The K Club, Co Kilkenny

100   Recommended
August 4, 2015 by EXPERT

 Map | 2 Reviews | 50% Recommended
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The K Club
 Map | 2 Reviews | 50% Recommended

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The K Club, Co Kildare

Booking, Check-In and Room

On our last night, we moved to the K Club to be closer to Dublin Airport for our flight home.

Again, we booked viapricesquire, who got us an upgrade at booking from a Deluxe Suite to a Liffey Suite, as well as the standard Virtuoso amenities (breakfast, a $100USD credit and a tour of the art collection, which wasn’t available on the night we stayed).

While the booking went smoothly, check-in fell far, far short of expectations.

We arrived into a lobby that resembled something of a zoo, with two loud American wedding parties in the process of checking in, and a clearly overwhelmed front desk staff trying to deal with it.

We arrived at 2:30 (30 minutes before check-in) and our room wasn’t ready. Fair enough. They told us it would be a few minutes. We took a walk around the beautiful house gardens, and returned to wait in the lobby. A few minutes after 3, we were handed keys to our Liffey Suite.

The room itself was very nice, with elegant furnishings and huge windows overlooking the garden:





Unfortunately, as we were getting settled in, we heard the loud smash of a hammer outside...we looked outside and sure enough, there was a full construction setup not ten feet from one of our windows, with workers hammering away as if they got paid by the decibel.

There was no way we were going to be able to relax in here.

I went downstairs to ask for a new suite, and the frazzled front desk person asked me to wait in one of the lobby chairs. After 20 minutes of waiting, a staff member escorted me to the King Suite.

While entirely without construction noise, the King Suite is dark (the windows are, without exaggeration, probably 18 inches tall...compare that to the Liffey suite), drab and with a few of the parking lot. It needed a renovation ages ago.

Unfortunately, I was told it was the only other room available, as the wedding party had booked all of the other garden-view rooms.

I begrudgingly accepted.

I sentpricesquirean email letting him know what had happened, and asking if there was anything his contacts at the property could do. I didn’t really expect anything, and we had resigned ourselves to spending our last night in Ireland the King’s Dungeon.

And thus starts the story of the time I was most grateful to be working with a great TA.

20 minutes later, a knock on our door. An apologetic FOM asks us to leave our things and follow her to a “much better room.”

And indeed, we were finally made happy with the beautiful Presidential Suite (reserved for the President of Complaining, as my wife would later speculate)...along with a complimentary bottle of wine and dessert at the house restaurant. Truly above and beyond, as all I really wanted was the room type I originally booked -- or something similar -- without construction noise.













Dining and Activities

We ate at the property’s Thai restaurant, which, as long as you’re not expecting anything too authentic, was a welcome break from two weeks of hearty Irish meals. I’d recommend it.

We also tried our hand at horseback riding, which takes place at a horse farm a few miles from the hotel. This was a lot of fun, and a great way to spend our last morning...the staff at the farm were very friendly and helpful to us -- and especially my wife, who wasn’t exactly excited about her “feisty” mare.

Overall

The hotel is certainly grand and beautiful:



But the conclusion we came to was that it was simply too big for us. While the suite we ended up with was certainly luxurious, the property never felt as welcoming as the smaller properties we’ve enjoyed most.

The recovery -- while it’s unfortunate that it was necessary -- was excellent, though I’m not sure we’ll return.

It is, however, a very convenient last stop near Dublin airport, so as long as your expectations are realistic, it’ll probably serve you just fine.

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