Should have went to Ennis…read more
I had the option of staying 3 nights in Mullingar or Ennis. Due to weather conditions, I picked Mullingar and ended up at the Bloomfield. In retrospect, I should have braved the icy roads and went to Ennis.
This hotel is not bad. Yet considering the price, it certainly is not good.
When booking, we requested a nice room. What we got, on arrival, is a standard room with a romantic view of a roof. The room itself was pitiful. Two double beds, an old television, and an ironing board. Barely half a step above a hostel near Talbot Street.
I went to reception and asked if they had anything nicer. For an extra 20 Euro a night, I could stay in the Executive Suite. They showed me the suite, which had a view of the lake, a double bed, valet press for my trousers, lcd television, and a massive bathroom with a jacuzzi and bidet. Now, this was far from executive, in my opinion (save the jacuzzi) this is what a regular room should have looked like. Nevertheless, I went with it.
The executive suite is adjacent to the stairway. After staying one night, I came to the conclusion that this is more of a 'family' hotel than romantic get-away. And by family, I mean if you are part of the great unwashed that lets your children run up and down the stairs and hall, giggling and screaming, at three in the morning.
Now one could think that maybe I was just unlucky. Surely you can't blame the hotel for the type of guests. However, this happened all three nights - different sets of children and teens. It seemed to be the theme. Either way, the hotel appeared to ignore the situation, though they were certainly aware.
I decided to relax a bit and use the jacuzzi. To me, when I saw that in the room, I figured it be worth the extra 20 Euro a night. Bit of a relaxing bath.
I filled the tub and pressed the button. Nothing. I figured there was a switch I couldn't see or was simply being silly. So the miss called reception and they said I was not missing anything, that the jacuzzi is just for show and is not hooked up in ANY of the rooms. What??? I felt incredibly cheated. That's not only mad, that's deceptive!
Room service is 5 Euro per person staying in the room. So if you have two people in the room and order ONE sandwich, it's still a 10 Euro delivery charge. They did have 24 hour room service, if you want sandwiches. However, their menu was deceptively incorrect, as the fillings printed were never, in those three nights, available. No, you'd pay 5 Euro, plus a 10 Euro delivery charge (in my case) for a cheese sandwich. Not toasted. Cheese or deli turkey was all that was available, even though the late-night menu had an impressive listing.
While I'm on room-service, the dinner from the restaurant CAN be delivered to the room, at the ordinary delivery fee. Fine enough on that one, as the restaurant dinners are three courses and they DO deliver the three courses separately. So in that instance, you are getting three deliveries, so I don't mind the 5 Euro per person in that instance. The problem with this, however, is that half the staff working here do not know that's an option. So while you may get someone at reception who knows, you may also get one who does not and will insist that only the room service menu can be delivered, which is contrary to other literature and previous evenings experience. It's best to just say okeh, wait twenty minutes, and try again.
You can have breakfast brought to the room, at your chosen breakfast slot, by filling out a card and hanging it on the door. Do not, however, expect them to have the order correct. It will be mostly correct, but never in three nights was it fully correct. We aren't blathering about fussy details, rather you simply tick boxes. Sadly, the best thing of the breakfast was the apple juice and hash browns. The rashers were ALWAYS burnt, as was the black pudding. Both, the worst variety I have ever tasted. I love my rashers and black, very much, and this was highly disappointing.
Even though the jacuzzi did not work, there is a Spa that is available for guests of the hotel. I'm cynical of most the expensive treatments available, but they do have massages and the pool, steam room, sauna, and hot tub are free for guests.
Finally, there is no internet access available in any of the rooms. You had to go to the lobby, where there was free - but quite dodgy and unreliable - wifi. Now, even on a romantic get-away, it is nice to have an internet connection so you can look-up things you may want to do or places you may want to 'semi-spontaneously' see. Really, in my opinion, there is no excuse not to offer internet to your guests.
All things considered, I would have rather stayed home.
