner & we'd be strick to keep on time. Ah its early stages yet - still weighting up both.

clint_silver

jonnybravo wrote: »

Ah I know what your saying and the wedding coordinator was saying the same thing. I'd just like the option and if we go late then its our fault. I know the people giving the speeches would prefer to have them out of the way so they can enjoy their dinner & we'd be strick to keep on time. Ah its early stages yet - still weighting up both.

I hear ya.

I had to do best man for the brother couple years ago in a 5* hotel. I LOVE my food, and I could tell the food during dinner was of the highest standard but it was one of the worst meals I ever ate due to me worrying about the speeches afterwards. All I remember about the whole day was how much I was dreading that speech. good luck with whatever choice you make.

Ginny

Had our Wedding in Trim Castle last year and couldn't fault it. We got a great deal on the all inclusive and Trim actually was the only place that was completely all inclusive without having to add extras in.
Trim has an above ground carpark and a below ground one, on your wedding day you arrive at the main entrance above ground to a red carpet reception. Trim Castle hotel is the only one which has amazing views of the actual castle, as for it having no grounds? It has a lovely balcony area( actually balcony makes it sound small, we fitted all our guests about 100 up there) which overlooks the castle which we used for photos, they also have a staircase if you need indoor pics, plus a full length glass window overlooking the castle you can take pics at.
We did view Knightsbrook and honestly I would not have sent my guests through a half finished housing estate to get to our wedding, actually the first time we went there were no signs and we got lost in the housing estate looking for it.
To me, Trim Castle is the attraction to Trim, not having a view of it would have been a waste.
If you need any more info on Trim you can PM me if you like.


As an aside we had our speeches before the wedding for the reasons Clint outlined above.

Moonbeam

They were both in my choices too but look at Moyvalley,The Station House and Johnstown house too.
I loved Knightsbrook but my husband was unimpressed with them being a wedding factory and everything being very set.
Moyvalley is amazing but we were afraid of snow and it is/was a winter wedding,my mother got married in Kilmessan 4 years ago it is gorgeous and amazing.

Borderfox

Moyvalley is lovely but the food service takes forever and the bar is downstairs, lovely grounds though and the house is really well kept. Think there is a ghost too

justsomebloke

confused couple wrote: »

Trim Castle, recently went to view the venue, the chap we met with had no interest with us at all

Truthfully having been married in Trim Castle last year I'm not sure who you were talking to but my experience would have been the complete opposite. ALL the staff were fantastic each and every time we were there. So much so that one of the staff members raided their staff canteen vending machine for us when we where in residents bar.

Dostoevsky

Was at a wedding in Trim Castle a couple of years ago. They didn't even take the time to spell the groom's surname correctly. First impressions....

I forget the dinner, and everything else about it - as I forget the vast majority of the details of every wedding I've ever gone to.

There are very many superb photographic opportunities in Trim. It's a brilliant part of the world for photographs - Bective Abbey, the Yellow Steeple, the River Boyne, the Cathedral of Peter & Paul in Newtown, the Augustinian priory in Newtown, Regan's pub and of course Trim Castle itself. We looked at the Station House in Kilmessan and it was a lovely venue, but too small (c. 100 people). It's secluded with a decent garden, unlike Trim Castle or Knightsbrook which are in built-up areas.

Never been to Moyvalley but Furey's pub there right along the Royal Canal would be a great place to have pints, watching the boats go from Dublin to the River Shannon.

therewillbe

I have gone to both venues,Yes both have their good and bad points that`s why I will say Cabra Castle in Cavan. Great Room and Views.In my opinion .

Cellygirl

We had our wedding in Trim Castle last year and couldn't fault it. We had an absolutely incredible experience with them and not a single thing went wrong. Everything we asked for was done, everything was arranged properly, they hosted the whole day magnificently and we were so happy.

We found them prompt to reply to emails, though they do work shifts, so maybe if you emailed on a Monday, it could be Wednesday by the time the guy got back to you as he was on his two days off. We understood that and it didn't bother us.

The view of the Castle is amazing, the rooftop terrace is gorgeous, people RAVED about the food. It was only an ordinary dinner, of beef or seabass, but it was really well done. Simple, hearty food, beautifully cooked. It wasn't, of course, haute cuisine, but it was a great meal.

I can't say enough about Trim Castle, they lived up to our every expectation and in relation to the venue I was a very fussy bride. Not much else about the wedding fazed me, I didn't mind if things didn't match or who wore what, you know, but I did want the venue to be perfect, particularly as we were spending so much money there. So I nit picked and double checked EVERYTHING and they came up trumps for me every single time.

Our guests were fed and watered from the moment they walked into the htoel at 3pm until the moment they went into the residents' bar at 3am. The hotel decorated our tables, put our bags in our room, dealt with the cake lady, the band, the DJ and looked after the videographer as well. They didn't ask me for a single thing all day, they simply did their job and ensured the day ran smoothly. They were wonderful.

I would highly recommend Trim Caslte. Obviously, I'm biased, as I had my wedding there, but hand on heart, I was 100 per cent happy.

suzins89

Thanks for all the feedback guys, i have gotten some great insight!!

:):)

Suz

jonnybravo

suzins89 wrote: »

Thanks for all the feedback guys, i have gotten some great insight!!

:):)

Suz

Just in case you want to read about our bad experience there i've posted it here

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=77052246#post77052246