We had been travelling most of the day, and ended up looking for a place to stay in Birr, and I saw the sign for Kinnitty, and thought it would be lovely to try it, as I have heard so many good things about it. I phoned up, and was advised that they would check if they had availability, and I got a phone call back within 2 minutes to say that they had a room. We were delighted. Thought it looked lovely from the outside, and candles were lighting up the steps to reception. Thought it was lovely. We were waiting for a good bit of time at reception before someone came along, and then were taken to our room. To be completely honest, was not at all impressed with the room, had a very cold atmosphere to it!

Was not at all impressed with the bathroom. The hand - towels had clearly been used by someone else, and the toilet seat had the traces from the last person - which made me very weary about anything else!! The shower curtain was filthy, and the way that it is set up, you have no choice but to be rubbing against it, whilst in the shower. Also the way the shower is set up - the water goes all over the room, even when using the shower curtain. And there were just net curtains on the window - meaning no privacy - which I assumed was pretty standard.

No tv in the room - which again I assumed was standard when one is paying for a room. It was explained to me that no tv, as it is a castle - and fair enough - and fair play to them in that they said that we could go downstairs to the Dungeon bar and watch tv there - the Dungeon bar was closed, but they would allow us to go in. We went down to the Dungeon, and tv was on, but it was most uncomfortable, it felt weird being there, and felt that we had imposed by asking. Very dusty smell, and no where clean to sit. Ended up watching it for a while and then left to go for dinner in the restaurant.

There was only an early bird menu and the food was not the best. I guess the vegetables were meant to be "al-dente", but they were very very hard. They really should tell people this before they attempt to eat them. We did give our feedback on this to the waitress. I have to say, that the waitress on duty that night was lovely - and for us - to be honest, she turned the whole experience around. Initially, when we were waiting for our meal, I was on my phone in the restaurant reading reviews on Trip Advisor so see what others thought. If I had a smart phone, I would have been putting up a review of my own at that stage - and it would not have been great - but the professional attitude of the waitress really turned this around. She was just very friendly, and apologised about the vegetables. Also the cups were not clean and she immediatly replaced them. She also told us about the library bar next door - no one else had told us about this - so this lightened things somewhat. Prior to this , we were of the impression that there was nothing else to do after dinner.

In summary - the food was not great. It might be a Castle, but character and charm are not an excuse for dirt - the bathroom was dirty - and in general did not want to be wearing my clean clothes in the place.

In fairness - the bed was extremely comfortable - and it was the best night sleep I had gotten in ages!!!!!!

We arrived mid- week, just as a couple. I get the impression that this is the kind of place more suited to people who come as a group for perhaps a bank holiday weekend, or are bringing a wedding party. I guess then all the stops are pulled out. But as a couple, on their own, mid week - I could not recommend it.

Had to laugh - next day - on the front of one of the daily papers, there was an advertisement - to win a luxerious break to Kinnitty Castle!!! Unfortunately - no thanks!