Our week in Ireland via Air France La Première
Sep 4, 2016, 7:21 am
#181
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Denver • DEN-APA
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Really enjoying this TR. The helicopter tour looks amazing! I already read the next installment on your website, and I can't understand what went on at Ashford Castle. The first few pictures looked beautiful, but your experiences thereafter were unbelievable, starting with that awful-looking meal. Mrs. SFO channeling Annie Oakley -- who would have thought? And the first picture of the hawk with the accompanying advice not to challenge him in a staring contest was very funny! 
PS -- Wagyu corned beef. That alone is justification for a return to Ireland for us.
PS -- Wagyu corned beef. That alone is justification for a return to Ireland for us.
Agreed! I'm stunned as I've seen the 77W on sfo's past TR and just can't get over a 1-2-1 F cabin in 2016 (in 2006 I was in AA F with 1-2-1). Even ual is 1-1-1. Or so I think.
I'm trying to figure a SFO-vce and had considered paying for AF F if it was in the 3-4K range but now it just doesn't feel right. Better off using my ual miles and just trying to find LH F or even any European C, even if it means a different USA city...
I'm just stunned with this AF F experience. It feels wrong to fly UAX to SFO (i.e. Time waste) just to get the A380 when their 77W flies out of lax.
Btw did ual interline the luggage to AF?
I'm trying to figure a SFO-vce and had considered paying for AF F if it was in the 3-4K range but now it just doesn't feel right. Better off using my ual miles and just trying to find LH F or even any European C, even if it means a different USA city...
I'm just stunned with this AF F experience. It feels wrong to fly UAX to SFO (i.e. Time waste) just to get the A380 when their 77W flies out of lax.
Btw did ual interline the luggage to AF?
Not sure about the interline with AF as we only had carry-ons and it was not an issue.
Sep 4, 2016, 8:09 am
#182
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: NYC
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Posts: 2,509
Only carrier that is 1-1-1 on 777 is CX.
Sep 4, 2016, 10:15 am
#183
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Denver • DEN-APA
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Posts: 21,602
Ashford Castle
After our grand arrival by helicopter...
... we checked in...
... took a wee tour and had lunch, whilst our rooms were being prepared.
Beautiful lobby and common areas on the main floor of the castle.
The bar...
And The Drawing Room for lunch and our first encounter with a service-challenged staff.
Nice view though.
... absolutely horrid food. Despite numerous RESERVED tables, without any guests the entire time we were there, we were seated at corner tables near the piano. Our surly waiter snapped at one of our friends when she questioned the lack of a table cloth on their adjacent table. We ordered lunch and wine, and this same waiter proceeded to empty the entire contents of our bottle of wine into our four glasses. Huh? No idea why or to where he disappeared, but fortunately he was replaced by a better waiter who knew how to pour wine properly, and did so on our second bottle. As for lunch, it was virtually inedible.
The chicken noodle soup was awful. Campbell's would have been better.
But worst was the inedible tuna salad sandwich.
Which was mostly mayonnaise.
OK, not a good start. Our rooms were now ready so we headed upstairs to unpack and relax a bit.
Pleasant room with strong period decor. Nothing subtle here, but I guess it works in a 13th century castle.
Nice view of the lake.
When we checked into our room, we were greeted with numerous embarrassing cards and notes addressing us as "Mr. SFO777 and Mrs. SoCal Friends", apparently assuming that we were swapping spouses this weekend.
Nice enough room, but the more time you spend, the more you notice. Like closet for hanging things but no drawers for clothes. Our fireplace looked nice but didn't work. I called the front desk and a guy from maintenance eventually came to check but was unable to get it working. He said he needed to confer with colleagues and return later. He never came back.
After my tour of the lovely grounds and a power nap, still no maintenance on the fireplace. I called the front desk and the staff person assured me that she would send someone to fix it. Not surprisingly, no one ever showed up that day.
Drinks in the bar before dinner...
And then across the bridge to Cullen's at the Cottage for dinner.
Dinner and in particular the service were quite good despite the constant menu references to and shilling for Ashford owner Bea Tollman, who seems quite full of herself.
After dinner and an Irish Coffee in the bar, we headed up to our room at around 10:30pm to find that no one had been in our room for turn down service or to fix the fireplace. Apparently I had inadvertently pushed the small electronic Do Not Disturb button, which had letters too small for a normal person to read. If the chap that showed us to our suite had explained this feature to us and that the traditional physical Do Not Disturb sign hanging on the door knob was only for show, perhaps I would have known. I called the front desk to ask about turn down and was advised that housekeeping had gone home for the evening. At 10:40pm? While the front desk clerk valiantly attempted turn down, he admitted that he really didn't know what should be done. So we were left on our own to turn down including figuring out how to close all the blinds and shutters, one of which was missing a knob, and had been for quite some time considering that the knob screw was painted over. LOL.
