Cliff at Lyons

Beautiful hotel just a short drive from Dublin. Grounds are fabulous. Lily Pond rooms have lovely views. Our room was OK, not quite the luxury we expected. Bathroom was stunning with a free standing bath. Village Thermal is lovely for relaxation although there is no lighting which meant by 5:30pm we couldn't see anything. This seems dangerous. The Mill is lovely for dinner - beef was very tender. Service excellent. Beautiful breakfast the next morning. Overall, it's a lovely spot for a weekend break.

We arrived early to Cliff at Lyons. The woman at reception was very pleasant and said we would get a call when our room was ready and it shouldn’t be long. We didn’t get a call and went back to reception around 2:30pm and the room was ready. We were happy we were close to the thermal village but had a very poor night’s sleep. The floor boards in the room above were so creaky that every time someone moved we’d hear it. Unfortunately the couple above didn’t retire to the room until after midnight, which woke us as we’d gone for an early night. They were up at 5am and again at 8am..: which meant so were we. Also the room was so hot we had to open the window but in the middle of the night the heating went off and it was very cold in the morning… one extreme to the other. We had ordered liquor coffees in the bar after arriving. The were nice.. but had some much cream that they weren’t very warm. We’d also ordered a drink in the bar before dinner and paid for it… but it was also put on our dinner bill… thankfully we noticed before signing for it. Dinner was the best part of our stay. The food was beautiful, although the venison main would have benefitted from being a bit warmer. We didn’t get the specific Malbec we ordered and while it was a lovely alternative, this should have been pointed out. We enjoyed sitting by the fire in the Lyons den although service for drinks was very slow. The pantry was nice for a snack and breakfast was good and plentiful, although I ordered the Lyons breakfast with sauce on the side and it arrived with sauce over it and a sausage on the side. An error the server corrected, but with an extra sausage again which wasn’t requested. Overall, Cliff at Lyons is a beautiful place with potential. The most disappointing part was the noise in the mayors house. I mentioned upon check out about the noise and got ah I’m sorry but let us know if you ever want to book again. Not the best attitude. Unfortunately wouldn’t be booking again for a rest.

I rarely leave reviews as generally the standard of hotels in Ireland is exceptional and I trust I will get quality if paying enough for it. On this occasion however I feel really hard done by. We paid 650euro for one night incl dinner and a garden tour and cocktail making. The tour was enjoyable and the guide was lovely but at this time of year there’s nothing to see in the gardens so it’s silly to advertise a tour of empty beds. The goats were cute. The thermal suite is outdoor so not particularly enjoyable in winter. One jacuzzi was being treated so we sat in a steam room for 30 minutes waiting to use the working one and then had to remove a clump of hair from the water. Cocktail making was actually a demonstration. The barista was lovely and knowledgeable but again, like the tour it’s not what you’re expecting. We expected a fun hour of learning to make cocktails not sitting on a bar stool watching someone make them which we could have done for free. The fire in the Lyons Den had malfunctioned in the storm so couldn’t be lit and the whole bar area smelled of smoke. Not the staffs fault but another thing we had been looking forward to which didn’t materialise. Dinner was my biggest issue. Neither of us are fussy eaters but the food was so salty we didn’t finish it. There were actual chunks of salt on top of the beef and the venison which was a pity as the meat itself was perfectly cooked. The desserts (apple tartin and chocolate mousse) we also didn’t finish. The apple tartin tasted like burnt apple pie and the ice cream with the mousse was like sour cream. The restaurant was uncomfortably cold despite the fire. We left dinner hungry and disappointed. The room itself was clean, bed was comfortable and the decor was ok. The bathroom was beautiful; this was the only part of our stay which felt worthy of the room rate we paid. It’s worth noting that the hotel itself is a village layout so you have to walk outside on stones to get from place to place. The village is lovely but in stormy weather (as was our case) or if mobility is an issue i wouldn’t recommend it. Breakfast was fine. I asked for a hard boiled egg and was given a soft poached egg and told that it was hard boiled. At that stage I wasn’t bothered arguing. The rashers and sausages were again extremely salty and the tomato was practically pickled. The staff were friendly and there’s plenty of parking. The gift included with the package we booked was a pot of bath salts which are nice but not much use to us was we don’t have a bath to use them in. Overall I regret booking our night away here. I’d we had paid under 400 I would have been less critical. We have been to many other 4/5 star hotels throughout Ireland and have never been disappointed. We aren’t confrontational and didn’t complain at the time as doing so would have further dampened our moods. My advice would be avoid, take your money and spend it somewhere else.