The Dolmen Hotel, Carlow - Opinions needed

SeanoChuinn

Hello again all!!! So we have been going through hotels etc. etc. etc. for our wedding and we are settled on a few hopefuls. One of which is the Dolmen Hotel Co. Carlow.
They have been really helpful and given us some good initial impressions. Pricing is very competitive and the place looks lovely.
Has anyone had any experience of the Dolmen??? If so could you give us your opinion please. Thanks everyone!!!

jomc

Have only stayed there while a wedding was on and my first impression would be oh no! The wedding guests were extremely rowdy and staff were so few in number they couldn't control them and seemed to have no interest in doing so. Some locals got into a fight on the smoking area and same thing. Generally i felt they would be uninterested in making sure your wedding was special nevermind ensuring people and property were kept safe. My car alarm went off four times during the night!

texanman

I recorded one wedding there and really enjoyed working there.Enjoyed my meal and staff were friendly !!

32finn

I have shot a few weddings there and my sister had her wedding there in September. I would have to agree with what Texanman said above. Staff are brilliant there and the food is nice. They were very good to my sister and have been keeping in touch with her since! The late bar also stays open all night which some of your guests will love

happywithlife

stayed there once and it was one night too many

now i'm not fussy by any stretch of the imagination and have stayed in cockroach infested places on the odd sun holiday etc during my college days but the dolmen won out as the dirtiest place i've ever stayed in

staff were friendly and all but the night i was there the rooms were cold, the bathroom was grubby and overall i felt like giving the place a good scrub! i've worked in housekeeping in hotels before and just felt relieved to be outta there in the morning

my friend found a manky ole sock covering the fire alarm in her room - i kid you not -- how on earth it was left there i have no idea - i mean really ! ugh

that was - oh gosh bout 4 yrs ago now so maybe it has improved in the meantime?

byhookorbycrook

Wouldn't be my choice at all. I'd look elsewhere.

Michael Weston

happywithlife wrote: »

stayed there once and it was one night too many

now i'm not fussy by any stretch of the imagination and have stayed in cockroach infested places on the odd sun holiday etc during my college days but the dolmen won out as the dirtiest place i've ever stayed in

staff were friendly and all but the night i was there the rooms were cold, the bathroom was grubby and overall i felt like giving the place a good scrub! i've worked in housekeeping in hotels before and just felt relieved to be outta there in the morning

my friend found a manky ole sock covering the fire alarm in her room - i kid you not -- how on earth it was left there i have no idea - i mean really ! ugh

that was - oh gosh bout 4 yrs ago now so maybe it has improved in the meantime?

It has not in the slightest, Chef has no imagination either. Would not recommend it. Just take a walk around the building next time and look at it, needs a good clean and makeover.

foxinsox

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

Wouldn't be my choice at all. I'd look elsewhere.

ditto

pontia

its in carlow,case closed

byhookorbycrook

pontia wrote: »

its in carlow,case closed

Very helpful, not.

Michael Weston

pontia wrote: »

its in carlow,case closed

What a pointless contribution.

clint_silver

its not celubrious, thats a given. but very competitive pricewise and as far as staff goes some of the nicest Ive worked with the few times I was there this year.

If theyre right on the low end of the price bracket, maybe thats OPs budget, and most people have a budget. @OP, are there any other hotels in the budget range youve looked at to compare?

slowmoe

I'm pretty sure the lord bagenal is in same price range and is a lot nicer.

K3v

If you want a cheap and cheerful wedding then it's the place to go. But since it is run by NAMA it is not going to get the improvements the above posters mentioned it needed.

I would advise to look at the Seven Oaks or Lord Bagenal. I have never been to a poor wedding in the Seven Oaks, their food is always top notch. If the guest list is going to be under 150 then I recommend the Step House in Borris. Fantastic venue for small weddings.

Owryan

The biggest problem the dolmen had was that when it was in administration 4-5 yrs ago every little expense had to be approved and a lot of the cut backs fell on the catering and housekeeping departments. Imagine needing written approval to buy napkins for a wedding !!!. They also fell victim to overbookings trying to get cash in the tills.

eadire

I just felt I wanted to add to this, I am getting married next year and I am having it at the dolmen hotel, Claire and the rest of the team cannot do enough for us and everything has been brilliant. All the staff there cannot do enough for us, everytime we go out there we are treated so well by everyone.

I would highly recommend it to any one.