The next morning, we ordered room service which, while delivered promptly, was missing an orange juice and a spoon for the cereal. Also, the bathroom TV did not work.
At my request from the night before, the duty manager Michael called me around 9:30am. I detailed all of the above problems and he assured me that they would be fixed and that "we'll be speaking later in the day". I never heard from him again.
Our first stop this morning was clay shooting.
Mrs. SFO777, who honed her skills trimming the rabbit population in our back yard in Denver, was really good at this.
Back to castle...
For coffee...
And a pit stop.
Yet another example of spotty service.
Before heading out to the highlight of our stay, Falconry.
Our wonderful Falconry trainer/guide with one of our two beautiful Harris Hawks. There are absolutely wonderful creatures and guide docile, although he advised us to lose if we got into a staring contest. LOL. They will sit quietly on a glove on your left arm and are trained to return as soon as you stretch out your arm. Of course, the fact that they get food when they return trumps any affection they have for you.
And the main meal at the end of the walk... a baby chick.
The Quiet Man house, featured in the 1952 movie with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, which was filmed at Ashford Castle and adjacent town of Cong.
What a treat to spend an hour with the beautiful and entertaining creatures.
Over to lunch at the Cottage.
We returned later in the day to find that while the room had been properly cleaned by housekeeping, they forgot to leave wash cloths. The TV was now functioning but the fireplace still didn't work. I called the front desk to complain about the fireplace, and I was told that there was "miscommunication in the maintenance staff" but they would send someone again.
And dinner later that evening in the Dungeon. Wagyu corned beef was sensational.
We returned after dinner to a properly turned down room and a roaring fireplace. However, the fireplace once again failed to turn on the next morning.
While we enjoyed the activities at the castle, the multiple and continuing service failures during our stay were simply unacceptable, as was the distressing lack of responsiveness or even concern by managers on duty. Based on our experience, both of us would be hard pressed to recommend Ashford Castle to anyone, especially at the rates they charge.
After our grand arrival by helicopter...
... we checked in...
... took a wee tour and had lunch, whilst our rooms were being prepared.
Beautiful lobby and common areas on the main floor of the castle.
The bar...
And The Drawing Room for lunch and our first encounter with a service-challenged staff.
Nice view though.
... absolutely horrid food. Despite numerous RESERVED tables, without any guests the entire time we were there, we were seated at corner tables near the piano. Our surly waiter snapped at one of our friends when she questioned the lack of a table cloth on their adjacent table. We ordered lunch and wine, and this same waiter proceeded to empty the entire contents of our bottle of wine into our four glasses. Huh? No idea why or to where he disappeared, but fortunately he was replaced by a better waiter who knew how to pour wine properly, and did so on our second bottle. As for lunch, it was virtually inedible.
The chicken noodle soup was awful. Campbell's would have been better.
But worst was the inedible tuna salad sandwich.
Which was mostly mayonnaise.
OK, not a good start. Our rooms were now ready so we headed upstairs to unpack and relax a bit.
Pleasant room with strong period decor. Nothing subtle here, but I guess it works in a 13th century castle.
Nice view of the lake.
When we checked into our room, we were greeted with numerous embarrassing cards and notes addressing us as "Mr. SFO777 and Mrs. SoCal Friends", apparently assuming that we were swapping spouses this weekend.
Nice enough room, but the more time you spend, the more you notice. Like closet for hanging things but no drawers for clothes. Our fireplace looked nice but didn't work. I called the front desk and a guy from maintenance eventually came to check but was unable to get it working. He said he needed to confer with colleagues and return later. He never came back.
After my tour of the lovely grounds and a power nap, still no maintenance on the fireplace. I called the front desk and the staff person assured me that she would send someone to fix it. Not surprisingly, no one ever showed up that day.
Drinks in the bar before dinner...
And then across the bridge to Cullen's at the Cottage for dinner.
Dinner and in particular the service were quite good despite the constant menu references to and shilling for Ashford owner Bea Tollman, who seems quite full of herself.
After dinner and an Irish Coffee in the bar, we headed up to our room at around 10:30pm to find that no one had been in our room for turn down service or to fix the fireplace. Apparently I had inadvertently pushed the small electronic Do Not Disturb button, which had letters too small for a normal person to read. If the chap that showed us to our suite had explained this feature to us and that the traditional physical Do Not Disturb sign hanging on the door knob was only for show, perhaps I would have known. I called the front desk to ask about turn down and was advised that housekeeping had gone home for the evening. At 10:40pm? While the front desk clerk valiantly attempted turn down, he admitted that he really didn't know what should be done. So we were left on our own to turn down including figuring out how to close all the blinds and shutters, one of which was missing a knob, and had been for quite some time considering that the knob screw was painted over. LOL.
The next morning, we ordered room service which, while delivered promptly, was missing an orange juice and a spoon for the cereal. Also, the bathroom TV did not work.
