This hotel looks amazing on the website and it really does have some great features. It has kids club where the team play pool games with them and then have a bouncy castle. Great service - but watch out ... it is only on in school holidays from what we were told.

The Spa is fantastic with pool, outdoor hot tub, steam and sauna... but take your flip flops and swim hat as they charge you for them and won't let you in the pool without them.

The bar - PK's is a little average. Again, great kids menu and service for the kids. But the wine is in little bottles and the selection small. We ordered a bottle of champagne and they gave us a magnum of low alcohol sparkling wine. They said people just don't drink champagne in there. So if you are after nice wine and champagne this bar isn't great.

Also, make sure you ask for a non-smoking room. We were put in a smoking family room and it smelt terrible. they were good about changing us to another room but said that we hadn't specified non smoking. I felt that they should have asked before placing us in this room. apparently 50% of people want smoking rooms and it's not un-common for families to smoke in the room. So if you are a family of smokers this hotel is good for you. The family rooms are good and the hotel is very friendly to kids. You don't feel like they shouldn't be there - in fact they gave pencils in the bar etc to help make them happy.

The family rooms are fine, two single beds and a queen. All clean and a nice view of the cathedral (which is amazing) from some rooms.

All in all, if you have kids I think you will like this place.

The title is true - its an exceptionally kid friendly hotel and thats probably a plus to most but to me i would need to look elsewhere .....

And i am not sure if the decor is done with these children in mind but i found the purple overpowering and not at all conducive to relaxation which i think is the main objective of a hotel stay.

As per some of my other review i do want to point out that i did not stay here , simply visited , ate and drank here and the food was fine but the bar service lacked that extra finess i would expect from a hotel bar anywhere in the world.

The location is fine with commanding view should the weather offer

I really enjoyed staying in the Hillgrove. The rooms were very spacious and comfortable and the facilities were great. I also thought the staff were very friendly and helpful. Myself and my colleague ate dinner in the hotel every night we were there. The food was lovely and was good value.

Just back from a midweek, New year break (3rd-6th Jan 2012), at the Hillgrove Hotel, Monghan, with my wife and three children aged 11, 8 and 6. The hotel is a credit, not just to the proprietors but all of the staff who made our stay so enjoyable. The main point that stands out is the child friendliness of this hotel - from the games room to the splash time at the pool and from the very reasonable children's menu at PKs Bistro to the magician, face painting and balloon man which entertained the kids in the evening.

However, this is not just a child friendly hotel. The food in Knuttels bar was very good quality at an affordable price. The leisure facilities are first class - pool, jacuzzi, sauna, steam room and outdoor hot tub and changing facilities are clean, tidy and obviously very well looked after. The decor and rooms were modern and spacious.

All in all this hotel is well worth checking out and hopefully we will get an opportunity in the future to make a return visit.