Ballymaloe House Hotel

Staying 4 nights in the hotel and 2.5 days at the cookery school - this was beyond description- it was sublime., every single member of staff was beyond superb. Had the most exciting 2.5 days at cookery school - blown away by the experience but more importantly the work ethic of Darina and Rachel - it was phenomenal. Attention to detail and their customers was beyond comment. It is the most loved in experience for foodies. Fern and her wonderful husband Eoin went beyond the requirements for us to have the best stay and Wendy in the Ballymaloe shop topped it all - an absolute top notch experience .

Absolutely! Here’s a shorter version for Google Reviews: A truly special place. Ballymaloe House Hotel combines elegant charm with warm, genuine hospitality. The rooms are beautiful, the food is outstanding—fresh, seasonal, and mostly from their own gardens—and the whole experience feels peaceful and personal. The dessert trolley is so decident, a perfect countryside escape. Can't wait to come back!

This is a difficult review to write as we are unsure how to rate it. We both found the dinner and breakfast just wonderful - full of flavour, lovely choices, attention to detail and just great service. Friday night buffet starter is just such an superb idea and, of course, the sweet trolley - different choices and you can try anything. Breakfast - real orange juice, gorgeous scones, fresh smoked mackerel, a lovely full Irish. I could go on and on about the food here. The staff are really friendly, helpful and attentive. The house is set in beautiful countryside and looked fabulous for Christmas. The bed was lovely and comfortable, the room decor pleasant and the bathroom was of a high standard with lovely fluffy towels. So all the above is worthy of a five score. We're just not sure if the bedroom itself is value for money. There are none of the facilities that you get in other 4 star hotels e.g. television, coffee/tea making facilities. Whilst you could ring and get coffee and tea at any time - sometimes it's just nice to make your own and drink it in bed whilst relaxing in the morning. Some of the furniture also looked a little worn and battered. So, it is this and just this bit alone, that has bought it down from 5 to 4. We would go and eat there again any time - absolutely fabulous. We won't stay there again - we just didn't get the luxury feeling.

Beautiful family owned business with a fantastic restaurant and amazing food, staff and design

Wonderful stay! Fabulous and always enjoyable!

Mixed Bag Our stay at Ballymaloe House was a bit of a mixed bag. The house, grounds, and dining were all excellent, but the staff (less the waitresses and bartenders) were the low point of our trip. We had several interactions where, at best, we were made to feel like an inconvenience, and at worst like we were lesser. Basic requests like ordering room service for dinner were met with obvious annoyance from the front desk. So much so that we actually dragged ourselves to dinner after a terrible day of travel because it seemed like such a burden for them. On our final morning we showed up to breakfast as it was opening because we needed to get an early start. The hostess seemed aggravated and treated us like we had showed up an hour early. While none of these interactions were hugely problematic we left feeling like we needed to apologize for showing up in the first place.