Brandon House Hotel

Friendly staff. Great food and in beautiful setting

The pool and gym were excellent. The room was spacious and quiet. Beds were comfortable. Had dinner which was lovely. Plenty of free parking. Loved the hotel, we will be back.

Rooms and staff were excellent. Breakfast was excellent also. We love this hotel and return there for our stay when we travel to Ireland. See my comments below as would like the hotel to remain successful and do see improvements every time we stay.

I could spend even more time writing about this hotel, but frankly, they've already wasted enough of my time and money.

I've included photos of the "pint of Guinness" that was served in a Guinness 0.0 glass, and the "Scotch" that arrived in a brandy glass—after I had to explain to the barmaid what a Scotch actually was. It's ironic seeing the Brandon House Hotel's social media filled with staff making fancy cocktails when they can't pour a proper pint or serve a basic whisky correctly.

From start to finish, our stay was appalling. The food was mediocre, the service was poor, and the customer care was non-existent. The staff appeared uninterested, untrained and completely uninspired. As for management, they need to take a serious look at how they treat paying guests. Rather than listening to feedback, they dismissed it entirely.

For the prices charged by this hotel, the experience falls well below what you should expect. There are far better places to spend your money.

I could go on for pages about everything that went wrong, but I won't waste any more of my time on the Brandon House Hotel. I certainly won't be returning, and based on my experience, I wouldn't recommend that anyone else does either.

I have deliberately held off writing this review because I wanted to give the Brandon House Hotel every opportunity to put things right. Unfortunately, after two stays and several conversations with management, I feel I need to share my honest experience.

First Stay – Easter 2026 (Spa Break)

I booked a one-night spa break for myself, including a facial and back massage, looking forward to a relaxing getaway.

When I arrived, my room wasn't ready, which was absolutely fine, so I went to the spa first.

Unfortunately, the spa wasn't the tranquil experience it's advertised to be. It was bright, cold and lacked any relaxing atmosphere. There was no calming music, no candles and very little ambience. While the treatments themselves were good, the overall experience certainly wasn't relaxing.

During my facial, the treatment room window was left open and a delivery truck pulled up directly outside. Two delivery drivers then had a full conversation outside the window throughout part of my treatment. It completely ruined what should have been a peaceful experience. The treatment beds were also unheated, which made the experience even less comfortable, and the jacuzzi wasn't working.

After checking into my room, I discovered I had been placed on the standard accommodation floor. At no point was I advised that an adults-only floor even existed, despite this being a solo adult spa break.

From around 6pm, children were running through the corridors, banging on doors—including mine—and shouting. I contacted reception, who assured me they would deal with it, but nothing changed.

After enduring another three hours of constant disruption, I had to ring reception again at 9pm. Only then was the issue addressed.

The whole point of booking a spa break alone was to relax. Instead, I spent most of the evening listening to children running through the corridors and knocking on my door. It became so disruptive that I chose to have dinner delivered to my room rather than spend time in the hotel.

Later that evening, around 10:45pm, I went to the bar hoping to finally enjoy a quiet glass of wine while listening to the live music. Instead, the bar was still full of children, many wearing pyjamas, some barefoot, running around while adults were trying to enjoy their evening.

I spoke to the duty manager, Mina. His initial response was simply, "What do you want me to do? I've already asked their parents."

I explained that children remaining in the licensed bar area at that hour raised serious concerns and that, if anything happened, it could become a much bigger issue for the hotel. Eventually the children were removed, but this wasn't until after 11pm.

To his credit, Mina later sent over a complimentary bottle of wine, which I genuinely appreciated.

The following morning, I discovered the hairdryer in my room didn't work. When I mentioned this at reception during checkout, the response was simply, "Oh... okay."

Contact with Management

After returning home, I contacted Alison, the Deputy General Manager, because I wanted to give the hotel an opportunity to address my concerns before leaving a public review.

She kindly offered my family and me a complimentary night's stay in a family room, along with what was described as a complimentary three-course family meal. I genuinely appreciated the gesture and accepted it in good faith, which is why I didn't immediately leave a review after my first stay.

During our conversations before this second visit, I specifically advised Alison that my children were 16 and 13 years old and asked whether the family room and meal arrangement would still be suitable. I was assured that it would be.

Second Stay – August 2026

Unfortunately, our second visit was just as disappointing.

The "three-course family meal" turned out to be two margarita pizzas, chicken goujons, cocktail sausages and a jug of cordial—a children's sharing platter clearly designed for much younger children, despite management knowing my children's ages in advance.

This was hugely disappointing after driving an hour to the hotel expecting the meal that had been described.

When we raised this with Mina, he appeared completely uninterested. Eventually he offered a €60 credit for the bar menu instead, which we accepted simply because our children were hungry.