At my request from the night before, the duty manager Michael called me around 9:30am. I detailed all of the above problems and he assured me that they would be fixed and that "we'll be speaking later in the day". I never heard from him again.
Our first stop this morning was clay shooting.
Mrs. SFO777, who honed her skills trimming the rabbit population in our back yard in Denver, was really good at this.
Back to castle...
For coffee...
And a pit stop.
Yet another example of spotty service.
Before heading out to the highlight of our stay, Falconry.
Our wonderful Falconry trainer/guide with one of our two beautiful Harris Hawks. There are absolutely wonderful creatures and guide docile, although he advised us to lose if we got into a staring contest. LOL. They will sit quietly on a glove on your left arm and are trained to return as soon as you stretch out your arm. Of course, the fact that they get food when they return trumps any affection they have for you.
And the main meal at the end of the walk... a baby chick.
The Quiet Man house, featured in the 1952 movie with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, which was filmed at Ashford Castle and adjacent town of Cong.
What a treat to spend an hour with the beautiful and entertaining creatures.
Over to lunch at the Cottage.
We returned later in the day to find that while the room had been properly cleaned by housekeeping, they forgot to leave wash cloths. The TV was now functioning but the fireplace still didn't work. I called the front desk to complain about the fireplace, and I was told that there was "miscommunication in the maintenance staff" but they would send someone again.
And dinner later that evening in the Dungeon. Wagyu corned beef was sensational.
We returned after dinner to a properly turned down room and a roaring fireplace. However, the fireplace once again failed to turn on the next morning.
While we enjoyed the activities at the castle, the multiple and continuing service failures during our stay were simply unacceptable, as was the distressing lack of responsiveness or even concern by managers on duty. Based on our experience, both of us would be hard pressed to recommend Ashford Castle to anyone, especially at the rates they charge.
Last edited by SFO777; Sep 7, 2016 at 9:55 am
Sep 4, 2016, 1:45 pm
#186
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Germany
Programs: Some
Posts: 11,522
@ Ashford Castle. I guess if I do a Ireland-trip I will stay. I´m fascinated from this place ´from the Moment I saw the first Picture in a LHW-prospect about 20 years ago. It´s a shame they do such a lousy job with soft product.
Sep 4, 2016, 2:06 pm
#187
Join Date: Dec 2001
Posts: 3,181
The food at Ashford seems to have gone down the tubes since 1977 when I ate there. It was fantastic.
Thanks for a great trip report. I always wanted to go to Killarney but also the Dingle Peninsula which an Irish person told me to visit.
Thanks for a great trip report. I always wanted to go to Killarney but also the Dingle Peninsula which an Irish person told me to visit.
Sep 4, 2016, 2:17 pm
#188
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
Programs: BA Bronze, Emirates Silver, Virgin Silver, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 1,403
Not sure what period the room was supposed to have been set in but the colour scheme looked hideous!!! Fine I suppose if you like bright colours!
Sep 5, 2016, 3:41 am
#189
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Geneva, Dubai, Paris
Programs: Disillusioned Cent
Posts: 1,880
What a shame that Ashford Castle was such a major disappointment.
But of course it makes for a very entertaining TR!
Sep 5, 2016, 4:09 am
#190
Join Date: Aug 2004
Programs: Meh
Posts: 2,598
Great TR but seems to miss the true Irish experience, the true feel for Ireland is far from luxury castles and their grounds.
Sep 5, 2016, 7:57 am
#191
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Germany
Programs: BA Executive Club Silver, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, Alamo Insiders, Avis Preferred, Hertz Gold
Posts: 90
Great TR as always SFO777. Did you think about heading over to the Aran Islands as part of your itinerary at all?
Sep 5, 2016, 3:12 pm
#193
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: ORD
Programs: US Air, UA BA LH AI DELTA MARRIOTT CHOICE SGP
Posts: 9,883
SFO777 Another great TR. ( So what's new ? )
Your photographs of scenes show an eye for composition & lighting.
I wonder if you let Ashford management know how much room they have before they excel !
BTW : A request, in such cases may we suggest the Princess write the report ?
We want more laughs too (me thinks she has a way with words).
)Your photographs of scenes show an eye for composition & lighting.
I wonder if you let Ashford management know how much room they have before they excel !
BTW : A request, in such cases may we suggest the Princess write the report ?
We want more laughs too
(me thinks she has a way with words).
Sep 6, 2016, 8:54 am
#194
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Boston, MA
Programs: DL Platinum, MillionMiler, HH Silver
Posts: 38
Fabulous report. Thank you for putting the time in! I used a bunch of your restaurants/wines/activities from your South Africa report, so wanted to let you know how much I appreciate all your reports.
Sep 6, 2016, 10:06 am
#195
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: SEA
Posts: 3,955
If I were staying at a place that looked like that, the food as pictured would not be what I'd expect to be served. Even the first lunch that you didn't like looked okay, but something I'd expect to eat at home, not at a friggin' castle.