Description: The Maryborough is about as fine a hotel as you would hope to find in Ireland. The front portion of the hotel is a restored manor home that is quite lovely. In fact, it is very surprising when you walk into the main section of the hotel and find a very large, modern section. The vast majority of the hotel is done in this contemporary fashion so don’t expect a quaint little Inn experience. Having said that, this hotel receives my unqualified recommendation for several reasons: the service was fantastic, the restaurant was exceptional, the gym and pool area were far better than you would expect, the grounds and old renovated home (the entrance) added a nice feel, and the rooms were very roomy and well appointed.
Regarding the atmosphere, every night that I was there, the lounge / bar area of the hotel was quite bustling. One night, the local yacht club had a function; other nights it was weddings or just large groups friends and hotel guests. It was easy to settle in for a drink and mingle with a variety of people happy to share a beer and a conversation. The crowd is a little older and it is far from a singles scene, but it was a nice place to grab an evening drink.
Special mention needs to be made about the restaurant. The food was by far the finest I had in Ireland. Coincidentally, the food was definitely not Irish (more French than anything else). I ate here a couple of different nights and highly recommend both the salmon and everything else on the menu. We had a couple of long dining experiences that included appetizers, entrees and dessert topped off with several bottles of wine and political discussions.
I also enjoyed the fact that the hotel gym was more than a cycle and treadmill (it did have several of both). In addition to this standard equipment, there were very nice weight machines and an exceptional pool area. The pool included lanes for swimming as well as hot tubs and a sauna.
Make sure you ask about any special offers when you are booking. We stayed on a weekend special that cost around 150 Euros per person for the whole weekend. This rate included breakfast and one dinner in the restaurant…which was normally pretty expensive.
The only thing I would improve about the experience was the Internet access. To be fair, the hotel will let you go into the sales office at your leisure to use their Internet connection. The staff was very gracious and happy to oblige. However, the connection was the slowest I have seen in many a year. Don’t plan on getting a lot done, but it is an option if you are in a pinch and need to check your email.
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