Stayed at hotel 4 years ago and had a great relaxing time. This time around though completely different story.
Hotel has clearly been hit hard by cost cutting, this was immediatly evident on arrival when we had to que for quiet a while to check as there was only one staff member on reception and lots of people checking in for the weekend. Hotel was booked out yet only one staff member on reception at check in time of 4pm??
The room we were first given was awful small and dark so we requested a "nicer" room. The member of staff was really helpful and offerred us another room, however after a long wait in reception while she checked other people in. The second room, while bigger, was not at all 4 star standard and was in bad need of some tlc.
Dinner in the bar that night was a nightmare, after waiting to grab a table ourselves we eventually ordered, food arrived 40 minutes later and cold!!!! We were starving so tucked in, altough I could not stomach the cold fries. We mentioned it to the bar staff member who apologised and advised that they were under staffed and it was very busy. There was only two staff members for the whole bar area??
Hotel rooms are very noisy, we could hear everything, absolutely everything from the adjoining rooms. It was impossible to get any sleep until well into the early hours of the morning. Beds were awful hard and "pillows" were like rocks.
Only positivie is the lovely pool/gym area and very help staff.
We will not be returning to Hotel Kilkenny anytime soon.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
1 February 2012
Dear Guest,
I would like to express our disappointment that your stay did not meet your expectations. On a weekend check in we do staff our reception with two or more check in staff, however it can happen that they may be called away from the desk to facilitate a guest request, or to help a guest. The check in process can also be delayed if there are guests who require a lot of information from one our team, making the check in process quite time consuming. I would be grateful if you would contact me directly, just to clarify some more details (such as date and approx time of arrival) to allow us the opportunity to investigate and give you more definitive answers to some of your comments.
I’m glad your request for a different room was handled in a friendly manner, my apologies for the delay getting your room change arranged; with a busy check in we need to be sure that any room changes are correctly administered and checked by a member of our accommodation team before carrying out a room move for a guest. Regarding your comment on the first room being ‘awful small and dark’, possibly due to the fading light outside in January after 4pm there would not be as much natural illumination in your room. All our rooms have at least three lamps and two ceiling fittings which provide ample light.
I will investigate fully your remarks regarding the service in our bar. Again I would need more information regarding the dates you stayed in the hotel. Certainly on any weekend evening there would be more than two members of staff in our bar, and I’m disappointed you had a 40 min wait for your food, when it is excessively busy we would expect some delay, but not to the extend highlighted in your review. Customer service is of paramount importance to us and my apologies that your comments to our server were not acted upon. We are one of the FIRST hotels in Ireland (indeed the world) to have a new and dynamic instant text messaging service available - "Instant Opinion" gives our customers direct contact with the Manager on Duty this service we believe ensures that all our Guests comments are dealt with professionally and quickly. This is free of charge and we display literature on all of our bar tables to help our guests who have any queries, concerns or comments which can brought to the immediate attention of the Hotel Management.
All our beds have Club Class 5 mattresses; this model of King Koil is renowned for its back care properties. These would have been the same brand and model of mattress used during your stay four years ago, along with the same brand of pillows. All our mattresses and pillows are replaced on a frequent basis; however we have not changed the model type. You described your stay 4 years ago as ‘a great relaxing time’ and since then we have not modified the sound proofing for the rooms, we have however repainted and replenished many of the fixtures and fittings in our bedrooms. We also provide security in the hotel, which are available to assist any guests who report noise issues from other rooms. We would encourage guests to contact our desk if they are having any issues with other guest’s behavior.
I am very sorry that you didn't enjoy your time with us, and it is unfortunate that a member of the management team was not requested to meet you in person to discuss your comments as one of our main goals at Hotel Kilkenny is to ensure that everyone has an enjoyable stay with us.
Kind regards the Management and Staff of Hotel Kilkenny.
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Hotel Kilkenny employs a team of 150 dedicated people who are focused on delivering great customer service. We actively seek and welcome genuine, constructive feedback as this is what we use to ensure our service and standards constantly improve through our customer care and service review programs. Each member of our Team is aware off all genuine posts on Trip Advisor and we are proud to say that we do not in any way advocate or engage in posting fake reviews.
Kind Regards,
David Byrne
Operations Manager
Hotel Kilkenny
College Road
Kilkenny
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
