Radisson SAS Hotel & Spa, Limerick

...were no reviews for the Radisson SAS hotel in Co. Limerick in the Republic of Ireland and so I thought I would share my own personal experiences of the hotel in the hope that it will help others that are thinking of staying at the hotel, or at least help give a more informed opinion.

When I booked to stay at the Radisson Co. Limerick in September 2007 it was advertised as a 4 star hotel on each of the websites that I looked at. I see ...
...with all international hotels the Radisson SAS chain offers a useful website that details each of the hotels in the chain, provides some pictures and virtual tours of various parts of the buildings. It’s possible to view room amenities, rates and to book directly with the hotel.

However I did a lot of extensive searching prior to my visit to the Limerick region for all manner of hotels, and because this was my first holiday for a couple ... more

OVERVIEW

I just did a search on Ciao and noticed that there were no reviews for the Radisson SAS hotel in Co. Limerick in the Republic of Ireland and so I thought I would share my own personal experiences of the hotel in the hope that it will help others that are thinking of staying at the hotel, or at least help give a more informed opinion.

When I booked to stay at the Radisson Co. Limerick in September 2007 it was advertised as a 4 star hotel on each of the websites that I looked at. I see that Ciao is now listing it as a 3 star hotel which has prompted me to write this.

HOTEL BOOKING

As with all international hotels the Radisson SAS chain offers a useful website that details each of the hotels in the chain, provides some pictures and virtual tours of various parts of the buildings. It’s possible to view room amenities, rates and to book directly with the hotel.

However I did a lot of extensive searching prior to my visit to the Limerick region for all manner of hotels, and because this was my first holiday for a couple of years, I wanted it to be memorable for the right reasons and was willing to go a bit up market, but at the same time I still wanted a good deal. I therefore used on of the leading travel booking websites to do this as the prices were cheaper and inclusive of breakfast than those listed on the hotel’s own site.

I think, although I can’t be sure, that these large travel booking sites (octopus/ebookers/expedia ec) must block book a certain number of rooms in a hotel per season which is why they are able to offer certain prices. Anyway, the booking through the site I chose was simple and confirmed immediately.

I was setup for my holiday!

THE HOTEL

I had intended upon splitting my holiday into two regions of Ireland, Galway at first and Limerick second. Galway is somewhere that I used to go every single year, and is a beautiful part of Ireland. A brand new Marriott hotel had opened a year earlier, was 4 star and actually cheaper than the Radisson SAS in Limerick.

After my two nights in Galway we travelled to Limerick. The Radisson SAS was easy to find as it was just off one of the main motorways. The writeup on the booking website really made the hotel sound special and something that I was willing to pay slightly more for. After all it is set in something like 29 acres of landscaped land, it was a 4 star hotel, it was also in a good location, close to the airport but close to the main attractions around Limerick. The Radisson SAS is a multi national chain and as such I was looking forward to my stay here.

Upon arrival it was obvious that the hotel was extremely busy because the hotel lobby was packed, there was some sort of business conference/ corporate function going on. The lobby to the hotel was big, and smartly decorated, it felt a lot more grand than the Marriott in Galway. The checkin desks were individual units rather than one long desk and each was staffed accordingly.

When you book with one of the third party websites you are provided with a printout that you hand to the checkin staff, the website releases your details a few days prior to your arrival.

Checkin was swift and simple. It had been a fairly long drive from Galway to Limerick because the roads were poor, they are currently building a bypass around the town of Enis, but that wasn’t open at the time, so we had to travel through town and there are traffic lights everywhere, a slow journey indeed.

We collected our luggage and proceeded to make our way to the rooms. The very first thing I noticed was that the main doors leading from the lobby to the lift area were scuffed and looked a bit shabby, not really 4 star, but hey, these are doors!

When we got to the rooms I was immediately disappointed, I had booked two rooms and the odd layout of the hotel meant that the 1st floor was actually downstairs rather than upstairs. I have stayed in many hotels over the years, and a lot in the USA where 2 double beds per room is common, these are Queen size or 1 King size bed per room. The website stated that each room came equipped with King or Queen sized beds in each room. I took this to mean plural and therefore for it to be the same as those I had just left at the Marriott.

Wrong. OK, I thought this is a European model so differences are to be expected. However the two single beds in my room were awful, they literally wobbled as you sat on them, I am a tall slim guy! But it didn’t feel good. As you walked into the room there was laminate floor to start with then carpet around the beds. Well the wood laminate was awful, there were gaps in the flooring, it was marked as well. Wall paper was also marked where previous guests had scratched it with suitcases.

