We had a wedding at Donegal House. The function and bar staff were great,as was the catering, no complaints there. Two days before the wedding we went to check the venue as the grounds were overgrown and littered with rubbish on a previous visit but we had been assured this would all be clean and tidy for the wedding. On arriving we were distressed to see weeds and rubbish about the entrance and the outside function area. When we asked that it be cleaned up, we were met with negative comments from the manager Murray, he even said he had waived the venue hire cost so we couldn't complain.(this was untrue, we had paid this ($500) as our deposit). We insisted it must be done, surely they also wanted the venue show cased to the best for guests? The men in the party even offered to do the cleanup themselves. We arrived the next morning to find the wonderful waiting staff out there in the rain doing a massive clean up-thank s guys:) We were overcharged for the bar tab, drinks not agreed for being charged and when I made comment to the manager via email following our return home, I received an extremely rude and disturbing email. Extremely unprofessional and downright unacceptable. If we had only had the staff to deal with I would be rating this venue highly, unfortunately management have let this down. Shame on you!

We had our wedding here a few weeks ago. The service we received from the manager Kate and the other bar staff was fantastic. They made our day.

But the owner Murray is the most unprofessional person I have had the displeasure of dealing with. We paid a venue hire fee. On arrival the day before wedding the grounds were a mess (weeds and rubbish everywhere). When we mentioned this to the owner Murray, he just shrugged. We ended up offereing to come and help with the clean up, as we were getting married the next day! The grounds looked nothing like the photos on the website.
During our wedding (while eating our dinner) the owner came and stood in the reception area with a beer. Our guests were asking who this person was.
When we emailed to thank the manager for her great service, and suggest a few improvemnts (ie tidiness of grounds), Murray sent us back the rudest, most unprofessional email I have ever received. Murray bad mouthed both myself and my Mum, saying he felt sorry for the groom and my Father.
We were speechless. I will be telling every single person I know about our experience, and I hope you all do to. I feel so sorry for the staff at Donegal House.

The dirty entrance hall filled with soiled laundry and stained put u up beds didnt help
The reception was poor. the room was full of dead flies and there was no interest in sorting things out
There was no friendly irish welcome which they promote
on a positive note the gardens are lovely

We stayed for one night at donegal House and it was the night before St Paddys Day unbeknownst to us. We had a fabulous time at their restaurant, the rooms are comfortable and well serviced. The highlight is the bar, the irish character and the hosts personallities shine through. I would thoroughly recommend this as a good Kiwi character filled location.