Review: Waterford Castle

October 2005

Ah, our final resting spot is Waterford and we approached the city from a different angle than I am accustomed to but got my bearings quite easily. We saw a sign for Waterford Castle and followed it a bit before thinking we missed something -- a mistake I often make. When a sign says to turn left, stay on that road until you see another sign -- don't second-quess yourself. After a few u-turns, we finally saw another sign and were greeted by a private ferry to take us to the island where Waterford Castle resides, quite a regal beginning, eh?

We slowly drove up the driveway and Waterford Castle began to peek through trees at us, revealing the same red ivy as Kilkea Castle. The doorman greeted us and took our luggage in while we parked the car a few feet away in the car park. Check-in was easy and within minutes we were off to our room, a Deluxe Room mind you -- lots of room for an extra bed should anyone need a triple. Bathrobes in the bathroom for comfort, a desk topped with fresh fruit and water, compliments of the house.

Rather than fall asleep, I headed to the front desk where I was given a tour of the many different types of bedrooms available in Waterford Castle, including two suites for families of 4-5 people! I had always been told this was not possible but I suppose it's the limitation of the reservation system and I will have to make a specific request when needed. The Deluxe Rooms can accommodate a cot or rollaway bed for triples. We also walked around the lawn briefly but it was too wet to really explore so we headed back in.

Tea, scones and sandwiches in the bar area as we read some magazines and decompressed from the drive. €20 per person for tea, scone and assorted sandwiches -- expensive but the atmostphere and location warranted this I suppose so we splurged. The best part was out server told us that it would be 20 minutes for the scones as they are made-to-order rather than reheated... the price was worth it now.

Dinner was at 8:00pm and we were just one of 6 rooms booked that evening -- with Waterford having a total of 19 rooms altogether. The dining room was magnificent with high ceilings and dark-wood walls and our own piano player entertaining us during our meal. It was a bit odd being one of two tables in the entire room but we quickly made friends with our neighbors and began to order our dinner and wine. Dinner was a fixed-price €58 per person with a few supplements depending on what was being ordered. We opted not to try an appetizer as it included either seafood/shellfish or other items which we didn't find appetizing. The rest of our meal was absolutely wonderful, right down to the chocoloate soufflet for dessert. In fact, the wine list was extremely appealing, with many wines under 30 euro per bottle -- a surprise for a hotel of this caliber, but much welcomed.

After dinner I used their computer to log on and post a message to my message forums, welcoming my group home. It was slow as anything and it has been years since I've used a dial-up connection -- but the deed was done.

Back to bed and we can wake-up anytime we like in the morning!

Lazy wake-ups are the way to vacation - no alarm clocks and no schedules.

Breakfast at Waterford Castle is like most B&Bs with the buffet table setup with cereals, fuits and yogurt but this table had salmon and cheeses as well as most fruit juices. We also ordered off the menu with items like pancakes and french toast as well as omlettes. Quite good and we met the same couple whom we dined next to the previous evening, both enjoying themselves on their little break from life.

We checked out, took the ferry back to the mainland and began our journey to Bantry, on the West Coast of Cork. Of course we stopped at Waterford Crystal Factory along the way to browse ... and buy ... way too much. This trip was actually good because I could ask Sean, one of the artisans-turned-marketing rep a few questions about the factory and what I had heard. Firstly I heard that they were outsourcing some of their work to China and that "Made in China" stickers would be appearing on their products. He assured me that would not happen but that indeed some of their smaller items were outsourced -- Marquis by Waterford is made elsewhere in Europe. Their Christmas tree ornaments are outsourced to Germany -- and the other trinkets can come from Hungary. Each item will be produced with the same quality as traditional Waterford including the Waterford seal but it will also state where the product was made. Traditional Waterford will remain in Waterford.

All accommodations, meals, treatments, etc. are paid for by Enchanting Ireland's agents thereby reducing favorable reviews. The views written here are the views of our agent and are not necessarily the views of Enchanting Ireland or it's parent company, eTAO Group, LLC. All reviews are based on the experience of our agent during a particular date in time and may vary by clients.