Website photos greatly flatter this place - expect something a LOT less swish. It is a dated, faded, lacklustre and basic hotel. We stayed in room 312 and were less than amused to find multiple stains on the bed cover, a large snot on the wall of the in-bath shower and a fair quantity of grime on the back of the door. The cleaning standards left a lot to be desired. Grout in the bathroom was a big give away too - it was filthy. Someone really needs to take a detergent and a bit of elbow grease to the place. How hard is it to clean a bathroom for goodness sake?
The breakfast was really just average. Not bad but certainly won't take your breath away. The dinner was good and the staff all excellent in fairness (particularly the waitress - Scottish perhaps?)
Parting shot was when checking out they didn't seem to realise that we had already paid for dinner. How can a place in this day and age not have such info centrally linked?!
Could be good but instead it's a bit of a time warp. Visitors to Waterford should also be aware that it's not exactly on the doorstep of the town centre. A taxi ride would be necessary.
Value for money? We paid €150 for a (very ordinary) room for two including breakfast and dinner. Good value but the place was simply unclean. You'll find a clean place for the same price elsewhere so overall I have to say no, not good value.
Just to clarify, I was not naively expecting 5 star luxury. I know it's pitched at a lower star level but a guest is still entitled to expect it to be clean.
- Athenaeum Hotel Waterford