I then proceeded into the bathroom which looked very worn and very dirty, not in terms of daily cleanliness but age. The mastic edging was coming away from the walls, there was dirt on the floor. I was really upset. So I went to my parents room – this was booked by me as a break for them as well after many years of turbulence in our family caused by one of my brothers having a severe illness. So I wanted this to be a special break for them too.

Well, their room was as bad. I booked a king sized bed for them. It turned out to be a triple room, two beds zipped together for them and a third bed also in the corner. The beds were not made up properly. Their bathroom and overall décor was in the same state as my room.

I am usually a very reserved and understanding person, but I really felt this wasn’t on, I was paying more at this hotel for an inferior product than what I had just left behind.

I am not naive I know that a building will start to show signs of wear and that comparing a new build to an existing one is a little unfair, but this was a whole host of things. Additionally, the outlook was onto the building works of their new spa.

I decided that this wasn’t up to what I had asked for so I went to the front desk to seek alternative arrangements. I was informed that due to the corporate booking, that the hotel was fully booked and could not be offered anything else. I asked to speak to the duty manager, who again was apologetic and tried to source alternative rooms, one had just become vacant. When I went to view the alternative room, it really was even worse, it was upstairs and more like a box room also in 70’s looking décor, and only one double bed. Hardly suitable for two brothers to share!! Therefore I had no option but to refuse it.

I was then offered a meal in the restaurant a the expense of the hotel, whilst this was a reasonable gesture under the circumstances, I really felt that I was not getting what I had paid for, the meal wouldn’t have made any difference because the rooms would still have been the same when I got back.

Determined that I was going to have the break that I had planned, I checked out and went back to Galway.

LOCATION

The hotel is within 3km of Shannon airport, Irelands second busiest international airport. It is off the main motorway but in it’s own land, it is quiet but remote. You need a car to get here, there is no shuttle bus. No shops nearby. Parking is free though.

FAMILY FRIENDLY?

I would not recommend this hotel for families, certainly when I was there it felt quite imposing being surrounded by hundreds of delegates to a corporate function. Speaking of which, this hotel clearly markets towards business people, and by and large, they don’t have to pay for their own accommodation therefore I suggest the expectation from the business world would be less than someone using their own money to purchase accommodation.

MONEY BACK?

Upon my return to the UK I proceeded to complain to the third party website about the listing and my experience and politely requested a refund. They take the complaint and refer it back to the hotel, who then respond to the website, who then come back to the customers. Suffice to say that this went on for a few months. I even provided pictures of the dirty rooms to prove my argument. The initial response from the hotel was to say that they have high quality Egyptian cotton sheets on their beds. Fine I thought, but that does nothing to answer my concerns.

Anyway, the correspondence went backwards and forwards and I provided everything I was requested for. My complaint was articulate, thoughtful and I did not bash or blame any specific person.

The hotel then finally came back stating that no refund would be forthcoming on the basis that the hotel would have been unable to sell the rooms again after I had checked out. The hotel is only 3km from the busy Shannon Airport so I think that this is untrue. Even so, if I accept that they would have been less likely to re-sell the rooms on the night I checked out, what about the other night I was booked in for, therefore even half of the money refunded would have been a good gesture, would have restored my faith in the chain and stopped me from writing this sort of review.

Alas, I got nothing. So this really did affect my holiday.

CONCLUSION

To date, most of my reviews have been of things that I want to recommend to other people, and I have always tried to provide a balanced view in each of my personal critiques. However I feel that a review should articulate fully, every one’s personal experiences. I know from other websites that there have been many people that have stayed at this hotel and had pleasant and thoroughly enjoyable stays, which is good. But my personal experience was anything but. I genuinely expected a four star hotel and I perhaps, naively believed the hotel literature, but when you are not familiar with a particular location there is nothing else to rely on.

Perhaps this is the reason the hotel is listed on Ciao now as a 3 star hotel, or perhaps that is a genuine mistake. I don’t know. What I do know is that my experience of this hotel is something that I hope others do not ever receive. Were my expectations too high? Perhaps, but then again I took the literature at face value and the price premium into account as well, and I compared to similar experiences in other 4 star hotels not just in Ireland but elsewhere that I’ve stayed.

Sorry everyone, but for me, this is a hotel I would very much avoid. I am a resentful customer of the Radisson SAS Limerick Hotel.

Please note that I did not experience the quality of Food or Drink so I have opted for Poor on the basis of the rest of my experience. 

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