The food itself was average at best and extremely overpriced. For example, €20 for a pepperoni pizza and €5.50 for a portion of chips felt excessive considering the quality.

Our room was also disappointing. The carpets were visibly dirty, there was damage to the bathroom door that could easily have caused an injury, the bathroom door wouldn't lock properly, and several fixtures, including broken picture frames, were damaged and presented unnecessary safety hazards. To make matters worse, the top shower wasn't working either, meaning the room clearly hadn't been properly checked or maintained before our arrival. I have photographs of these issues.

Breakfast the following morning was equally poor. The plates were cold, the eggs were cold, the rashers were cold—in fact, the entire cooked breakfast was cold.

There is no self-service coffee machine, yet nobody offered us tea or coffee when we were seated. When I eventually asked a member of staff for coffee, he let out a loud sigh, rolled his eyes and said, "Fine, where are you sitting?"

That interaction summed up the level of customer service throughout our stay.

Final Thoughts

What disappointed me most wasn't the facilities—it was the attitude of management.

When I later spoke to Alison again, she dismissed our concerns by saying our children's ages hadn't been communicated, despite the fact that I had specifically discussed this with her beforehand.

She also maintained that the hotel had compensated us fairly for the original poor experience.

Throughout the conversation, she repeatedly spoke over us and was unwilling to accept constructive feedback. Even my 13-year-old son commented afterwards that she came across as passive-aggressive.

Her final remark to me was, "I assume you'll never be back again."

She was absolutely right.

I've stayed in countless hotels across Ireland and abroad over the years with my family, and I can honestly say this has been the poorest overall experience I've encountered.

The Brandon House Hotel has potential, but the standard of customer service and management lets it down enormously. Staff appear disengaged, concerns are dismissed rather than addressed, and genuine customer feedback doesn't seem to be welcomed.

My impression is that the hotel benefits greatly from being the only hotel in New Ross. Unfortunately, based on our experiences, that convenience is not enough for us to return.

I cannot recommend the Brandon House Hotel, and sadly we will not be returning.

One final point that perfectly sums up my experience with the Brandon House Hotel was my conversation with Alison, the Deputy General Manager. After explaining everything that had happened, I was effectively told to "feel free to leave a negative review on TripAdvisor" because, in her view, the hotel's many positive reviews would outweigh a single negative one. The clear impression I was left with was that my experience simply didn't matter and that one unhappy customer wouldn't make any difference.

For me, that conversation encapsulated the entire experience. It wasn't just the issues with the spa, the room, the food or the service—it was the attitude towards customer feedback. Rather than feeling listened to or valued, I felt dismissed.

Customer service is about listening, acknowledging when things haven't gone to plan and making guests feel that their experience matters. Unfortunately, I never got that impression from the management at the Brandon House Hotel. And if my review changes 1 persons mind about booking this hotel I will be happy

Really excellent breakfast - just couldn't go wrong with the smoked salmon, Wexford Creamery Vintage Cheddar and poached eggs. The staff are the most attentive we have ever encountered (not only in the breakfast room but throughout the hotel).

Seafood Chowder and Prawn Cassoulet are "more please!" on the Library Bar Dinner Menu.

The lady that checked us in and the staff in both the bar and restaurant were nice

Great staff and manager Mena who looked after me very well
Interesting tapas menu I really enjoyed
Great room
A repeat customer

We enjoyed a short local enough to us staycation here after spotting a really good deal online. I can’t recommend the place enough, staff were amazing, friendly, professional and genuinely looked like they enjoyed their work. Our room was good except for the mattress, we found it uncomfortable but that could be just preference. Food was delicious especially the breakfast which I think was the favourite part of our stay. Specially want to thank and mention Alison who served us breakfast, dinner and literally tea for our stay, she was everywhere but in a good way and always so cheerful. All in all 10/10

Had lunch with my husband and children here today. Food was excellent. Staff were so helpful and nice. Best service from staff I have seen in a long time so professional. Very good value for money also. Definitely recommend.

Such a beautiful hotel. The staff was amazing. Everyone is so helpful. We had a great stay. The food was amazing.

Stayed with the family this week. We really enjoyed the pool and the playground for the kids. I wouldn't recommend availing of the family deal with the meal included (the options are quite limited and I wish I'd just gone bed and breakfast). On both nights, the bar was a shambles for food. On the first night, we waited well over an hour between starter and main course. On the second night, it was a battle to get the bill and then pay it. Desserts were delivered but I had to get my own spoon etc. The waitresses were really nice but they appear understaffed and it's all a bit chaotic. Our beakfast experience was more positive and it seemed much better organised. There would also appear to be a lack of visible management around the place.

De oprechte vriendelijkheid van de medewerkers

Great friendly staff and good food at the library bar.