David Byrne

Review of Bewleys Hotels

We stayed for one night on a "couples escape". Mai...

We stayed for one night on a "couples escape". Main intent was to relax with some food and drinks.

The hotel was clean and well maintained for the most part except for some cracks showing:
- loose fittings on some walls including power outlets in main bar (could be an issue with young children?)
- bathroom in main restaurant showed some disgusting signs of use!

Although relativity minor in comparison to other 4 star hotels we have stayed with and the cleanliness should be commended. Perhaps increase frequency of inspections in public area bathrooms.

Disappointed that 'breakfast in bed' did not include a hot meal option as it is one of the main treats we look forward to when visiting hotels. Was slightly taken aback when the reception staff said that this option was reserved for VIPs and celebrities only!

In general, staff were friendly but lacked that "attentive"/"make your stay special" attitude which can set apart a stay and I would expect from a 4 star rated hotel. Service in the main bar was difficult to receive with long waiting periods or non-existant, while I had to request coffee 4 times during the breakfast service before I received my order.

The above mentioned issues could be overlooked if the quality of food was better. We had both lunch and dinner in the main bar and attended the breakfast service the next morning. All meals were very sub-par with what could only be described as bland at best and borderline edible in places (breakfast service scrambled eggs):

- Lunch consisted of some sandwiches and a side order of fries. Sandwiches where extremely oily while the fries were indiscernible from certain fast food establishments
- Dinner consisted of chicken wings to start and burgers for main. Wings were bland and served at the same time as our main. The burgers consisted of a bun, burger, cheese and some bacon. No garnish or side salad. I order chunky chips in place of skinny fires and these where very obviously frozen and potentially re-heated (stale texture and taste). We did not finish any of our dinner plates.

If the food was to improve, we would consider staying again, perhaps we should have tried the main restaurant however, the lunch service combined with a very empty restaurant did not bolster our confidence in the extra expense of the restaurant.